OK
An argument from authority, also known as an appeal to authority, is a logical fallacy that occurs when someone uses a person's authority to support their argument instead of the person's reasoning. Here are some examples of arguments from authority:
- A mentor's opinion: "My mentor, who holds a PhD in philosophy, said philosophy is the most challenging academic discipline. That's why I decided to study art history".
- A nutritionist's book: "I read a book by a nutritionist who says all carbs are bad. That's why I avoid them completely".
- A lawyer's opinion: "My friend's a lawyer, and she also said that fair-use law is a sham".
- A famous actor's endorsement: "The PrestigeX4000, the pinnacle of automotive excellence. When Jack Steele, Hollywood's greatest action hero, demands the ultimate driving experience, why settle for less?".
- An anonymous authority: "9 out of 10 dentists prefer this brand".
- A climate scientist's book: "I don't believe any of those climate doomsayers. Climate change isn't real. I have a book at home by a climate scientist that lays it all out".
Shallow.
Superficial.
(There are also a plethora of other definitions - which, since we're discussing fallacious arguments, implies your post falls under the category of fallacious argument of entitled Cherry Picking)
There are also resources that separate the two types of argument thus - first "
Appeal to Authority" - and second "
Argument from Authority".
I believe that I was specifically tackling the second type.
Yet your post singularly depicts the former. (Which reinforces the potential for your post to be Cherry Picking.)
This "
Appeal to" isn't what we are talking about, in the main. We were discussing the expert themselves giving their point, or an extended version of a person using the experts actual material point, not just referring to the person as an expert to justify an opinion other than their actual point. You even said that my example of spaceflight dynamics "didn't make sense" as an example - and yet all of your examples from above do worse.
I'm beginning to suspect that you're being deliberately obtuse.
Anyway, I believe that you were arguing for a different viewpoint. You seem to have said above that you would be justified to: disbelieve an expert,
in their field of expertise, face-to-face and in person, if they don't give you their workings.
I don't know whether you've entirely back pedalled on that position or whether you have
subtly changed your position, or whether you still believe that taking a different "opinion" than what an expert
within their field claims to be true is in some way justifiable?