Appeal to common belief

Informal fallacies → Relevance / appeals

Appeal to common belief (ad populum) is when you say something is true because lots of people believe it. Being popular doesn't make it right—majorities have been wrong many times. The number of believers isn't evidence for the truth of the belief. The same phenomenon appears as the cognitive bias known as the bandwagon effect. The fallacy is to substitute "many people believe X" for "X is supported by evidence." Related: Bandwagon effect.

Examples

  • Most people think the new rule is unfair, so it must be unfair.

  • Everyone knows that's how it works.

  • The polls say most people support it, so it's the right policy.

  • It's common sense that X.

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