Arachnophilia writes:
numbers of believers do not affect the truth of the belief.
That isn’t always the case, as it depends on what the belief is about.
If 95% of the population believes that wearing a baseball cap back to front is very fashionable, then it
is very fashionable and their belief is justified.
But if the same belief is shared by only 5%, then wearing a baseball cap back to front is merely a fringe phenomenon, and their belief is not justified.
So, numbers of believers
can make a difference in the truth of one and the same belief. Of course, as can be seen in the example, this only happens when the belief is self-referential. Fashionability is a matter of numbers of adherents. If you believe something is fashionable, then what your belief is really about is how many others believe the same thing.
But when a belief is not self-referential, then its truth or falsity can often be established empirically. And when not, then, in any case, numbers of believers are not a valid argument in establishing the truth of a non-self-referential belief.
We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins
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