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Being ignorant is bad, but being ignorant while pretending to know is even worse. I was browsing the topics of an online forum, and a thread on the democracy of ancient Athens drew my attention. One of the participants mentioned Plato’s praise of democracy as a form of government, and several others agreed.

Now, that in itself was surprising to see on a forum (and a Greek forum, to boot), since you’d expect someone bothering to comment on such a thread to know that Plato despised democracy. But there was worse in store for me: I came face-to-face with the Bandwagon Fallacy – or Appeal to Popularity. Welcome to the Internet.

You’re not Entitled to Your Own Facts

When a democracy which is thirsting for freedom has evil cupbearers presiding over the feast, and has drunk too deeply of the strong wine of freedom, then, unless her rulers are very amenable and give a plentiful draught, she calls them to account and punishes them, and says that they are cursed oligarchs[…] In such a state of society the master fears and flatters his scholars, and the scholars despise their masters and tutors; young and old are all alike; and the young man is on a level with the old, and is ready to compete with him in word or deed; and old men condescend to the young and are full of pleasantry and gaiety; they are loth to be thought morose and authoritative, and therefore they adopt the manners of the young.

I quoted the above excerpt – from Plato’s Republic, Book 8 – and pointed out that Plato really isn’t the best source to appeal to when making an argument for democracy. Well, what followed surprised me. The majority of the thread participants dismissed my input. Indeed, they actually dismissed… Plato himself and continued to affirm the validity of their position. The final nail on the coffin of rational thought came when one of them said: “there’s ten of us and one of you, it’s impossible that you’re right and we’re wrong, don’t you think?”

The Bandwagon Fallacy is how the Internet Works

The irony of appealing to popularity while dismissing Plato’s thoughts on popular power wasn’t lost on me. It also made me realize something: this is how the entire Internet works! And I’m not now talking about occasions like the one I mentioned, with some random group of people who unite in their ignorance. Instead, the problem is a systemic one, which makes it far more serious. But first things first. Let’s begin with some definitions.

What Is the Bandwagon Fallacy?

The Bandwagon Fallacy – or Appeal to Popularity, or Authority of the Many – is the attempt to validate an idea by relying on the number of people supporting it. It’s a very popular fallacy, because it instinctively feels like a solid strategy. It often leads to desired results, too, which clouds even further the fact that it remains a fallacy. Let’s see a couple of examples.

Most of my colleagues agree, the boss is ignorant.

Although it might very well be the case that the boss in question is indeed ignorant, the fact that most of the person’s colleagues believe that, does not validate the argument. Let’s see another.

90% of people who tried this toothpaste, say they’re happy with it.

If this looks like an advertisement, that’s because advertisers are great fans of the Appeal to Popularity Fallacy. What a phrase like the above implies is that the product in question is good and efficient because most people who tried it are happy with it. Just ponder on how many levels of fallacious argumentation exist there:

1. if 20 people participated in the trial, then 90% translates into 18 people. Saying “18 of the people who tried this toothpaste are happy with it” doesn’t carry the same weight as “90%”
2. is “say they’re happy with it” the same as “say it is a good toothpaste”?
3. If 90% of people who tried the product say it’s good, does it mean it’s actually good? [This is the main issue the Bandwagon Fallacy exposes]

How Is the Appeal to Popularity Fallacy the Core of the Internet?

The Internet basically works on hyperlinks, and Google ranks the webpages accordingly. That is, the more hyperlinks there are to a certain page (and from higher-ranked pages), the better the rank of that page. There are other factors too, but hyperlinks form an important core of it. Social media such as Facebook often order comments based on the number of “likes”. If you want to see the “Top Comments” of a conversation, you basically get those that have been “liked” the most.

The problem is even more pronounced with websites trying to order art, such as pictures. Take Flickr or 500px for example. The “best” pictures are basically those that have been liked the most by users.The entire Internet is just a gigantic, self-sustaining echo chamber of the Bandwagon Fallacy.

Is Democracy a Bandwagon Fallacy?

Let’s remember poor old Plato for a moment and go back to democracy. Is democracy a Bandwagon Fallacy, an Appeal to Popularity? The answer is no, but the problem is that most people don’t realize that. Allow me to explain.

The way democracy works is that it allows the literally most popular candidate to become the representative of a group of people. It is technically not a fallacy, because there is no direct implication that the best candidate is elected; only the most popular. However, most people don’t realize that. The way they don’t realize the trickery of advertisement, they don’t realize that being the most popular candidate is not a proof of quality. Democracy is not a bandwagon fallacy, because it’s not an argument; at least, not in idealized conditions, which is not what we have.

As for the Internet? The problem of the Bandwagon Fallacy, as I mentioned earlier, is that it often works. You often get the most relevant result from Google. You often get attractive photos from a Flickr search. And you often get smart responses ordering Facebook by “Top Comments”. Like democracy, perhaps the Internet is organized the worst way possible, but it’s the only one we’ve got.