Comment on Why do we say, "when I look in the mirror" instead of "when I look in a mirror?"

• EleventhHour@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Nope, as I explained in my other comment, it’s standard usage.

  you explained more or less what i did, except the whole “using the grammar and spelling of a 3 year-old is valid because language is fluid!” BS argument i outright reject–

  and your claims of being an English teacher? it bears no weight here.

  Argument from authority

  An argument from authority (argumentum ab auctoritate), also called an appeal to authority, or argumentum ad verecundiam, is a form of argument in which the opinion of an influential figure is used as evidence to support an argument.[1]

  The argument from authority is a logical fallacy,[2] and obtaining knowledge in this way is fallible.[3][4]

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  • kabe@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Lol well teaching this professionally surely makes me some form of authority (albeit of course not the authority!) on this subject.

    To clarify, your original point sounded like you were making a distinction between metaphorical mirrors and actual mirrors:

    “in the mirror” tends to more often refer to a metaphorical “mirror”, typically when discussing self-reflection

    • "I took a look in the mirror and decided to change my ways."

    “in a mirror” tends to refer most often to actual mirrors that exist in reality, not metaphorically

    • "I looked into a mirror to fix my eyeliner."

    This incorrect distinction is what I was objecting to, because of course we can use both the indefinite and definite articles to refer to either real or imaginary mirrors.

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  • Nibodhika@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s a common mistake, an argument from authority is only a fallacy if the person is not an authority in the field. Quoting Neil deGrasse Tyson on political views is an argument from authority, quoting him on astrophysics is not.

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    • EleventhHour@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Wrong. Authority is not what makes an argument correct— facts are. And those exist regardless of any claimed authority— therefore, to argue that one’s authority makes them correct is a fallacy, for it is facts and evidence, not authority, from which truth is derived.

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      • Nibodhika@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        The thing is that facts are not as clear cut as you think, that’s a very childish vision of the world (to think that it is always possible to differentiate a fact, don’t believe me? What am I wearing now? There is a factual answer, but you have no way of knowing it)

        Plus if Neil deGrasse Tyson claims something about astrophysics and you claim he’s wrong, you better have at least someone as knowledgeable as him in astrophysics to back that claim, otherwise I’m siding with the expert on the matter.

        Plus all discussions rely on the backing of experts, otherwise any discussion is impossible, I could just claim your argument is wrong because some word you used means the opposite of what you meant, your only counter argument would be to point to a dictionary, which is by your own definition an appeal to authority fallacy.

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      • morriscox@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I have had people hand me a floppy disk and want me to download the Internet onto it. I have told them that that is impossible but how do they know that I’m telling them the truth?

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