and asking for academic background is an argument from authority... No it isn't. It isn't even an argument of any sort. I think most reasonable people would in

and asking for academic background is an argument from authority... No it isn't. It isn't even an argument of any sort. I think most reasonable people would interpret that as an attempt to gather evidence to support applying a heuristic filter to the question of "is it worth my time to continue engaging with this person or not?"