Honestly, the only "winning" strategy here is to not argue with people on the comments sections of political articles.
If you must, try and cast the argument in a way that avoids the standard red tribe / blue tribe framing. Doing this can be hard because people generally aren't in the business of having politics debate with an end goal of dissolving an issue--they just want to signal their tribe--hence why arguing on the internet is often a waste of time.
As to the question of authority: how would you expect the conversation to go if you were an economist?
Me: I think money printing by the Fed will cause inflation if they continue like this.
Random commenter: Are you an economist?
Me: Yes actually, I have a PhD in The Economy from Ivy League University.
Random commenter (possible response 1): I don't believe you, and continue to believe what I believe.
Random commenter (possible response 2): Oh well that's one of the (Conservative / Liberal) (pick one) schools, they're obviously wrong and don't know what they're talking about.
Random commenter (possible response 3): Economists obviously don't know what they're talking about.
Again, it's a mix of Dunning-Kruger and tribal signalling. There's not actually any direction an appeal-to-authority debate can go that's productive because the challenger has already made up their mind about the facts being discussed.
For a handful of relevant lesswrong posts: http://lesswrong.com/lw/axn/6_tips_for_productive_arguments/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/gz/policy_debates_should_not_appear_onesided/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/3k/how_to_not_lose_an_argument/
Honestly, the only "winning" strategy here is to not argue with people on the comments sections of political articles.
Exactly.
For a handful of relevant lesswrong posts:
I would also include Is That Your True Rejection?
Especially in the comments of political articles or about economic issues I find myself arguing with people who question my authority about a topic rather than refute my arguments.
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Examples may be:
1:
Me: I think money printing by the Fed will cause inflation if they continue like this.
Random commenter: Are you an economist?
Me: I am not, but it's not relevant.
Random commenter: Ok, so you are clueless.
2:
Me: The current strategy to fight terror is not working because ISIS is growing.
Random commenter: What would you do to stop terrorism?
Me: I have an idea of what I would do, but it's not relevant because I'm not an expert, but do you think the current strategy is working?
Random commenter: So you don't know what you are talking about.
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It is not about my opinions above, or even if I am right or not, I would gladly change my opinion after a debate, but I think that I am being disqualified unfairly.
If I am right, how should I answer or continue these conversations?