Discussion Question Number Three: Part Four

Bad Appeals to Authority

"It's usually a mistake to accept a claim as true solely because a lot of other people believe it." (97)

Chapter 5 discusses the interesting ideals and misinterpretation of believing what someone says merely because they sound like they know what they are talking about. I've known some people, and admittedly have caught myself doing this (speaking about a certain topic as if I've an expert on it), and it's really just unfortunate because there has been some times where I may know a simple fact or two, and act as if I am the go-to person for that thing, simply so I can have that title---which is ridiculous. According to the text, people have the tendency to treat their friends as these bad appeals to authority more commonly than others because of the close friendship. We're either truly believe what they say to be true, or do not want to hurt their feelings because we are aware of this bad authority and pretend as if they are giving truthful thoughts, arguments, or claims.

There is also the mentioning of the comparison of the bad perpetuated idea and overused argument of the if-everyone-is-doing-it-you-should-do-it-too attitude or persona that some people or other friends tend to use to convince or influence someone to do something they have hesitance in doing int he first place as a bad appeal to authority. However, this air of common belief or alleged assumption can come in handy in some occasions. For instance, Epstein provides the common belief of "Harry's" observation of seeing others driving on the other side of the road (the left side) when in Japan, and because of that, he should do it as well.