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In Reply to: RE: Appeals to authority posted by mlsstl on July 19, 2022 at 11:29:17
It's a logical fallacy in any argument to mention a person who is either an expert in the field or an expert in any field, related or not, and expect by using that person's name and opinion you automatically win the argument - no matter which side of the argument you're on. That's why it's called a logical fallacy, the fallacy is believing that's enough evidence or proof to win the argument. It's also sometimes called name dropping.Einstein said there's no such thing as black holes, but you would lose the argument if you used Einstein as you supporting evidence. That's why they call that particular logical fallacy an Appeal to Authority.
Another popular audiophile logical fallacy is Appeal to Age/experience. Example, I have more than 30 years of experience in high end audio so you can trust me when I say ___ .
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Interesting discussion, but back in 1939 when Einstein said there were no black holes, there was no way for anyone on either side of the argument to prove their point.
In his paper, Einstein said that while the idea of black holes was suggested by his theory of relativity, it was "not convincing" rather than impossible -- quite a different approach from a dogmatic appeal to authority.
There is nothing wrong with being an expert in one's field, but the trick is that the qualified person can back it up with data and a good explanation rather than "because I say so."
That reminds me of a fellow named Arnold I knew some decades ago who was very proud of his 20 years worth of experience in my industry. Sadly, he was often wrong. I thought the best explanation from one of my colleagues was "Arnold's problem is not his 20 years of experience, but rather that its been the same year over, and over, and over...."
You are misunderstanding what Appeal to Authority means. Einstein's theory or opinion regarding black holes is not the issue. It's when someone, let's say he's an audiophile, uses Einstein to support an argument, that is an Appeal to Authority. It doesn't matter whether Einstein was right or wrong about black holes or anything else. It's a simple case of name dropping. I used the example of black holes to show you Einstein wasn't always right about everything, which is probably what most people assume. He wasn't right about quantum mechanics either.Another example, if there's an argument regarding wire directionality, if someone says he knows a PhD in electronics who says wire directionality is hogwash, that is an Appeal to Authority, it's a type of argument thst looks sort of good on the surface since the dude's friend is a PHD, right? But the PhD can't be there to be questioned or cross examined so to speak - that's another reason why it's a logical fallacy. As you said, experts can be on both sides of the argument. So whose expert is right? This is part of the problem in audio discussions of a technical nature usually but could be anything. It's often exceedingly difficult to get to the bottom of any debate on any topic. Take for example, how electricity works in cables, in particular cables in audio systems.
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But, that's a thing for some.
Knowing how to argue is half the battle. I was a master debater in college.
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