Reply #2: Appealing to authority is part of the conservative personality

[HereSince1628]

Appealing to authority provides a mechanism that facilitates quick and simple solutions and avoids the mental distress brought on by thoughtful consideration of complex problems with competing values.

It externalizes the problem and places all responsibility for decision making/choosing a course of action on the authority.

It also frees individuals of the need to question the course dictated by the authoritative other. The individuals job is simply to do what is told, and not to question the mysterious if not dubious ways in which authority decides.

It also reinforces the need for authority. Everytime we let someone else decide, we've avoided the effort, protected our psyches, and become less less inclined and less capable of doing so on future issues. After a time these herd members become perfectly willing to accept dictates that are distortions and outright lies and willingly follow a Judas goat to their own slaughter.