No. 11 Missing the Point
Red Herring
In Turkish: Konuyu Saptırma Safsatası
My question’s still here. Where did you go?
Where did the roof money go, Temel? It was on the table yesterday.
Never mind that, look at the neighbour’s boy, home at three in the morning again!
And did the boy coming home make the money turn up, Temel?
What is it?
Throwing out a completely different subject when cornered, so everyone chases it instead. The new subject may be interesting, even important; it just has nothing to do with the question, which is still unanswered.
The pattern
- A: “What do you say about X?”
- B: “The real issue is Y!” (Y is attention-grabbing and unrelated to X)
- Everyone discusses Y; X is forgotten.
Why it fails
Changing the subject is easier than answering, especially if the new subject is infuriating or juicy. The trick works on attention: the audience grabs the fresh bait and drops the old question. Hence the name: a smelly fish dragged across a trail was said to throw hunting dogs off the scent.
How to spot it
- The answer isn’t on the same subject as the question.
- The new subject is angrier or juicier; attention slides toward it.
- It starts with “the real issue is…”, “before that…”, “forget that, what about…”.
What to say
Don’t take the bait. “We can talk about that too. Now back to my question: [repeat it word for word].” Repeat it three times if you have to; every repeat makes the escape more visible.
When it’s not a fallacy
Changing the subject isn’t always an escape. “Before I answer that, we need to know this” can be legitimate when the thing really is connected, as long as the connection is shown and the question is returned to. The fallacy is when there is no connection and the return never comes.
Examples
- Work“Why is the report late?” “The real problem is this new office layout killing productivity.”
- Family“Why did your grades drop?” “Mum, have you seen my brother’s phone, he’s on it till dawn.”
- Social mediaAsked about a product’s flaw, the reply: “Did you hear about the competitor’s scandal?”
- Football“Why did we lose this match?” “Remember that game the referee did last season?”