Is majority always right?

Answer 1

Majority Rules!

Answer 2

It depends on the situation.

If your boss is one of the majorities. Then,
if you want to continue getting a paycheck,
then you will become one of them.

I think using majority rules in government
is a good thing because it makes
more people happy. You can't
make everyone happy. That is impossible.
But you can make most people happy,
and that is what the majority thing is all about.

Its not really about doing what is right or wrong.
It is about what makes people happier. Here
in Missouri, the majority didn't want the tobacco
tax increased. So by using the majority rules,
less people are unhappy. Maybe the good
thing would be to increase the tobacco tax
so medical doctors could make more money
because we all know that they work
for starving wages. :-)

But if the tobacco tax passed (in Missouri) then more
people would be unhappy. The government wants
people to be happy, because that can be used as
a distraction that they can use to their advantage.

When people are happier, they notice less because their
needs are being met. People that are unhappy are constantly
looking for ways that they can use to make themselves happier.
So they notice more.

Answer 3

I am not sure of the mathematics involved, and it depends upon the situation in which it is used, but going with the majority brings a greater chance of success.

Also, because majorities (and their opinions) change and/or evolve, choosing to follow the majority also places you within the context of being in the perfect spot to ride the crest of change.

If the majority is conservative, you can be sure voting with the majority will eventually lead to a liberal balance. And when the majority is liberal, you can expect an eventual balancing of conservatism. To vote/believe with the majority is to be at the point where balance can be achieved, for it is more likely to include the middle (and therefore occupy the position of balance).

Answer 4

To say that the majority is always right is just to say that agreed upon consensus confers correctness; that is, it is to say that just because a maximun amount of people agree upon the same notion or attitude just means that the fact that they agree upon it makes that notion or attitude right in virtue of agreement. But people, even a maximun amount of them, can agree upon that which is incorrect or not right. The fact that they may constitute a majority has no bearing on the nature of the rightness or correctness of what they agree upon; this holds similarly for the minority. It is not quantity that makes something be right. Thus, just because the majority agrees upon something does not make it right just in virtue of agreement.

For instance, there was a time in the United States that slavery was held to be good and right by the majority (even most people in the Northern States thought slavery was right). The majority was wrong because the practice of slavery is immoral, and hence, not right. Nowadays, the majority of Americans think slavery is immoral. Now, the majority is right: Slavery is immoral. But Americans are not right about the immorality of slavery just because the majority of us think it too be immoral; the majority is right in this case because it happens to be true that slavery is immoral. It is not as such because we have agreed to it and a majority of us think that, rather it is as such because the majority are correct in thinking it is immoral, not in agreeing it is immoral.

There is a difference between what the majority agrees to consent to, and what the majority consents to for external reasons. This is just to say that the internal relations of a majority's agreement bears not on the correctness of a veiw or arttitude, but that it is possible that the majority of people can consent to a right or correct view because of something other than their agreement, such as external reasons. Thus, it is possible for the majority to be right, but the cause of this rightness is not because they are the majority, but because the majority are right for other reasons.

The majority is just as likely to be right as the minority is; likewise, the majority is just as likely to be wrong as the minority is. It is not numbers of people that make something be right or wrong, all things being equal.

Imagine a possible world in which the majority of Americans, despite all the evidence to the contrary, thought that the earth was flat. Well, ask yourself. Are they right? No, they are not. Why? Because what makes it true or false whether the earth is flat or not are the facts about the shape of the earth, not what the majority thinks. Sometimes the majority is right, sometimes the majority is wrong.

People like to smugly say that the majority is almost always wrong. This is nonsense. They only say this because they apply the notion to extreme situations, usually having to do with politics or religion. But the same people who say this about the majority are just as much a part of a majority. For instance, the majority thinks that Einstein's Theory of Relativity is true. The majority thinks that Zeus does not exist. The majority thinks that North Korea oppresses its citizens. The majority thinks that global warming is a reality. The majority thinks that woman should be allowed to vote. The majority thinks that Dodo birds are extinct. The majority thinks that torturing babies for fun is wrong. The majority thinks that Pol Pot, Stalin, and Hitler were genocidal maniacs. Need I go on?

So, no, the majority is not always right (nor are they always wrong). And I've just stated why that is the case.

PS The majority is ALWAYS right if you are a cultural relativist. If you are a cultural relativist, then it is not possible for the people in a culture to be wrong or mistaken about their values and practices because the majority's values and practices constitute rightness. Thus, if one is a cultural relativist, one must admit that it is right to commit genocide against the Jews (as Hitler attempted) because the majority think it's right to do so; or that it was right to practice slavery because the majority of Americans once thought it was. As acultural relativist, you must be prepared to say that no cultural practice held by the majority is ever wrong, because the practice, since it is held by the majority, is right. Of course, cultural relativism is a self-refuting system. So, there is no worry about it being true. But I'm just trying to give you a full perspective.

Answer 5

Majority is not always right. Some of them join the majority just bcoz there is a bigger group over there.

Answer 6

Its hard to put absolutes on such things and keep it honest. The majority is not "always" right. What's right for the majority may not always be right for the whole.

Answer 7

Ask Hitler, Mussolini, or Genghis Kahn. They had support to start with.

Answer 8

Obviously not. We elected King Georgie twice. How wrong can ya be?

Answer 9

Not always but in democratic countries it mostly is yes always right.

Answer 10

NO THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS RIGHT BUT IF THE RULES OF DEMOCRACY IS SUPPOSED TO BE FOLLOWED THEN THEY ARE...