Concept · Cognitive Bias: Informal fallacies of relevance
Appeal to force (argumentum ad baculum)
Origin: Traditional Latin rhetoric
Biological Parallel
In wolf packs, subordinates adopt submissive postures (ears back, tail down) when alphas display aggression, regardless of resource distribution logic. This isn't evaluation of the alpha's argument—it's threat assessment overriding negotiation. The appeal to force succeeds because primate and canid brains prioritize physical safety over truth-seeking. For millions of years, losing a logical argument to someone who could kill you was irrelevant; submitting kept you alive to argue another day.