Logical fallacies, not a topic you hear commonly discussed under that formal title.

However, logical fallacies surround us. A specific type of fallacy is that of popular appeal. The fallacy holds that if it is popularly believed that x is true therefore x must be true.

Clearly, this is a fallacy because it is an error in reasoning.

As history exemplifies in many cases, the Mayan children sacrifices and the strongly held belief that the earth was flat, just because an idea is supported by popular opinion doesn’t make it right.

Many buy into popular beliefs of fear. People are afraid of public speaking, heights or spiders often because of the fallacies of popular opinion.

Personally, I have a constant mission to help challenge the fears and popular opinions we fallaciously hold.

A few days ago I saw a video that challenged a view I held because of popular opinion.

An animator by the name of Joshua Slice had an idea. What if we took this commonly believed to be a scary thing, a spider and made it loved by all.

Well, he did just that.

With the help of his nephew, he created a plot line and series of videos that share the story of a young spider named Lucas. You can’t help but fall in love with the character.

Is this a mischaracterization of spiders? Yes, seeing as they don’t have the mental capacity to have the personality of the one displayed. But the point extends beyond this mere animation character.

It challenges our commonly held beliefs. So I pose the question, what beliefs are you buying into because of popular opinion?