David Monniaux wrote:
Elisabeth Bauer wrote:
- the mediocre persons with credits. Someone really knowledgeable in
a field doesn't have to cite his credentials to gain respect in the wikipedia community, his contributions speak for him. If you have to refer to your credits in an argument instead of citing sources and use arguments, there's something wrong.
Not necessarily. There are times when, apart from saying "please read the basic textbooks on this area, I can't give you 4 years of courses in an email reply", the only thing you can use are your credentials.
Referring to the basic textbooks is fair enough, but shutting down the discussion based on one's credentials injects a logical fallacy. The contributor who refuses to accept the basic textbook reference does need to accept the burden of finding sources for his alternate theory. What was said in the "4 years of courses" is unverifiable if it is only a form of hearsay evidence.
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