Conventional wisdom
From Free net encyclopedia
Conventional wisdom is a term coined by the economist John Kenneth Galbraith in The Affluent Society, used to describe certain ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public.
Conventional wisdom may be either true or false. Many urban legends, for example are accepted on the basis of being "conventional wisdom". Conventional wisdom is also often seen as an obstacle to introducing new theories, explanations, or revisionism.
The idea of Conventional Wisdom is also used in a political sense, often related closely with the phenomenon of Talking Points. It is used pejoratively to refer to the idea that statements which are repeated over and over become conventional wisdom regardless of whether or not they are true.
See also
I found an insightful definition from the book, Freakonomics pages 89-90: It was John Kenneth Galbraith, the hyperliterate economic sage, who coined the phrase "conventional wisdom." He did not consider it a compliment. "We associate truth with convenience," he wrote, "with what most closely accords with self-interest and personal well-being, or promises best to avoid awkward effort or unwelcome dislocation of life. We also find highly acceptable what contributes most to self-esteem." Economic and social behavior, Galbraith continued, "are complex, and to comprehend their character is mentally tiring. Therefore we adhere, as though to a raft, to those ideas which represent our understanding."
Copyright information: http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=ISBN006073132X&id=LkQPOSXMUscC&dq=%22Conventional+wisdom%22+%22John+Kenneth+Galbraith%22&pg=PR4&printsec=3&lpg=PR4&sig=_4iWBUQAqe7xFCojIf00P1_bFQI
From the study guide for Freakonomics (http://www.freakonomics.com/pdf/StudentFREAKONOMICS.pdf): One of the themes of this book is that the conventional wisdom is often wrong. In this chapter, Levitt and Dubner quote from the economist and diplomat John Kenneth Galbraith, who asserts that social behavior is complex and “to comprehend [its] character is mentally tiring.” So, according to Galbraith, conventional wisdom must be simple, convenient, comfortable and comforting, though not necessarily true.