While Plato is something of an authority (and thus the best target for the joke), he does show his work. HN is pretty good about avoiding appeal to authority.
But it is a frightfully common logical fallacy, and the perhaps the only one we spend so much time educating our children to use. Largely by example.
>But it is a frightfully common logical fallacy, and the perhaps the only one we spend so much time educating our children to use. Largely by example.
All logical fallacies are actually valid ways of thinking about things.
It's good to avoid them (or use them) but only in moderation.
The idea that avoiding logical fallacies all the time is OK, is actually illogical.
Sure, something might not be true just because an authority on the matter said it, but it's more likely to be true than what some random person said about the subject. E.g. one would rather trust Einstein than the guy who says they invented perpetual motion. The idea of the burden-of-proof (which is totally valid) is against total adhesion to "appeal to authority".
And given finite lifetimes, and other interests, we're not gonna all learn medicine and evaluate any claim on a medical issue we have from our street cleaner and our doctor alike. We'll trust the doctor, appeal to authority be damned -- and it's the smart thing to do, even if it's not 100% accurate (the doctor might be wrong).
While Plato is something of an authority (and thus the best target for the joke), he does show his work. HN is pretty good about avoiding appeal to authority.
But it is a frightfully common logical fallacy, and the perhaps the only one we spend so much time educating our children to use. Largely by example.