Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Alright y’all we are going to start off by reviewing a Fallacy we covered earlier this season: Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief This fallacy happens when someone says that an idea or a belief must be true b/c if people don’t accept it as being true, then there would be negative consequences. Or, they could argue that something must be false, b/c if people don’t accept it as being false, then there will be negative consequences. It’s a type of emotional appeal that says something must be true or false based on how desirable the outcome of the idea would feel.
So, if you think you’re facing an Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief, the question to ask yourself is this: “Just because we might like the outcome, does that mean it’s actually true?” or to put it another way: “Just because we don’t like the outcome, does that mean it’s actually false?”
If you want to hear more about the Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief fallacy, go back & check out Episode 61.
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Alright y’all, the New Fallacy for the day is the Appeal to Common Belief. The Appeal to Belief happens when someone argues that because most people believe something to be true, it must be true. If you’re thinking this sounds something like the Bandwagon fallacy, you’d be right, this is a type of Bandwagon fallacy, which we talked about in episode 19. This fallacy is also sometimes called the Appeal to Popularity, or Argumentum Ad Populum in Latin.
Here’s a simple example: “Most moms in America believe that sitting too close to the TV will ruin your eyesight, so it must be true.” Well, is it really true? How would you know? You’d have to look at an actual study, or maybe ask a doctor to get a real answer, rather than just going by what ‘most moms’ believe.
Here’s another example: “85% of Americans believe God exists, so it must be true” That’s a really weak argument…can you see how it’s just basing its truth on the fact that people believe it’s true? The reality is, if something is really true, it’s going to be true whether anyone believes it or not!
The problem with the thinking behind this fallacy is that just b/c a lot of people believe something to be true or accept a claim as true…that doesn’t mean it’s true! There have been plenty of things that people have believed over the course of history that haven’t been true.
At one time, most people were taught & used to believe that the earth was the center of the universe…that didn’t make it true. It’s just plain lazy to accept Common Belief as fact or as truth without looking at actual data to back it up.
Now, could there be something that a lot of people believe that is actually true? Sure! Let’s say you were to ask a group of people how old you have to be to join the military. A few of them say they believe that you have to be 18, while the majority say they believe you only have to be 17. This is a good example of why you can’t just go with what the majority believe to be true. In this case, the majority who believed you could join the military at 17 would be correct. But either way, you couldn’t just rely on what people believe to be true, you’d need to go actually find out the truth for yourself.
Now, here’s an interesting twist to this fallacy, and an example where what people believe actually determines the truth of a claim: what is considered to be good manners and proper behaviors in a certain society is often determined by what the people of that society believe to be true. There was a time when it was considered very indecent for a woman to show her ankle. Well, is that true? It’s not true in our society today, but it was during the 18th century. Common belief made it so that it was considered scandalous if a woman showed her ankle in public. Interesting, huh?
Question to ask yourself when you’re faced with an Appeal to Common Belief: “Is it really true just b/c all these people believe it’s true?” *repeat*
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: “Is that really true?”
