Not a Real Doctor
Also: Appeal to False Authority, Honor by Association,
Halo Effect, Endorsement Ads
Class: Evade > Irrelevant
Presenting someone’s opinion as
evidence when they are not really
a qualified expert in that subject.
Panda rodeos should be banned. Even Zendaya spoke out against them.
Zendaya is a celebrity, not a zoologist.
Dr. Schmoe recommends we raise taxes.
Dr. Schmoe is a foot doctor, not an economist.
Well I went to Harvard, and I think we should switch to year-round school.
Where you went to college does not mean all your opinions are correct.
Senator Schmoe says we don’t have a policing problem, and he’s black.
Being black doesn’t mean he’s the authority to speak for all black people.
Foolacy vs. Fallacy

Halo Effect is a cognitive bias where the listener allows themselves to be misled. The speaker takes advantage of this by using fallacies:

Appeal to False Authority: Citing someone who is popular, smart, or rich.
Honor by Association: Citing someone who went to a good school, works at a good company, comes from a prosperous country, etc.
Genetic Fallacy: Assuming something is valid if it’s from a trusted source. (Also could be discredited for negative origins, but that’s not relevant here.)

So really the bias and fallacies are two sides of the same coin.

“Not a real doctor” is a disclaimer printed on ads where an actor is acting as a doctor.

Two related but different fallacies are:
Appeal to Authority: Citing a qualified expert as proof. Experts are good support, but not proof.
Courtier’s Reply: Saying the speaker must be wrong if they are not a qualified expert. This is a counterpart to Appeal to False Authority: even non-experts can be correct.
These are Level 3-4 examples   Show Analysis

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