We all like gossip.

As humans, we all like to know what our fellow humans are up to. Hey, it's who we are, no? We know ourselves, sort of, but we know very little about how anybody else is dealing with the same kinds of problems. Or problems we haven't had (yet). And we're curious.

How, for instance, is so-and-so down the street coping with her divorce? And how is so-and-so dealing with the foreclosure on her house? Ouch! What about Mrs. Whatever's kid who got involved in drugs and had to go to rehab? And what about that hit-and-run that happened not so far away and that we all know who probably was responsible for?

Gossip is the word of mouth transference of information about other people and is important to all of us. But we need to be sure it's accurate. When we hear something about someone, we need to fact-check. Is this for real? Some gossip is, some isn't. (Some is malicious, but we know that when we hear it and dismiss it, right?)

But, real or not, factual or not, gossip is a fundamental of human interaction and will always be.

Who said what about who?

It's a basis of all our human interactions and the stuff of literature. We humans are interested in all kinds of scientific things -- the stars, the planets, gravity, global warming, etc. -- but what we're most interested in is each other. Why did whoever marry that guy? Is so and so really still with that trashy girl? Was his death really a suicide?

We are fascinated with everything natural and even super-natural -- religion, for instance -- but we're most interested in, obsessed with, each other.

Why else do we read the newspaper columnists who advise us on our human foibles, who tell us to respect each other and hold each other to account, but who publish letters from people who are clueless about how to interact with each other? Because we can't get enough of each other.

We live our lives the best we can but are intrigued by how others live theirs: Are they doing it better? Coping better? Raising their kids better? Maintaining relationships better? How?

Being not privy to our friends' lives, except from what they tell us, we have to guess, and that, of course, leads us to talk about each other. To, well, guess. Is she really happy with him? What about the kids? Is that one really his? The guessing goes on an on, getting far-fetched at times,
but it's what we do, absent the facts. We really want to know how other humans are living their lives, if just so we can modify ours to either emulate theirs or not depending on whether they were happy or crashed and burned.

In the end, gossip is a conduit of information, passed person to person, about how others are coping with their lives. It can be good or bad, but it is what it is. We're all kind of in the dark about what to do in this life, so we keep tabs on others who may or may not be doing it better. If a Hollywood star screws up, maybe we feel good because we haven't (yet). But if someone does something admirable, we need to know about that, too. Gossip isn't just saying something bad about another person; at its best it's passing along information, the best that we know it from second or third hand, not to hurt anyone else but to keep ourselves informed.

Cher turned my age this year, and while I love her old songs -- especially "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" -- I know for a fact that she's had work done. Hello? How else could she look like that? And I say, "You go, girl!" What do YOU think?

Gossip. It's what you make of it.

And did you hear . . . ?