The title “Science as Gossip” is intentionally provocative and evocative.
It reduces science to mere trivial story telling, without real relevance to our life.
We MUST address this issue, because science seems to systematically ignore the relevance of its own findings.
Because only when science considers what it says as irrelevant, can science destroy Earth - as it does.

“Science as Gossip”, the title, can be regarded as a diagnostic label.
In science, we find that scientists too often fail to test relevance in reality.
As in gossip, scientists act as if their storytelling is inconsequential.
While, as does gossip, the stories of science can be toxic for humanity and Earth.

Other Essays in this series show that:
Science is a Myth (most is based on absence of own experience)
Science is an Illusion (it operates self-suggestive auto-hypnosis)
Science is Magic (an act of use of will for change of realisation)

Now it is time to address the purpose and function of science as gossip.
This finding is necessary to show that science operates as a religion.
In order to do so it must appeal to beliefs and faith in false information.
That is possible only when there is a craving/addiction to such information.

The media industry shows to which extent people are addicted to 'entertainment'.
They seem to thrive on an ongoing flow of music, images, illusions and 'information'.
Most of that information - like fast food - has no content and cannot be digested.
These flows of information only (serve to) numb the sensory system; for auto-hypnosis.

Most people in our society thereby live in a 'trance'; they no longer process information.
That is (ab)used by others to manipulate their life and action.
One of the persistence ongoing manipulations of that of 'working for money'.
Considering that Earth feeds all forms of life for free; money is but an illusion.

Most of the activities of science do NOT involve innovative exploratory research.
Most of the work in science is spent on repeating earlier findings of others.
Even work is done on ‘designing protocols’ and ‘establishing findings’ that should be adhered to.
That aspect has been further described in the essay "Science as Ritual".

Rituals are repeated behaviour for the purpose of inducing a reflex.
That may be a physical reflex or mental reflex (See "Science as Belief").
Rituals and beliefs de-couple science from consciousness, and response-ability.
This makes the performers of the ritual ‘unconscious’, and irresponsible.

The disconnection from own realisation (by reflex) is also seen in gossip.
Gossip is the telling of stories of the lives of others; not from own experience.
Many of the beliefs (‘facts’) in science can be ascribed to hearsay, stories by others.
Gossip is a form of hearsay focussing in the emotional impact, not on the information.

Gossip is a form of art, theatrical drama, at the personal impersonal level.
It involves a form of identification, and often deals with people the listeners know.
Often there is a conspiratorial aspect: the topic discussed often alludes to social taboo.
The discussion of taboo (even is only covert) touches on the realm of exploration of science.

Gossip is the meaningless repetition of meaningless information about others.
Gossip serves to provide a sense of complacency and compliance by trivial understanding.
Gossip always operates life-like ('reality-TV') reports on the behaviour of others.
Science does this in the forms of anecdotes about scientists or reiteration of 'proofs'.

Many scientists are able to quite trivial facts about scientists and science.
It will be found that many such quotes are verbatim repetition of the same sayings.
It shows that these words are simply, merely, taken in and passed on.
Thence the statement that science also contains elements of gossip.

There is a tendency to be derogatory of gossip.
In fact, it would require a scientist to look beyond that, and recognise the deeper social meaning.
Science in that sense de-cloaks the veils of secrecy of the many forms of social taboo.
Because taboo is the signal that social knowledge fail in that experience of life, and scientific research is needed.

Scientists are trained to gather the hot coals from the fire.
Scientists are able to maintain the hygiene in social functioning.
Scientists can peer into the rot, of nature or society, and discover deeper meaning.
Scientists are aware that everything we can see, has its proper meaning in existence.

That makes science very meaningful: it discerns what is meaningful from what is trivial.
At the same time science is able to find what is meaningful in what is trivial.
Science can even see what makes something trivial: lack of context of involvement.
That is precisely where we need to acquire deeper understanding of science: its own involvement.