ACB on appealing to authority and a minimum level of understanding
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ACB: This is an interesting point. Is there a minimum level of understanding that someone must have in order to derive justification from an authority? For example, if you are completely ignorant of music theory, and a qualified musician tells you: "A tritone is an augmented fourth or a diminished fifth", are you justified in believing it? You do not have a clue what it means, except that it is something to do with music. Imagine the following exchange: Layman (L): What are you talking about? Musician (M): I'm talking about intervals. L: What are they? M: The distances between two notes. L: You mean, like when two players stand five feet apart... M: No, you fool, I mean like when you play two different notes on the piano. L: Oh, I see. So what is this 'fourth' and 'fifth' stuff? That's more than two. M: No, you have to count up from the bottom note...
ACB on appealing to authority and a minimum level of understanding
ACB on appealing to authority and a minimum…
ACB on appealing to authority and a minimum level of understanding
ACB: This is an interesting point. Is there a minimum level of understanding that someone must have in order to derive justification from an authority? For example, if you are completely ignorant of music theory, and a qualified musician tells you: "A tritone is an augmented fourth or a diminished fifth", are you justified in believing it? You do not have a clue what it means, except that it is something to do with music. Imagine the following exchange: Layman (L): What are you talking about? Musician (M): I'm talking about intervals. L: What are they? M: The distances between two notes. L: You mean, like when two players stand five feet apart... M: No, you fool, I mean like when you play two different notes on the piano. L: Oh, I see. So what is this 'fourth' and 'fifth' stuff? That's more than two. M: No, you have to count up from the bottom note...