It allegedly gets its name from the use of herring, a type of fish with a pungent scent, to distract tracking dogs from following someone’s trail.įor instance, suppose I’m discussing with Jim the impact social media has on our kids, and he says:Ī lot of people say today’s digital media leaves our children with the inability to focus on something for more than a few minutes. One commits this fallacy when she or he sidetracks conversations away from the point under discussion to a different issue, and then announces that the point made about that other issue establishes proof of the conclusion. This week I’ll discuss the first of the three: the red herring fallacy.

This non-sequitur is one of three common but very harmful errors we must understand and avoid if we want to promote healthy dialogue, human flourishing, and-ultimately-the common good. Why would these two corporations that trade in essential services take such an extreme position? I believe it may be because they have embraced as valid a logical fallacy that is prevalent in current discussions of social issues. They said the organization’s view of family breakdown and the impact such a view has on children made it a “hate group.” Similarly, a firm that provides information about non-profits labeled one association a “hate group” due to the group’s traditional position on marriage (though the information company quickly retracted this assessment when critics challenged their arbitrary action). Recently a major credit card processor refused to handle further transactions that were gifts directed to a non-profit group.

3 red herring logical fallacy