Is there an "appeal to minority?"
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Original Question
This question stems from a conversation I had recently about conspiracies. Now, I know that conspiracies have their own entry in the book, but I wanted to look at the way conspiracies are generally defended. Most of the time, with this person, at least, the backbone of the argument is summed up to that the person is right because they have "opened their eyes," so to speak, and because not many people believe the claim, it's probably true because they (whoever is involved in the particular conspiracy) are covering it up so the majority won't believe it, and if you don't believe in the conspiracy, you are naive.
Is this a unique fallacy (I called it appeal to minority), or is it just a confirmation bias due to focusing solely on the hits and ignoring the misses?
Is this a unique fallacy (I called it appeal to minority), or is it just a confirmation bias due to focusing solely on the hits and ignoring the misses?
Answers
2It is simply nonsensical. There is a phenomenon known as the "wisdom of the crowd" that, for certain kinds of information (verifiable facts), states that the more people who believe in it, the more likely it is to be true (think "poll the audience" Lifeline in Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? ) but there is nothing that states the opposite.
In psychology, we simply call this way of thinking conspiratorial thinking .
In psychology, we simply call this way of thinking conspiratorial thinking .
Special pleading in conjunction with the Dunning- Krueger effect.
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