Appeal to popularity
and related topics
In an appeal to popularity (or appeal to numbers, the bandwagon) it is claimed that something is good or right because it is popular. For example, it might be claimed that creationism should be taught in the schools because a majority of people support the idea. But popularity is an insufficient cause for believing that something is true. And there are good reasons for not teaching creationism, it is pseudo-science and a violation of the separation of church and state.
Examples
"We should see Rocky 27, it was the most watched movie last week." Being the most popular movie does not make it the best movie, although popularity could be one criteria in evaluating a movie."
From an advertisement: "Everyone reads Danielle Steel". This is obviously false, if everyone read Steel there would be no need to advertise her books.
Related Topics
Faulty data. Polls can be deliberately or accidentally biased by not using a representative sample or by using questions designed to produce a particular response.
Partial vs total support On many issues there is a wide range of opinion, with most people falling somewhere in the middle. Many people believe that abortion should be legal in some cases, such as in the case of rape or incest, and not legal in others, such as to determine the sex of the baby. If you want to inflate the support for a position, then all of the people who partly support a position would be counted. Those who supported abortion after rape or incest could be counted as "pro-choice", while those who opposed abortion to determine the sex of the baby would be "pro-life". On the other hand, if you wanted to show that a position had limited support you would only count people with the most extreme position.
Silent majority Most people do not take a public stand on most issues, creating a silent majority. Sometimes claims are made about this majority, usually that they support the author's views, are at least do not support the "other side".
Jumping on the band wagon Here it is claimed that people support a position simply because the position is popular. For example, it may be claimed that scientists are jumping on the global warming bandwagon. While some people do follow the political wind, the claim that people are jumping on the band wagon is an easy way to attack popular ideas.
Petition drives In recent years there have been a number of petition drives and similar projects that try to show that particular groups, such as scientists or economists, either support or oppose a particular position, combining an appeal to popularity with an appeal to authority. These drives have been criticised for such things as not checking the credentials of the signers and using deceptive means to try to get people to sign.
Peer pressure is the pressure to conform to the norms of a certain group; to wear the same clothes, use the same jargon, etc. Peer pressure is typically viewed as always being negative, but it can also be used to promote positive values.
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Written by Jim Norton
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