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- I think that almost any argument, on any topic, which has premises beginning with "Jimbo said..." is a pretty weak argument. Surely the merits of the proposal should be primary, not what I happen to think. -- Jimbo Wales
The "Argumentum ad Jimbonem" is a logical fallacy sometimes employed on Misplaced Pages, made by asserting that one's view is correct since Jimbo holds the same view. There are two things wrong with that. First, it is an appeal to authority in that Jimbo is not automatically correct in whatever he says. And second, such arguments tend to rely on possibly incorrect interpretation and extrapolation of what Jimbo had said, as well as quotes that are several years out of date. A variation is the "Argumentum ad Brionem".
Of course we should never ignore what Jimbo and Brion have to say on an issue, and indeed both have the authority to create policy from scratch if they think it necessary. However, we should not base our decisions on a haphazard interpretation of something either of them said on a semi-related matter several years ago.
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