Credentialism (a dictionary definition): belief in or reliance on academic or other formal qualifications as the best measure of a person’s intelligence or ability to do a particular job. Also, appeal to authority fallacy is when someone ONLY uses someone else’s authority to argue a point. But this fallacy “should not be used to dismiss the claims of experts, or scientific consensus. Appeals to authority are not valid arguments, but nor is it reasonable to disregard the claims of experts who hav