Communal reinforcement is a social phenomenon in which a concept or idea is repeatedly asserted in a community, regardless of whether sufficient empirical evidence has been presented to support it. Over time, the concept or idea is reinforced to become a strong belief in many people's minds, and may be regarded by the members of the community as fact. Often, the concept or idea may be further reinforced by publications in the mass media, books, or other means of communication. The phrase "millions of people can't all be wrong" is indicative of the common tendency to accept a communally reinforced idea without question, which often aids in the widespread acceptance of urban legends, myths, and rumors. A phenomenon (plural: phenomena) is an observable event, especially something special (literally something that can be seen from the Greek word phainomenon = observable). ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Empirical research is any activity that uses direct or indirect observation as its test of reality. ... Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: belief Belief is usually defined as a conviction to the truth of a proposition. ... Mass media is a term used to denote, as a class, that section of the media specifically conceived and designed to reach a very large audience (typically at least as large as the whole population of a nation state). ... Look up book in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Urban Legend is also the name of a 1998 movie. ... For the computer game, see Myth (computer game). ... Rumors is a farce by Neil Simon. ...

Communal reinforcement works both for true and false concepts or ideas. Therefore, the fact that many people in a given community believe a certain thing is not indicative of its truth or falsehood. A concept or idea cannot be accepted as fact or dismissed as falsehood simply because it is communally reinforced.

Communal reinforcement can be seen as a positive force in society if it reinforces a concept or idea which is true or beneficial to society, such as the discouragement of drunk driving. Conversely, it can be seen as a negative force if it reinforces a concept or idea which is untrue or harmful to society, such as the avoidance of bathing in Medieval Europe.

See also

• Appeal to belief
• Confirmation bias
• Meme
• Groupthink
• Social constructionism

In logic, an appeal to belief (also called the appeal to the majority or the argumentum ad populum) is a logical fallacy that is committed when someone asserts that a proposition should be held to be true, or more plausible, merely because it is widely believed. ... Confirmation bias is a type of statistical bias describing the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms ones preconceptions. ... The term meme (IPA: ) was used in 1976 by Richard Dawkins to mean a replicator of cultural information which one mind transmits (verbally or by demonstration) to another mind. ... Groupthink is a term widely (and mistakenly) attrbuted to psychologist Irving Janis. ... Social constructionism is a sociological theory of knowledge developed by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann with their 1966 book, The Social Construction of Reality. ...

External links

• Skeptic dictionary entry
• "Everyday Magic the Power of Memes", 2004, Change your memes;change your life.