Logical Fallacies - Appeal to Authority

Several days ago, I received a comment on one of my posts saying, basically, "So this guy must be an idiot?  I mean come on man!" followed by this link:

Cambridge Virologist Slams Lockdowns as "The Greatest Hoax Ever".

I'll let you read the article if you wish, but the title pretty much says it all.  So, what to think about this?

There's a Logical Fallacy called "Appeal to Authority", in which someone presents a position taken by some expert and uses that person's position as an expert to claim that whatever he's said is right.  In this case, because the good Dr is a virologist, he must be right when he slams current lockdowns as a giant hoax.

Unfortunately, there are many examples like these.

Linus Pauling was a world-recognized chemist who won two Nobel Prizes.  That feat alone puts him in a very small, select group of only 4 people and is the only one to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.  Obviously, a recognized expert in his field.

However, later in life, Linus Pauling took a position supporting a limited form of eugenics which you can read about in the article linked to above.  He also began promoting the use of massive doses of Vitamin C to treat conditions ranging from the common cold to cancer.

His research was treated with skepticism, as is common in scientific circles but as others tried to replicate his results, faults in his experimental design became apparent.  Ultimately, no subsequent, independent research was able to replicate and support his findings.  

So what do we learn from an example like this?  Only that experts can be wrong, even in areas where they might be considered knowledgeable.  Only independent research can provide the data to either support or refute claims made by anyone, even experts in certain fields.

And appealing to the expertise of an individual is never enough.  Supporting studies and data is what makes someone's claims valid, never the fact that they are an expert.  That's a Logical Fallacy in this case.

Elon Musk is well-known for his two main enterprises, Tesla electric cars and Space-X.  Not only is he rich, he's obviously at least somewhat of an expert in something.  He's also had a number of rather controversial opinions on COVID-19.

There's nothing especially new in what he's contended.  Such views are well known on social media.  The only point in raising them here is to point out that just because Elon is famous and rich does not mean that his views are automatically worth paying any attention to.  To do so would be an example of Appeal to Authority.

Unfortunately for Elon, the scientific evidence does not support his positions.  He might know lots about electric cars, but that doesn't mean he knows anything much about virology or epidemiology.  

As is commonly said in scientific circles: "Extraordinary Claims Demand Extraordinary Evidence".  Even the experts need to provide evidence.