Fallacies of Thinking No.2 - ‘Bandwagon Fallacy’

Humans are less than perfect decision makers. There are a number of ‘fallacies’ of thinking we fall prone to. Today we take a look at a phenomenon called the ‘Bandwagon Fallacy.’

In the early days of political campaigning, it was customary for candidates to ride on a bandwagon through town.

People who wanted to show their support for a candidate would, quite literally, “jump on the bandwagon” and ride with them in solidarity.

Much like those crazy enthusiasts in the image above.

The ‘Bandwagon Fallacy’ is the belief that an argument is valid because a majority of people accept it.

This leads to people voting for a President simply because they are popular as opposed to being the best candidate or assuming that someone is a good person just because everyone else thinks that way.

The negative consequences of this should not be underestimated.

Learn about more fallacies of thinking by checking out our previous post on the ‘Neglect of the absent’ fallacy.