Argumentum ad populum is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it: “If many believe so, it is so.”
emphasis on current fads and trends, on the growing support for an idea
The Bandwagon Fallacy is committed whenever one argues for an idea based upon an irrelevant appeal to its popularity. It is logically fallacious because the mere fact that a belief is widely held is not necessarily a guarantee that the belief is correct
The bandwagon fallacy is committed by arguments that appeal to the growing popularity of an idea as a reason for accepting it as true. They take the mere fact that an idea suddenly attracting adherents as a reason for us to join in with the trend and become adherents of the idea ourselves.
This is a fallacy because there are many other features of ideas than truth that can lead to a rapid increase in popularity. Peer pressure, tangible benefits, or even mass stupidity could lead to a false idea being adopted by lots of people. A rise in the popularity of an idea, then, is no guarantee of its truth.
eg Everyone’s doing it.
eg One could claim that smoking is a healthy pastime, since millions of people do it. However, knowing the dangers of smoking, we instead say that smoking is not a healthy pastime despite the fact that millions do it.
eg At a time in history when most people believed the world was flat, one could have claimed the world is flat because most believed it.
eg most runners heel strike, therefore it must be better (it may or may not bet better, but to argue it is better based on popularity is a fallacy)
Pick Your Logical Fallacy:
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