Appeal to authority

[Der/die AtheistIn]

There is a huge difference between the appeal to lawmakers, religious leaders, and independent scientific peer review that fosters consensus over time.

North Korea has laws, so in that context, yea appeal to their authority is bullshit.

The ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks also had religious leaders, and again, appeal to their authority would also be a fallacy.

But when it comes to facts like evolution and big bang, appealing to the long term observations that confirm those facts, that is not a fallacy.

Appealing to authority is a fallacy only when the argument is that something is true, because someone with authority says so, this is always false, even if the thing that you try to prove is true. When a scientist makes observations, it's the observation itself that is proof.