undefined | Better HN

0 pointsJeremyBanks16y ago0 comments

Appeal to authority. Please try again, I'm curious.

0 comments

It's not an appeal to authority, it's an appeal to good ideas. Dyson's points are valid. If you dismiss them without even thinking deeply about them, you're pretty much doing what the Inquisition did to Galileo.

Moreover, Dyson's points are based on good Science. He focuses on measurements and data, which are hard evidence. Dyson does not appeal to emotion or fear.

codahale16y ago

You said "Do you have the audacity to call him a conspiracy theorist? He's only one of the greatest scientists of the 20th Century. What kind of track record do you have to belittle Dyson?"

That is an explicit appeal to authority.

TriinT16y ago

Fair enough. You have a point.

But then, only in a fantasy world do people not appeal to authority. Someone who has a track record is always more reliable than someone who lacks it. And, to be honest, this is a good thing.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

TriinT16y ago

Moreover, Dyson's points are based on good Science. He focuses on measurements and data, which are hard evidence. Dyson does not appeal to emotion or fear.

codahale16y ago

You said "Do you have the audacity to call him a conspiracy theorist? He's only one of the greatest scientists of the 20th Century. What kind of track record do you have to belittle Dyson?"

That is an explicit appeal to authority.

TriinT16y ago

Fair enough. You have a point.

But then, only in a fantasy world do people not appeal to authority. Someone who has a track record is always more reliable than someone who lacks it. And, to be honest, this is a good thing.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse