false authority syndrome

by Stavr0

Fri Nov 23 2001 at 17:13:35

"The tendency to assume that a person who is an expert in one field is also an expert in a related field." -- www.logophilia.com

This is the main trap that people fall into when receiving a email hoax or urban legend. Because the hoax quotes some authority figure, police, corporate executive or supposed 'expert', the recipient is lured into a false sense of authenticity and accepts the warning at face value.

(I like it!)

printable version

chaos

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false authority syndrome

Epicenter

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