ï»żHey, whatâs up! Welcome back & get ready to learn another way to spot the bad reasoning thatâs happening all around you!
The new fallacy weâre talking about today is called the Bandwagon Fallacy. The Bandwagon Fallacy is when someone tries to get you to believe, think or do something just because a whole bunch of other people are already believing, thinking or doing it. Itâs the âeverybodyâs doing it so it must be rightâ fallacy. And yep - you've probably heard the phrase before having to do with âjumping on the bandwagonâ and thatâs the same thing weâre talking about today.
Interestingly, this phrase comes from something that circuses used to do back in the mid-1800s. In order to drum up customers before their shows, circuses would put a small band on a decorated wagon and pull the wagon through the streets while the band played as a way of advertising for the show that night. Well, at some point, a crafty politician (or course) caught on to the marketing genius of these band wagons and he rented a circus bandwagon to drive through town as marketing for his campaign. As others saw that this was working for him, they too would rent space on the wagon because they thought that by jumping on the first guyâs bandwagon, it would make them look desirable as well.
So the Bandwagon Fallacy is trying to convince you that something is good or desirable, or that something is bad and undesirable simply because so many other people also think that.
Hereâs an example of how itâs used in advertising: â4 million happy dog owners canât be wrong, our dog food is the best.â
Or how about: â70% of the people polled agree that the governors new policy is good for educationâ
Or how about this one: âI hit the best-seller the first week my book came outâŠclearly you should be paying attention to these new ideas.â
Do you see whatâs wrong with the thinking here? All the dog food people told us was that 4 million dog owners are happy. That doesnât tell us anything about the dog food itself. And regarding the governorâs pollâŠ70% of what group of people? Notice they didnât say 70% of parents or 70% of teachers or 70% of studentsâŠthey just said 70% of a random group of people they polled. It could have been a very controlled poll group that was created just to make it seem like the idea was popular. And for the bestselling book⊠just because enough people bought this book to make it hit the best-sellers list doesnât mean the ideas are any good! We have to judge the merits on the new ideas for themselves, not just because a bunch of other people bought the book. Look at Hitlerâs book, Mein Kampf. Just because itâs sold a lot of copies definitely doesnât mean the ideas in it are good!
Be very careful when you hear someone say, âEveryone knows thatâŠâ or âThe growing trend isâŠâ and theyâre trying to get you to believe or do something. You have to stop and ask whether the idea or action is really good & true versus just being popular. Trust me, history has shown us time after time that whatâs âpopularâ isnât always right. And besides, these days, itâs really easy to make it SEEM like something is popular or cool just to make you think you should do it too.
Hereâs a very real example of the Bandwagon Fallacy in play right now: Social Media challenges! Right? Someone comes up with something funny, daring, interesting, stupid or downright dangerous and makes a video of themselves doing it. It starts to spread and all the sudden, it seems like the âcoolâ thing to do and thousands of people are now jumping on this particular social media challenge bandwagon. And some of them are cute & funny and they get a laugh & get the person more followers. But some of them are really harmful. They either embarrass or degrade another person. And some have even caused injury and been deadly. Guys, this is why itâs so, so important to think about these ideas that youâre being presented with. You have to think past the âeveryone is doing it factorâ, filter it through a brain cell and think about the actions this idea will produce, and what the consequences of those actions will be.
So hereâs the question to ask yourself if youâre faced with a Bandwagon Fallacy: âIs it really true that itâs a good idea just because all these other people think it is?â *Or I could say* âIs it really true that itâs a bad idea just because all these other people think it is?â
Alright, thatâs it for today.
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: âIs that really true?â
