[3][4] While all sources agree this is not a valid form of logical proof, and therefore, obtaining knowledge in this way is fallible, there is disagreement on the general extent to which it is fallible - historically, opinion on the appeal to authority has been divided: it is listed as a non-fallacious argument as often as a fallacious argument in various sources.
[18] This qualification as a logical fallacy implies that this argument is invalid when using the deductive method, and therefore it cannot be presented as infallible.
[23] Inductively it can be used in a cogent form if all sides of a discussion agree on the reliability of the cited authority in the given context.
"[30] One example of the use of the appeal to authority in science dates to 1923,[31] when leading American zoologist Theophilus Painter declared, based on poor data and conflicting observations he had made,[32][33] that humans had 24 pairs of chromosomes.
From the 1920s until 1956,[34] scientists propagated this "fact" based on Painter's authority,[35][36][33] despite subsequent counts totaling the correct number of 23.
[47] In a variation of a study where the researchers did not wear lab coats, thus reducing the perceived authority of the tasker, the obedience level dropped to 20% from the original rate, which had been higher than 50%.
[47] Scholars have noted that certain environments can produce an ideal situation for these processes to take hold, giving rise to groupthink.
[51]Corporate environments are similarly vulnerable to appeals to perceived authorities and experts leading to groupthink,[52] as are governments and militaries.