[frgoff]

I'm quite aware of this fallacy, however, you have somewhat misunderstood it. Appeal to numbers is in fact valid when those people are experts on the given subject. In the same way it's not Appeal to Authority fallacy if you say a physicist agrees with you when arguing about physics.

Appeal to Numbers and Appeal to Authority are always fallacious because you are attempting to persuade, not by the actual logic of the argument, but because x number of people (regardless of their credentials) said so or because person y, who is an expert, said so.

Appeal to Numbers and Authority in this instance is the opposite of Shoot the Messenger. Both attempt to sidestep the actual arguments for or against the idea and instead focus on the messenger or presenter of the idea.

This fallacy of appealing to numbers or authority is well recognized in science which is why articles are peer reviewed, even if you are a nobel laureate, or if there are ten thousand scientists on your team.

In science, it is the experiment which is tested based on its reproducibility, not on the authority or number of people making the particular claim.

[neutrality]

The only time such an argument won't be fallacious is when the consensus is one of individual authorities and thus the argument meets the same basic standards required of the general Argument from Authority. For example, an argument about the nature of lung cancer based upon the published opinions of most cancer researchers would carry real weight and would not be fallacious.