Beware False Experts: The Appeal to Authority Fallacy
Here's a question — if Albert Einstein were alive today and gave you a piece of advice, would you take it?
You would, right? The guy was a genius.
But what if he wasn't giving you advice about your science homework, but trying to give you legal advice? Wouldn't a lawyer be better?
Our lives are often ruled by authorities — doctors, bosses, parents, teachers, scientists, politicians — they can all have an impact on the way we live, whether we like it or not.
We know that although these authorities tell — or advise — us about what we should or shouldn't do, they don't always get everything right.
So that's why we have to be careful not to fall into a trap called the appeal to authority fallacy.
This is a logical fallacy when an expert's opinion is used to back up an argument, but the expert is not trustworthy or is not qualified to make a judgment in this particular case — like Einstein with the law.
This fallacy says that instead of justifying an opinion, we instead ask for it to be accepted because someone well-known said it.
Of course, there are times when it is absolutely fair to justify a point with the opinion of an authority. If they are talking about an area of their own expertise then there is no fallacy.
But quite often we need to do a bit of research to see if the authority can be trusted. Does that scientist have a qualification in virology? Does this historian have a political agenda?
It's no wonder we're sometimes confused. Companies have been employing this fallacy for decades to encourage us to buy their products.
Famous people are always recommending things to us, but most of the time without having any expertise in what they're promoting.
But as opinions spread ever faster on social media — faster than we can check their provenance — it may be harder than ever to tell if or when we're falling into this trap.
