Article

Avoiding Logical Fallacies:
Argument from Authority

My explorations of logical fallacies is meant as a light-hearted approach to discussing the nuances of common mistakes in the critical thought process.

The story so far: My pal, Victor Dillweed, has a time traveling baseball cap. He calls it his Chrono-Hat, and when he wears it he can travel backwards and forwards through time, visiting the far future and the ancient past. His visits are instantaneous, ephemeral, and he can only make a return journey if he comes back empty handed. Or so he claims. These rules, after all, leave him a little short on hard evidence. As usual, the skep/kids (Winston and Julia) and I attempt to debunk his claims — but this time around make the mistake of the Argument from Authority.

Of course, this is just a thought experiment. My explorations of logical fallacies is meant as a light-hearted approach to discussing the nuances of common mistakes in the critical thought process. The full index of fallacies can be found here. By examining each of these fallacies I hope to provide opportunity for (1) my own further education, research, and understanding, (2) the education of others, and (3) a reference and foundation for further articles, entries, and topics in this blog. And to proceed with this exploration I am going to fall back on the tried and tested (albeit composed of my own original details) fictitious example and quasi-supernatural thought experiment: skep/dad’s all-natural, one-size-fits-all, time traveling baseball cap, also known as The Chrono-Hat.

The Fallacy of the Argument from Authority

skep/dad: Hi kids! I was just out cycling with Mr. Dillweed and we just had another very interesting conversation. I’ll bet you can guess what he was telling me about.

Julia: His Chrono-Hat?

Winston: Did he tell you he had been time traveling again?

skep/dad: Don’t sound so exasperated you two. That is, in fact, exactly what he was telling me. He was quite excited because he’d been to the future this time. Apparently his very short trip took him to the middle of next month. He didn’t really talk to anyone — or so he says — but he did go and see that new movie that’s been advertised lately. You know the one… uh…

Julia: Was it Rambo? I think it must have been Rambo.

skep/dad: No. I think it was something more for kids.

Winston: A cartoon? I think there is another Disney movie coming out soon.

skep/dad: Maybe. It will come back to me when I see the advertisement again. Anyhow, the name of the movie isn’t important right now. Mr. Dillweed says it’s not a very good show. My question to you is whether or not we should believe his movie review or not? What do you think?

Winston: Well… if we believe him then don’t we also need to believe that he’s been time traveling again?

skep/dad: Perhaps. That sounds reasonable. Though there could be other explanations. Julia?

Julia: I asked my teacher at school about it. Time travel, I mean.

skep/dad: Did you? And what did she say?

Julia: She told me that time travel wasn’t real and that your friend was just being silly. And she told me to stop worrying about it and finish my math problems.

skep/dad: Did she explain why she thought it wasn’t real?

Julia: No. But she’s the teacher.

Winston: She still needs evidence, right dad?

skep/dad: Now again, I think we need to be careful about judging a story based on the people telling it. Do you remember when we made the mistake of ad hominem? It’s easy to judge that a story is true or false because we think the person telling it has a record of fibbing. But we can also make the opposite mistake. We can assume that because someone seems to be smarter than us or in a position of leadership that we don’t need to question what they tell us. I’m sure your teacher is a very smart young woman, Julia, and she may be absolutely right in telling you what she did. But do you think she is always right?

Julia: Well…

skep/dad: I’m glad you think so highly of your teachers, but we don’t want to make the mistake of the Argument from Authority. Someone like a teacher, a scientist, or even a doctor is usually trained and in a position of what we call authority, but that should only help us to trust what they say. Even those types of people who we normally trust also require evidence to back up their stories before we know for sure what they are telling us is true. Does that make sense?

Winston: Even if they are on TV?

skep/dad: Especially if they are on TV! Now, I don’t know if we can solve the mystery of Mr. Dillweed’s time traveling today, but for now I think the best way for us to get a reliable review of that movie is to wait and see it ourselves. My treat, guys!

The SkepDad Blog is meant to casually reflect on questions surrounding parenting and raising kids to become critical thinkers by asking questions and examining parenting ideas with a skeptical eye for facts and science. Each article is one dad's personal opinion, backed (where relevant) by literature and published research, or otherwise based on personal experiences and insights. SkepDad welcomes balanced discussion, comments, and ideas.

January 4, 2008 by Brad
Filed as: Skeptical Mindsets

Popularity: 17%

Posts and Pages that might have similar content:


Avoiding Logical Fallacies, Index >> As a father seeking to improve his own critical thought processes and as a decidedly novice skeptic I find it is becoming increasingly important to add structure to my existing repertoire of critical thinking and arguing skills. I know I tend to

Avoiding Logical Fallacies: ad hominem >> The story so far: My pal, Victor Dillweed, has a time traveling baseball cap. He calls it his Chrono-Hat, and when he wears it he can travel backwards and forwards through time, visiting the far future and the ancient past.

The Inevitable skep/dad Dichotomy >> I've realized that my work on this blog can be neatly divided into two categories and I thought it might be useful to define those. Hopefully this will clear things up for new readers. So, if you are a new reader

 
Tags: , , , , ,

Comments

Leave a Reply