The Bandwagon Fallacy is essentially believing something is true or correct because the majority does, or the majority of people in your life do. There’s no evidence backing it up, or, if there is you haven’t examined it. You simply believe it because other people do. Often we internalize this fallacy so deeply that we simply believe things, especially about ourselves, just because someone else says it – it could even be just one person saying it.
Another way of looking at this concept is ‘social proof’. Ecommerce and other companies relay on reviews, comments, and posts for ‘social proof’ that other people like their products and services. Know other people, who the consumer assumes to be like them, like it, the consumer then assumes they will like it too.
It’s also important to note that it’s been said that when you repeat something loud enough, often enough, people will believe it.
Breaking Free Of The Bandwagon
Often when we read something disparaging a fetish, we like we begin to feel bad about ourselves. We believe what the person is saying about the fetish as if it were universal truth while in most cases it’s only the speaker’s opinion.
Let’s take an example statement: Flogging is so basic and boring*.
This is just an opinion. Yet many readers will start to think about how they can flog better, make it more exciting, or worse, think they’re somehow ‘lesser’ for liking flogging. We need to stop accepting every little thing as fact without questioning or examining it.
Train Yourself To Check In
Whenever you catch yourself falling into the trap of believing something you just read take a moment to train yourself instead to check in with yourself and ask, “Does this seem like an opinion?” and “Do I agree or Disagree?” and “How do I feel about X?” Train yourself to question and look for evidence. Even if that evidence is how you feel about something.
There are a lot of non-typical fetishes that take a lot of heat and insult from the community at large. If you’re into those fetishes, it’s best practices for your mental health to train yourself to check in with yourself and ask if you’re looking at a fact or just some rando’s opinion. When you recognize it as an opinion, don’t let it color how you think about your fetish. Often just recognizing that a statement is just someone’s opinion is enough for it to no longer effect you negatively.
If you’re not into those fetishes, I invite you to take a minute and question if the statement you read is a fact or an opinion. Additionally, before repeating it, take a moment to think about whether or not you’re perpetuating a culture of shame.
*I love flogging and think it’s neither basic nor boring.
