Bad Appeals to Authority

A concept that I found interesting in the Critical Thinking book was, Bad appeals to authority. The definition of appeal to authority is stated in the book as, “when we accept a claim because of who said it.” When we “accept claims from people who aren’t authorities on the subject or who have a motive to mislead,” then it is a bad appeal to authority. I know sometimes I’ve treated my friends and relatives as authorities sometimes. I accepted their claims because they were older than me; therefore you would think they would have more knowledge and information on a subject that you don’t know too much yourself. I have found them to be wrong sometimes. Many times I felt like I should have gone with my way of going about something or using my logic. A person can sound like they know what they are talking about but can also be completely lying. That’s what I have learned.