If many people think something is true, is it true?

I'm sure you have heard the phrase "majority wins" being used repeatedly everywhere. This shows itself in voting, from presidential elections to just a group of people choosing what to do in their free time. But what I would be talking about is slightly different. Think of all the subjects that were tabooed throughout the world.

Not long ago, I did a post on the short story "The lottery". The story has a stoning incident, something which eventually got it boycotted throughout the world in its time. Normal people would be horrified at the story's outcome. Mrs. Hutchinson finally got stoned by her friends, with whom she was just talking and laughing with before the stoning. In fact, Mrs. Delacroix "selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands." Even the victim's family joined in the stoning.

Notice that the story was banned throughout the world (the author also recieved lots of hate-mail). Why is this so? The public is horrified that the villagers kill one of their own people with no remorse whatsoever. They think that it is wrong, uncivilised, for people to do such things. Is it true? What about the small minority who thinks that it is not?

In life, we must look at both sides of things, see things from a different perspective. Why are people thinking in that way? There is no right answer. Usually, these conflicting opinions occur when there is a clash of cultures. Usually different cultures would cause different ways of thought. Religion is one of the key factors that cause this.

So, if many people think something is true, it is neither true nor false. It is the way you look at it that makes your opinion differ from others'.