Wherever you are, you cannot avoid gossip .

不管你在哪里，八卦都是避免不了的。

There is classroom politics at school, and office politics at work; as long as there are people, there will be politics.

在学校的时候有班级政治，上班之后有办公室政治；只要是有人的地方，就会有政治。

In fact, not all gossips are harmful. Sometimes proper gossip symbolizes¹ a healthy working environment.

其实并非所有的八卦都是有害的，有时候适当的八卦还象征着健康的工作环境。

We were born to like gossip, because this is an important channel for us to get information; in the meanwhile, chatting with acquaintances gives us a sense of belonging.

我们生来喜欢八卦，因为这是一个获取信息的重要渠道；同时，和熟人们闲聊也让我们感到一种归属感。

However, it is an undeniable fact that real life gossip often develops into a ridiculous war and is ultimately no good for anyone.

但是，不可否认，现实中的八卦却常常演变成狗血大战，最后对任何人都没有好处。

How do we survive this unfortunate environment?

我们要如何在这种惨烈的环境下生存？

Well, the simplest solution is this:

其实，最简单的解决办法就是：

Rumors² stop here.

流言至于此处。

The nature of gossip lies in spreading, thus the best way to end gossip is to stop spreading the rumors.

八卦的天性就是越传越大，终止它的最好办法就是停止传播它。

Remember, although people often enjoy talking to those who love gossip, they do not really like this kind of people.

记住，虽然大家往往喜欢和那些爱八卦的人交谈，但大家并不真正喜欢这种人。

After all, anyone can understand that they can talk to you about other people today, they may talk about you behind your back tomorrow.

毕竟，谁都能想到，他们今天能跟你谈别人，明天也能在你背后谈论你。