However, by introducing these figures, the party “forces” us to conclude that it is not necessary to make a change in civil rights because there are very few people who could benefit from it. Although those figures were true, which they are not, they are really irrelevant for passing a law on this marriage. However, the red herring fallacy is not limited to the personal level but is also one of the preferred strategies of politicians and the media to divert social debates from important issues to less important arguments.įor example, if a political party is against the marriage between people of the same gender, it could argue arguments such as the fact that only 10% of these people want to marry and that, if they do, the marriage would have an 80% chance of failing. If we follow the game by answering their questions, it is likely that we will end up submerged in a philosophical discussion or that we end up being the culprits when in fact we are the victim.
The objective of that person is to change the topic of the discussion, take it to an impersonal field, so as not to have to apologize for his behavior or repair the damage caused.
#Example of red herring fallacy in media code#
– It is a behavioral code culturally established that indicates what is allowed and what is not.Īnd so the conversation could continue ad infinitum… – What you have done is not morally correct. – Topic A is abandoned to focus on topic B, which is not as urgent or importantĪn example of the red herring fallacy in action is when we make someone notice that his behavior has not been morally correct and this person responds by going around the bush: It is being discussed topic A, which is the issue to solve that concerns the most Basically, what happens is the following: Obviously, the arguments that are introduced are valid, and that is the reason why the others allow themselves to be distracted. In interpersonal relations happens the same thing when you try to distort attention on the main topic.
The hunters created on the ground a trace with the smell of herrings, if the dogs were not able to stay focused and follow the trail of the fox but followed the smell of the fish, and then it was considered that they were not good for hunting. The red herring fallacy owes its original name to an ancient custom according to which the strong smell emanating from the fish was used to distract the hunting dogs from their target and create a false trail. Divert the attention from the important to discuss the inconsequential In other cases we may feel angry because we feel that we have been duped.
That frustration comes from the fact that we have invested time and effort without achieving anything. When we are victims of this fallacy it is normal that at the end of the discussion we experience a sense of frustration, even if we do not know very well why. In this way he manages to distract the attention of all those involved to reach a conclusion that tilts the balance in his favor and that is generally irrelevant to the subject that was being discussed. The red herring fallacy is a logical fallacy that takes place when a person introduces irrelevant information for the topic of the discussion.
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