(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Logical Fallacy Bootcamp: Appeal to Celebrity [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-10-19
Hi folks! I’m on a bit of streak with getting these out and wanted to take advantage by getting another installment out (the bad thing about chemo — you never know when it’s gonna knock you flat). So let’s dive right into another logical fallacy: The Appeal to Celebrity!
This one is pretty simple, and sometimes is closely related to as Appeal to False Authority.
At its core, it’s an argument that the claims of a celebrity are valid BECAUSE they are a celebrity rather than any actual expertise or knowledge in the topic at hand.
The argument runs like this:
“Celebrity X says you should use Product Y. Therefore, you should use Product Y.”
This one is related to the Bandwagon Fallacy and to the Appeal to False Authority.
Obviously, this fallacy is absolutely rampant in advertising, and there is a reason why businesses and nonprofits alike seek celebrity spokespeople. This is a fallacy that people fall prey to all the time. If they didn’t, advertisers wouldn’t lean so heavily on it.
But this goes well beyond product endorsements. How many times have celebrity statements about important issues of the day — on politics, science, social issues — been touted in the press to one degree or another?
Now, I’m not one of those that says “Celebrity X should stay in their lane and shut up.” Nah, not my speed. They have First Amendment rights to spout off whatever they want, it just so happens that their celebrity status gives them a much bigger microphone than the average bear.
But we need to be sure, before we take Celebrity X’s word about something, that we actually vet the statement like we would any other piece of information. Some celebrities really CAN speak with authority on issues, either because they actually have a professional background related to the issue they’re speaking on, or because they’ve taken the time and effort to become knowledgeable. I mean, Brian May of Queen is a real, live astrophysicist, fer cryin’ out loud. If he speaks about interplanetary dust (the subject of his PhD thesis, which he completed in 2007 after a 37 year hiatus of work on the subject(!)), I’m gonna give him a listen. On the other hand, if he expounds on what type of laundry detergent I should use...maybe not so much.
So, why does this one happen? Why do we fall prey to believing celebrities are authorities on subjects they may know nothing about — to the point where a celebrity endorsement can literally lead to billions of dollars in increased sales for a big corporation?
Our brains do a poor job of telling the difference between real and illusion. And as part of that, with celebrities, as they become familiar faces and names to us, we mentally accept them as part of “our circle,” even if it may be subconscious. Our brains love the familiar, especially familiar faces, and scans show our brains light up upon seeing familiar faces, even if we don’t personally know the person who owns the face we’re looking at.
That unearned familiarity leads to an unearned level of trust. To complicate matters, if we see an actor in a role, we may see them especially as an authority related to that role (i.e. an actor who plays a doctor might carry more weight when speaking on medical issues).
That’s it for today kids! Until next time! And if you enjoyed this one, check out past installments of my Bootcamp series below!
Prior Bootcamp Installments
Logical Fallacies Bootcamp:
The Strawman
The Slippery Slope
Begging the Question
Poisoning the Well
No True Scotsman!
Ad Hominem
False Dilemma
Non Sequitur
Red Herring
Gamblers Fallacy
Bandwagon Fallacy
Appeal to Fear
The Fallacy Fallacy
Appeal to Personal Incredulity
Appeal to Authority
Special Pleading
Texas Sharpshooter
Post Hoc
Appeal to Nature
Furtive Fallacy
Alphabet Soup
Cognitive Bias Bootcamp:
Bystander Effect
Curse of Knowledge
Barnum Effect
Declinism
In-Group Bias
Hindsight Bias
Survivor Bias
Rhyme-as-Reason Effect
Apophenia (& Paradoleia)
The Dunning-Kruger Effect
Confirmation Bias
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/19/2129586/-Logical-Fallacy-Bootcamp-Appeal-to-Celebrity
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
