Epigraph

Allah sends down water from the sky, so that valleys flow according to their measure, and the flood bears on its surface swelling foam. And from that which they heat in the fire, seeking to make ornaments or utensils, comes out a foam similar to it. Thus does Allah illustrate truth and falsehood. Now, as to the foam, it goes away as rubbish, but as to that which benefits men, it stays on the earth. Thus does Allah set forth parables. (Al Quran 13:17)

Presented by Zia H Shah MD

In a recent Urdu/Hindi video, the speaker challenges those who claim we should honor ancient deities (like Jupiter or other planetary gods) simply because great civilizations once did so. He points out that following Jupiter today because “powerful Romans and Greeks did it” would be absurd. Even if “fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish” theupdevo.com – popularity does not magically make an idea true or venerable. The video emphasizes that just as no one today treats Jupiter or other pagan gods as real on the basis of historical popularity, we should not respect such beliefs simply because they were once widespread.

Underlying this message is a well-known logical pitfall: the appeal to popularity (argumentum ad populum) – the mistaken notion that a claim must be true or honorable just because many people, or many powerful people, believe or practiced it. Logicians explain that this is a fallacy of relevance. As one logic textbook notes, using “many people believe P” is irrelevant to establishing P’s truth philosophy.lander.edu. In fact, “to say that many people believe a statement is not a proof that the statement is true” philosophy.lander.edu. Popularity can sometimes give a false sense of credibility: for example, Einstein joked that when faced with a book 100 Authors Against Einstein, he replied “If I were wrong, then one would have been enough!” philosophy.lander.edu. In other words, a single sound refutation would outweigh a hundred equivocating opinions. The speaker’s point – that simply copying ancient customs (Jupiter worship) because they were once dominant is foolish – aligns exactly with this principle: truth requires independent justification, not a high vote count of believers.

Historical and Pseudoscientific Examples

History is full of ideas that were once mass-beliefs but later proved false. These examples show that social acceptance and “great traditions” don’t guarantee truth:

• Ancient Cosmology: For centuries educated consensus held the Ptolemaic (geocentric) model: the Earth was believed to be the unmoving center of the universe. Only after Copernicus, Galileo and Newton did overwhelming evidence overturn this view. As one source emphasizes, “the fact that most people may be in favor of the claim is not an adequate substitute for actual evidence” – for example, people once believed the Earth was the solar system’s center, but this was eventually proven falsescribbr.com.
• Astrology and Divination: Belief in astrology (the idea that planetary positions determine personality or fate) was nearly universal in many cultures. Yet rigorous scientific testing has found no evidence for its core claims. Surveys of astrological predictions show they fail any controlled experimenten.wikipedia.org. In fact, scientific reviews conclude that where astrology makes falsifiable predictions, they have been consistently falsifieden.wikipedia.org. Despite its popularity, astrology is considered a pseudoscience because its premises lack support from independent data.
• Phrenology and Other Pseudosciences: In the 19th century, phrenology (studying skull bumps to judge character) was a major movement. Phrenological societies and journals flourished in Europe and America, and even prominent people took it seriously. Yet “the central phrenological notion that measuring the contour of the skull can predict personality traits is discredited by empirical research”en.wikipedia.org. Today phrenology is universally recognized as pseudoscienceen.wikipedia.org. Its 19th-century popularity did not make it true – on the contrary, later neurological studies (e.g. Flourens, Broca) dismantled it. This fate has befallen many once-respected theories (now labeled pseudosciences or medical myths) whenever they were subjected to rigorous evidence-based scrutiny.
• Medical Myths – Bloodletting: Doctors ‘knew’ for millennia that many diseases were caused by excess humors and could be cured by bleeding the patient. Indeed, bloodletting was “the most common medical practice … from antiquity until the late 19th century, a span of over 2,000 years”en.wikipedia.org. Virtually every culture practiced some form of it, and even the great Galen systematized it during the Roman Empire. Yet when systematic studies finally appeared in the 1800s, the practice was shown to be ineffective or harmful, and modern medicine almost completely abandoned it. Today “the traditional medical practice of bloodletting is considered a pseudoscience”en.wikipedia.org. Its long popularity simply reflected historical ignorance, not any underlying truth.
• Modern Superstitions (Flat Earth, etc.): Even today, certain popular beliefs defy all evidence. Flat-earth theories – once common in many pre-scientific cultures – still have adherents. These modern flat-Earthers dismiss the obvious proof of orbital photos. Wikipedia notes that “proposers of a flat Earth…do not accept compelling evidence, such as photos of Earth from space”en.wikipedia.org. The fact that some people or communities still cling to the flat-Earth view, or to other modern myths (e.g. anti-vaccine claims), does not lend them credibility. Similarly, innumerable folk superstitions (witchcraft accusations, etc.) were once dominant in societies but have since been rejected. Popularity or tradition cannot rescue such beliefs from refutation by evidence.
• Ancient Idolatry – Jupiter Worship: Finally, consider the specific case of Jupiter worship itself. In ancient Rome, Jupiter was the chief god of the state pantheon and was “a prominent deity in ancient Roman religion”investinhistory.ca. Roman emperors built temples to Jupiter; his worship “flourished throughout the Roman Empire” until Christianization in the 4th centuryinvestinhistory.ca. No one disputes that Jupiter worship was once hugely popular among powerful people. But no modern atheist or monotheist claims that popularity proves Jupiter’s divinity. The speaker’s implied point is: if we deemed a belief valid only by how many believers it has or how eminent they were, we might be forced to accept Jupiter as a deity today – which we clearly do not. History shows that entire pantheons (Jupiter, Apollo, Minerva, etc.) can be culturally central and yet be overturned; ancient popularity did not make them true gods.

These examples make the lesson clear: popularity is not evidence. A claim’s validity must rest on reasons, not on how many people or societies endorse itphilosophy.lander.eduscribbr.com. As a logic text explains, appeals to “the consensus of mankind” (argumentum consensus gentium) have repeatedly been criticized as fallacious: what “all men will be found to agree upon…as right or real…is therefore, in fact right or real” is a tempting but unsound leapphilosophy.lander.edu. In modern terms: the end doesn’t justify the means, and mass belief doesn’t guarantee truth.

Critical Thinking and Epistemic Rigor

The antidote is critical thinking. We must demand evidence and reasoning, not applause. “There’s a difference between truth and belief,” notes one logic primer: “To be true, a claim has to match how the real world is. It’s not enough for people to believe it.”thinkbuthow.com (In other words, a crowd vote does not alter reality.) In epistemology, this principle is echoed by rules like Occam’s razor or Sagan’s maxim: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Repeating how history once bowed to Jupiter is not extraordinary evidence. Instead, we should ask: what independent justification do we have for worshipping Jupiter now? If there is none except popular reverence, we must rightly conclude the worship is without basis.

Einstein’s quip (cited above) encapsulates the scientific attitude: a single counterexample or lack of evidence will invalidate a widely-held theory, no matter how popular it wasphilosophy.lander.edu. When Galileo offered proof of heliocentrism, it didn’t matter that “everyone” at the time believed in geocentrism; evidence prevailed. Today, the same mindset tells us that just because “everyone did it in Rome” doesn’t make it correct. The truth of any belief is ultimately independent of social acceptance. As one commentator puts it, even when an idea is endorsed by multitudes, “it is still foolish” unless justified by reasontheupdevo.com.

In summary, the Urdu/Hindi video’s theme – that we should not respect or revive Jupiter worship simply because it was once dominant – rests on a timeless epistemic insight. History shows that almost any belief can become popular, and yet popularity proved to be no guarantor of truth. Rational inquiry teaches us to set aside anecdotes of ancient authority and instead scrutinize claims with logic and evidencephilosophy.lander.eduscribbr.com. In a pluralistic, information-rich age, this epistemic rigor is more important than ever: no belief should be immune from questioning just because it has a venerable lineage or a large following. Truth must be earned independently of tradition or trend.

Sources: Logical analyses of the appeal-to-popularity fallacyphilosophy.lander.eduscribbr.com; Einstein’s insight on consensusphilosophy.lander.edu; historical surveys of Roman religioninvestinhistory.ca, pseudoscientific beliefsen.wikipedia.orgen.wikipedia.org, and medical superstitionsen.wikipedia.orgen.wikipedia.org; and commentary on evaluating ideas by merit, not popularitytheupdevo.com. These collectively demonstrate that popular belief, past or present, is no substitute for evidence-based truth.