This is kind of a backward approach to an appeal to authority. If Bill Gates were a scientist, would that make it okay? If not, then why bother mentioning it? And you do realize that Gates isn't personally piddling around in a lab creating those mosquitos, right? He pays scientists to do it. So, again, since scientists are the ones doing it, does that make it okay?
I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment (that it shouldn't be done), just with the logical fallacy.
I was at one of the parks near the White House this weekend and one of those Daily Show type "reporters" was out there talking to some Trump supporters. He was doing that "gotcha" type interview where he led them down a path of reasoning that ended in the Trump supporter looking foolish. And one of those interviews was similar to this post.
This is one reason (among many) why it's important to understand things like logical fallacies and know how to make persuasive arguments. Those things don't matter much in here, where you're basically preaching to the choir. But if you're trying to convince a normie or you're arguing with a lib, you need to be able to make a compelling argument to support your stance. Because they will pick apart everything you say.
I'm not trying to embarrass you or start an argument about the subject of your post. I just want people to be able to recognize logical fallacies like appeals to authority and to avoid using them.
This is kind of a backward approach to an appeal to authority. If Bill Gates were a scientist, would that make it okay? If not, then why bother mentioning it? And you do realize that Gates isn't personally piddling around in a lab creating those mosquitos, right? He pays scientists to do it. So, again, since scientists are the ones doing it, does that make it okay?
I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment (that it shouldn't be done), just with the logical fallacy.
I was at one of the parks near the White House this weekend and one of those Daily Show type "reporters" was out there talking to some Trump supporters. He was doing that "gotcha" type interview where he led them down a path of reasoning that ended in the Trump supporter looking foolish. And one of those interviews was similar to this post.
This is one reason (among many) why it's important to understand things like logical fallacies and know how to make persuasive arguments. Those things don't matter much in here, where you're basically preaching to the choir. But if you're trying to convince a normie or you're arguing with a lib, you need to be able to make a compelling argument to support your stance. Because they will pick apart everything you say.
I'm not trying to embarrass you or start an argument about the subject of your post. I just want people to be able to recognize logical fallacies like appeals to authority and to avoid using them.