Home / Tricks / Appeal to authority
Appeal to authority
Using someone's status instead of evidence.
In our replies we call it: Name-drops authority
What it means
This trick says a claim is true because an important-sounding person or body said so: "a doctor says", "NASA confirmed", "as per RBI sources". Often the authority is unnamed, out of their field, or never said it at all.
How to spot it in a Reel
- Unnamed experts or "sources"
- A celebrity or doctor speaking outside their field
- Big names attached with no link to what they said
Examples
- A forward claims "UNESCO declared" something UNESCO never said.
- A Reel uses a famous actor's opinion as proof on an economic question.
Why it doesn't hold up
Experts can be right, but the evidence is what counts. Check that the authority is real, relevant and actually said it.
What to say back
"Who exactly said this, where, and is it their field?"
Questions
Is citing experts a fallacy?
No. Citing a named expert in their field, with a source, is good practice. It's a trick when the name replaces the evidence.
Check a Reel for this trick
Send any Reel to @checkthis.chat on Instagram. If it uses this trick, the reply names it and shows where it happens.
Send a Reel