In other words, authority is a medium through which we transfer our knowledge and culture. However, in view of their professional, ideological, and educational experiences, people tend to abandon their authorities. Anyone whose political views drifted away from their family values and who ended up indulging in a political debate with a relative can confirm this. Similarly, people sometimes tend to discard authorities whose views stand in open conflict with social progress and zeitgeist – older generations displaying orthodox religious beliefs, blatant racism, or trust in folk medicine may serve as examples here.

Conversely, there are people suffering from authority bias; i.e., the tendency to attribute higher belief to the opinions of authority figures, even when authority is solely based on such irrelevant factors as financial status, religious affiliation, or fame alone. To name just two examples, celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow influenced her fans to buy potentially harmful pseudo-medical products [3], while religious lobbyist Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (a. k. a. Mother Teresa) routinely denied her “patients” the relief of modern medicine, though she “herself (…) has checked into some of the finest and costliest clinics and hospitals in the West during her bouts with heart trouble and old age” [4]. Consequently, authority bias is considered to be a cognitive bias – a thorough, consistent, and incorrect way of judgment.

Progress is forever dependent on the abandonment of opinions created by authority. If authorities of previous generations could maintain their views, our civilization could never benefit from discoveries such as evolution or heliocentric astronomy, which have always been, and sometimes still are, opposed by conservative mindsets.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for human minds to admit that a fallible authority is at the core of their beliefs. This might explain why younger people change their views more readily. After all, few would admit having lived years or decades under a misapprehension. Under such circumstances, a skeptic should be exceptionally cautious of fallacious arguments and opinions, because once they enter a person’s belief system, they are extremely difficult to eradicate. Or, as Carl Sagan put it, “If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan – political or religious – who comes rambling along” [5].