TRAFFIC signal is the best place to assess if a nation is making progress or backsliding. If more and more people tend to jump the red signal just because one depraved person violated it, one can say that the country is backsliding on values. It also reflects that the nation is losing strength of character, required to withstand the bandwagon fallacies. Following the rules and social norms of decency and decorum is a mark of a disciplined and morally correct citizen of a country. But, finding it convenient to break that code just to conform to something ‘popular’ is a measure of qualitative degeneration of a society. Following, or being part of, or adopting, something wrong only to fit in a group is bandwagon fallacy. In simple words, it is a tendency to conform to even the wrong things because many others are doing so. Such a tendency forces one to attempt to fit in a group irrespective of disagreements, simply because the majority thinks in a particular way.

 

A leader’s rally may attract thousands of people, but not all convert into votes to him or her when it comes to elections in a democratic country. This has been proven umpteen times. Because, groundswell of support in numerical terms may indicate attendance of people at a particular event but does not assure attention of people. Many songs trend, but their popularity ends as soon as something better marketed comes up. One of the brightest humans, Albert Einstein, is often quoted to have said, “What is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not always right.”

 

Unfortunately, this wisdom has been dumped in the era when popularity determines what is right. Of course, some good things also may be popular. But, every popular thing may not be good. If one starts adopting abusive language just because many of one’s acquaintances are doing it, that person is resorting to bandwagon fallacy. For, use of abusive language cannot be justified in a society that claims to be progressive. The sad part is that this trend of bandwagon fallacy is affecting leadership and decision-making abilities of a growing country like India. Unfortunately, social media trends are pushing more people into bandwagon fallacies. Also, many youngsters think that whatever appears first on Google search is the right thing, or even the correct answer to a question they are trying to find an answer to. Many grown-ups also refer to Google search and end up using wrong spellings or premises of arguments only because those are quoted by many (unknown or even anonymous) people.

 

Devoting time to find out authentic sources or verifying information coming one’s way are becoming difficult day by day. This can be attributed to changing work culture, changing lifestyle, addiction to parties (group behaviour) or social media or entertainment etc. Such a behaviour leads one into the reinforcement loop, which is endless. Once one adopts something, one is led to another and to yet another thing that is popular (so to say)... These things keep coming like splinters of exploded bombs, and one caught in this trap does not even realise the injuries being inflicted to one’s personality. One does not realise that the bandwagon fallacy is actually detrimental to one’s critical thinking, rational approach, composed personality, and ability to drive collective growth in the right direction. In fact, spending a while in the reinforcement loop weakens one’s ability to differ, and gradually courage to tread an independent path. This creates ‘more of the same’ kind of people, and ultimately stunts growth of a society, and the country. Social media is amplifying this bandwagon effect through pumped up popularity, chatbots, fake numbers of likes and subscribers etc. Tendency to conform to even the wrong notions simply because they are popular is detrimental to a nation’s dynamism. Unfortunately, in the era of social media likes and shares, popularity determines merit of an argument and pushes more and more people towards bandwagon fallacies. Indeed, for a system to work, the principle of ‘majority is the law’ works in spirit. But, the word ‘law’ even in this phrase indicates that the majority's character is decided by the hallmarks of discipline and prudence.

 

May it be a Classical song that has lived through generations, or a book going into reprints for every generation, or wisdom contained in the books like ‘Panchtantra’... what makes these works great is their quality. Hence, in a situation when bandwagon fallacy is spreading like a disease, revival of Classicism becomes all the more important to ensure that a nation ‘grows qualitatively’ and not just ‘swells numerically’. Human endeavours seeking excellence or raising the bar of quality have the foundation of Classicism. To endure the vagaries of time, bandwagon fallacy is of no use. For, the victims of bandwagon fallacy conform to whatever is being adopted widely. Hence, it is the task of the decision-makers and social and cultural leaders to drive the change in favour of well-reasoned independence. And, pursuit of well-reasoned independence from herd mentality is different from the trend of so-called ‘rebellion’ sweeping the youth landscape. The ‘rebels’ without cause do nothing but spread prairie fire. In contrast, the independent and Classic-mould leaders favour collective growth and peace. Which category one falls into -- Classic or Bandwagon? Well, the answer shall be in one’s behaviour at the traffic signal next time.