by Richard@DecisionSkills » Mon Aug 12, 2019 9:11 pm
The number of “good posts” is irrelevant to what is true.
There were 10,000 “posts” that said the sun revolves around the earth. Galileo was the one “bad” voice branded a heretic.
You may wish to believe that you would be the arbiter of truth, capable of deciding that the only “good” post was Galileo’s 1 voice among thousands, but that is just the ego talking. Based on what you wrote, you would jump on the social bandwagon. You would believe the 10,000, because out of the 10,000 you would see many of them as “good” posts. At least you would find them more truthful than this single voice, telling the truth.
No worries, we all are influenced by social opinion. It is adaptive and generally helpful. But social proof is not an exercise in logic. It is an exercise in faith.