Have you ever seen an advertisement that claims that everyone is using a certain product, service, or idea, and that you should join them too? This is an example of the bandwagon logical fallacy, which is a common persuasion technique in advertising. The bandwagon fallacy appeals to the popularity ... More on linkedin.com

64 Countries Have Taken the Bold Stand Against Monsanto the U.S. Won't One of my personal favorites. More on reddit.com

Bandwagon Fallacy The bandwagon fallacy assumes something is true (or right, or good) because other people agree with it. A couple different fallacies can be included under this label, since they are often indistinguishable in practice. The ad populum fallacy (Lat., “to the populous/popularity”) is when something is accepted because it’s popular. The concensus gentium (Lat., “consensus of the people”) is when something is accepted because the relevant authorities or people all agree on it. And the status appeal fallacy is when something is considered true, right, or good because it has the reputation of lending status, making you look “popular,” “important,” or “successful.” For our purposes, we’ll treat all of these fallacies together as the Bandwagon Fallacy. According to legend, politicians would parade through the streets of their district trying to draw a crowd and gain attention so people would vote for them. And whoever supported that candidate was invited to literally jump on board the bandwagon. Hence the nickname “Bandwagon Fallacy.” This tactic is common among advertisers. “If you want to be like Mike (Jordan), you’d better eat your Wheaties.” “Drink Gatorade because that’s what all the professional athletes do to stay hydrated.” “McDonald’s has served over 99 billion, so you should let them serve you too.” The form of this argument often looks like this: “Many people do or think X, so you ought to do or think X too.” One problem with this kind of reasoning is that the broad acceptance of some claim or action is not always a good indication that the acceptance is justified. People can be mistaken, confused, deceived, or even willfully irrational. And when people act together, sometimes they become even more foolish—i.e., “mob mentality.” People can be quite gullible, and this fact doesn’t suddenly change when applied to large groups. Which of these is a bandwagon fallacy? Example 1: “Almost everyone at my school will be at the party Friday night. It must be a popular thing to do.” Example 2: “Almost everyone at my school will be at the party Friday night. It must be the right thing to do.” https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/ EDIT: oops Know_Thyself8 stated it. More on reddit.com

A fallacy is a fallacy if you are using the fallacy as your evidence or argument. If I say that 2+2=4 and my evidence is "because my calculator says so", my conclusion is correct but my reasoning is wrong. Scientific knowledge is not developed and acted upon in a manner consistent with your statement in #3. There are countless examples of commonly accepted things both in and outside of the scientific world later found to be false once new information came to light or someone found flaws in the reasoning. Science isn't just about making a theory and testing it and getting everyone to agree with you - it's about finding math to explain the physical world and seeing if it holds up. And if it doesn't, making corrections. More on reddit.com