Bad appeal to common belief (or practice)
The bad appeal to common belief (or practice) is a fallacy stating that if most people in the group believe it then it’s true. A real world example: If all the girls in the group think Chris Brown is hot then it must be true. This is in fact a fallacy. Just because most or all the girls in the group think he’s hot doesn’t mean that he’s sexually appealing to everyone. A common belief doesn’t make a statement true; it is only getting the majority opinion. The majority opinion doesn’t always tell the truth either; it can have different results in different demographics. Say we pose the question to another set of girls and not all of him think he’s hot, the statement becomes a fallacy in this situation. Bad appeal to common belief is a very common fallacy. The common phrase “everyone’s doing it” is an example of the bad appeal to common belief. If everyone is jumping off the bridge, it doesn’t make anything right for you to jump off the bridge too!
Hi Kristie! :)
ReplyDeleteYour examples were perfect in explaining this fallacy, especially with the one you used with Chris Brown. Common beliefs make things a lot more confusing. Just because a lot of people like one thing doesn't mean that you like it too. You may have totally different views. Maybe you don't even find that thing appealing at all!
I think that maybe you should have explained your second example a little bit more too. It is self explanatory, but it would be nice to have seen it as through as your previous example…so that it could be balanced out.
Keep up the good work! See you soon! :)
Hello K_tab
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love how you use examples to clarify what bad appeal to emotion fallacy is. I agree with you one of my friends loves Chris brown and thinks he's super hot, but I think he look okay not ugly. But not SUPERRR hot. Anyways, I personally like how you used the term "everyone's doing it" so you should too. That's such an overused term. When parents ask the child why did you do that and the child replies because everyone is doing it. Then parents ask how about jumping off a bridge. That quote made me laughed a bit. But yes, a lot of people believe that since a major of people think that "thing or idea" is good doesn't mean EVERYONE thinks that its good. Awesome post with strong examples and explanations. GOOD JOB! :]
[ellacomm]
Hi K_tab!
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your post! Your examples explaining the bad appeal to common belief were very interesting. With your example of Chris Brown, the fallacy was clear and explained well. Many people have the same debate over many topics whether it is guys or what an individual thinks is right or wrong. You are right in saying that common belief does not make the statement true because it isn’t always the overall opinion. And of course even though the majority think a certain statement is true doesn’t always make it true. Both of your examples are very helpful when understanding what bad appeal to common belief is.