Re: To Richard Heathfield: enough's enough

From: Richard Heathfield (invalid_at_address.co.uk.invalid)
Date: 12/24/03 

Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 21:44:15 +0000

Malcolm wrote:

>
> "Edward G. Nilges" <spinoza1111@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>
>> Richard, "argument by appeal to authority" is NOT a "well-known
>> logical fallacy", and I've taught formal and informal logic at two
>> universities.
>>
>> Richard, you are attempting, with no qualifications and no university
>> degree, to be the moderator of an unmoderated group, and this is
>> abuse of usenet.
>>
> This is an example of the mirror image fallacy - assuming that a person's
> opinion is worthless because he lack relevant examination passes, or
> social status.

Right. In fact, reading the thread, it's pretty obvious whose opinion is
worthless, despite his claims to have a degree.

> It is a fallacy to cite as an authority someone who isn't an authority -
> for instance quoting "Titbits" in a discussion about fundamental physics.
> It is also a fallacy to state a real authority - say "Nature", and claim
> that an opinion is necessarily true because that authority supports it. It
> is not a fallacy to say that Nature's opinion is highly respected in
> scientific circles and thus must be treated very seriously.
>
> You are right to be sceptical of Richard's claims because he lacks a
> university degree,

Not when Richard has posted empirical evidence demonstrating his point in a
way reproducible on any common-or-garden desktop computer. Any authority
whose description of the observable universe fails to tally with
reproducible experimental data must either come up with a plausible reason
for the discrepancy or change its mind.

Anyway, in case you haven't noticed, Nilges has clearly decided that, if he
can only attack what he perceives to be my lack of education, the good
people of this newsgroup might forget his ludicrous claims about how strlen
is implemented. Do not make the mistake of believing Mr Nilges (a proven
liar) has a degree until you've seen the certificate and checked that it's
genuine. Once you've done that, don't make the mistake of thinking that it
proves that he understands computer science. Read this thread for ample
evidence to the contrary.

> but you must also explain why "appeal to authority"
> isn't a fallacy from first principles, not from authority.

Common sense is unlikely to persuade Mr Nilges now. It's never worked
before.

As it happens, though, he correctly objected that I should have said "appeal
to inappropriate authority", and I will accept that criticism. Let it not
be said that /I/ don't know when I'm wrong. 

-- 
Richard Heathfield : binary@eton.powernet.co.uk
"Usenet is a strange place." - Dennis M Ritchie, 29 July 1999.
C FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
K&R answers, C books, etc: http://users.powernet.co.uk/eton

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