really? conditional on them actually being neurosurgeon, I'd place a lot more stock on it than on a random headline based on their authority alone. So I, for one, care.

Argument from authority is a bad thing specifically when it's used to make incorrect claims on the basis of authority. But authority as a concept still has plenty of merit.

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pixl97 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Correct, but an argument from authority requires certification as an authority.

Otherwise I'm free to claim I'm an authority on your moms butthole.

	▲	elendilm 20 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		LOL. Hilarious

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someguynamedq an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Authority is a heuristic for which claims are worthy of investigation, not determining their truth

	▲	elendilm 39 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Always be suspicious of people who don't atleast give us even a single valid sentence to construct the chain of thought that would lead to their negation or assertion. An authority claim by virtue of itself is not worth investigating. Science doesn't work that way. Math doesn't work that way.

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elendilm 36 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> Argument from authority is a bad thing specifically when it's used to make incorrect claims on the basis of authority.

Exactly. Thank you.

> I'd place a lot more stock on it than on a random headline based on their authority alone. So I, for one, care.

I would leave you to contemplate the meaning of what you yourself wrote.