Red Herring - Critical Thinking Fallacies

Red Herring - Critical Thinking Fallacies | WIRELESS PHILOSOPHY

Рет қаралды 151,383

6 жыл бұрын

In this Wireless Philosophy video, Joseph Wu (University of Cambridge) introduces you to the red herring, a rhetorical device and fallacy that is often difficult to spot. A red herring occurs when something is introduced to an argument that misleads or distracts from the relevant issue. Wu walks us through this rhetorical device and shows us how to avoid committing a fallacy.
More on Joseph Wu:
goo.gl/cTCuQr
----
Wi-Phi @ Khan Academy:
bit.ly/1nQJcF7
Twitter:
wirelessphi
Facebook:
on. 1XC2tx3
Instagram:
@wiphiofficial
----
Help us caption & translate this video!
amara.org/v/dUNz/

Пікірлер: 141

@jaxtonfunk2034 4 жыл бұрын

I notice this a lot with salesmen. Car dealers loans mainly. “If we extend the loan period you’ll save a ton of money monthly” it gets you to think about the money you save per month on the payment and distracts you from realizing that your paying way more in interest.

@GigaWh4tt 3 жыл бұрын

Does anyone else think that spotting logical fallacies should be taught in public schools?

@pavaomarusic6051 3 жыл бұрын

Yeeeeeeees!!!!!!!

@tonyazrael8223 3 жыл бұрын

It is where I come from: Canada. In late high school however, if you mean in elementary school, then I strongly agree. And so should algebra because it trains our ability to think logically and so, makes us better at thinking critically and spotting fallacies.

@GigaWh4tt 3 жыл бұрын

@@tonyazrael8223 Here in the US it's not. So I envy your country & others that do the same for the populaces public education. I also agree with you that it should be taught at the elementary level. On the topic of algebra however... children need to be taught & master the fundamentals of mathematics before taking on that subject matter. Which takes time & practice in their curriculum over years. So if they can have it incorporated at younger age & be successfully taught, then I absolutely agree with you.

@tonyazrael8223 3 жыл бұрын

@@GigaWh4tt Not even in High-School? That's very unfortunate. And possibly very damaging to the country in the long run I believe. We've seen what ignorance can do when it affects large numbers: racism, xenophobia, mistrust of medicine (vaccines), crimes, etc. and because of that, I don't believe it's crazy to think that public schools plays a large role in a country's wellbeing. I know it's more complicated than that but at least it's a good start, right? I know I typed "algebra", but in my mind I meant pre-algebra. The reason I said that is because kids between grade 3 and 6 already know how to solve 3 × ? = 12, but it's never formally introduced as a new branch of math to build on, so instead I spent 7 years just doing arithmetics which is a HUGE waste of time considering my peers and I are already familiar with the basic operations by the fourth year.

@denmichaelmalayo9716 3 жыл бұрын

We are taught in Philippines, and we are taught various philosophical school of thought as well

@DerInDenWindPubst 6 жыл бұрын

Great video. Someone should have shown this to CNN in the 2016 Presidential campaign.

@lindalm6148 3 жыл бұрын

And FOX.

@hidayaamani2904 5 жыл бұрын

Isn't it similar to an extent to strawman fallacy? Especially on 'answering the wrong question'.

@kevingillespie5242 4 жыл бұрын

I'd say yes. They are similar except the strawman is a "counterargument," and the red herring is an "argument" itself

@Zekrom569 4 жыл бұрын

Well yeah, this is basically a misleading statement that attempts to change the subject, while the straw man is misrepresenting the position of the other person...Eg someone says "we must reduce fossil fuels to protect the planet" on TV and some portion of those people might take it as "Oh great, more taxes on car owners" or "Oh no, again our tax money going to useless organizations"...or something like that, basically straw man is misrepresenting someones position to make it easier to attack the "modified argument" while the red herring is more about misleading and "detouring" the argument to another subject

@MrUporabniskoime 3 жыл бұрын

@@Zekrom569... Agree. The strawman focuses attention on a spot, the red herring loosely points "somewhere"... :)

@Karrde 6 жыл бұрын

"clearly one's dislike of pizza is irrelevant to one's political abilities"I wouldn't be so sure.

@torosalvajebcn 6 жыл бұрын

Teenage ninja turtles also think like you.

@matthiaszachariah6682 4 жыл бұрын

Pineapple belongs on pizza.

@littlebee33 3 жыл бұрын

woah i just found this channel. pretty cool!

@schrishzen 6 жыл бұрын

Q: Why are there two churches located in the same neighborhood across the street from each other? What is one teaching that the other is not? A: Just because there are multiple churches doesn’t mean they aren’t doing anything for the community, not everyone in there is a Christian.

@jameshouck1605 5 жыл бұрын

Just curious, but wouldn't that be considered the straw man fallacy?

@thekantedkalcedony 2 жыл бұрын

@@jameshouck1605 Yes it would be. This is straw man, creating a counterargument that never existed.

@cathyrinepsycoor7056 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this

@hollowedboi5937 3 жыл бұрын

Bro Grady, them boxes are kinda fire 🔥🔥🔥

@Hyperstar5 4 жыл бұрын

when most of the claims in Judge Judy are literally red herrings.

@haza123b4 3 жыл бұрын

*"literally?"*

@jamiefranklin2057 3 жыл бұрын

would you agree that the first example is also an example of an appeal to emotion fallacy?

@Riteshkrpanda 3 жыл бұрын

I think so

@coachjoachimroomaney793 4 жыл бұрын

Ok, I was going to ask you to do one on the relevance of University studies. Geuss you covered it.

@e.j.meader5919 10 күн бұрын

My favorite red herring: "Vikings didn't have horned helmets. They would have been impractical in battle."

@kathev9050 3 жыл бұрын

If it doesnt fit, u must acquit = red herring?

@ericmadeoftin8206 3 жыл бұрын

On the question of what is a red herring? Well, it's good to try and answer though questions like these, as when my niece asks why is the sky blue. Speaking of blue let me tell about the sailboat I'm thinking of buying. ( see what I did here, you've just been red herringed)!

@haza123b4 3 жыл бұрын

*Actually a red herring is when you introduce irrelevant points to distract from the question. You introduced seemingly irrelevant points to answer the question.*

@SCH292 3 жыл бұрын

Here is another example. I once argued with an AK47 fan boy on the internet. The fan boy claimed that,"Nobody besides USA uses the M16 platform". I argue back and did my best to debunk him by naming him a list of countries that uses M16 platform. He than responded back by bringing up M16's jamming issues and bring up the topic how AK are so easy to make they can make it in caves.

@barryjohnson5288 4 жыл бұрын

So basically it is a distraction, and redirection of a debate, or question?

@rklewis2 4 жыл бұрын

And often followed up with a straw man...to lend it some credibility.

@Kauffman578 3 жыл бұрын

@@rklewis2 can you elaborate on the strawman connected to red herring? Thanks

@TheICombaticon 6 жыл бұрын

Would the fallacy of Whataboutism fall under Red Herring? Or would it fall under the broader Fallacies of Relevance category?

@elischmitter9711 6 жыл бұрын

TheICombaticon I think whataboutism falls under appeal to hypocrisy or to queue. Which is under the fallacies of relevance.

@Anticrystal88 6 жыл бұрын

ThelCombaticon I was wondering the same thing. I do think it falls under the whole Red Herring thing. Media: You colluded with the Russians! Politicians: But what about Hillary's emails?! Which is not the issue here, it's an entirely different one. But it's designed to distract people from the actual topic of discussion, so it sure seems like it fits the description of a Red Herring.

@trex511ft 8 ай бұрын

defintely red herring

@trex511ft 8 ай бұрын

@@elischmitter9711 no, tuquoque is when you accuse the person of doing the same, it doesn't exactly ignore the subject but tries to nullify it through inneficient means. Red herring is when you throw a complete new subject to the table in the attemps to minimize the original subject.

@tealseal7781 3 жыл бұрын

Can you use this fallacy when presenting your argument to a group who is not educated about this sort of thing?

@ArpitRawat-ew7ni Ай бұрын

All political wings have come together here in this video

@davidllewis4075 5 жыл бұрын

Perhaps I am predisposed to do so, but for past 2+ years I have been hearing increasing number of people respond to questions about trump by attacking Hillary Clinton. Seen it often enough to vaguely recall from my one and only logic class (cir, 1973) that there was a fallacy in those responses, just couldn't remember what it's called.

@jimiboi87 7 ай бұрын

Unfortunately it goes the same in reverse too. The left will often try to place blame on Trump when asked about their own policies and shortcomings.

@Guyverman01 Ай бұрын

They need to start labelling fallacies under broader categories more often. It would make them easier to remember.

@IrOnKeN333 6 жыл бұрын

Are red herrings the same logical fallacy as whataboutism-(where someone tries to distract from you point by saying what about and comparing unnecessarily)?

@mikelbogars8863 6 жыл бұрын

Interesting video. (Maybe improve the animation by not typing words one letter at a time which is too slow and distracting compare to our reading speed..) So, how do we counter or diffuse such fallacies once we're aware of it?

@putinsgaytwin4272 5 жыл бұрын

Mikel Bogars point out their fallacies

@eastern3318 5 жыл бұрын

thee biggest *red* *heron* of all red herrings

@emberheat990 2 жыл бұрын

everyone in the comments who's grandparents go off on random tangents after being asked a question

@Devious_Dave 6 жыл бұрын

Whiskey from Ireland, whisky from Scotland. Was this a red herring? :-)

@jaedenvanderberg3890 6 жыл бұрын

Could this also be a form of begging the question?

@davidhoffman6980 4 жыл бұрын

Hi. The term "Begging the question" arose from the tactic of asking an opponent to cede the entire debate question under the guise of ceding a minor point. It is used to refer to circular arguments in which some part of the conclusion is used as a premise. Example: "murder is bad because killing people is wrong."

@mithilbhoras5951 13 күн бұрын

Is this also a non sequiter argument?

@eastern3318 5 жыл бұрын

read red heron herrin' hearin' . its as deep as it is simple

@bigoof234 10 ай бұрын

DOES ANYONE HAVE A SPECIfic example of a red herring in media or debate

@YouTuber-2077 3 жыл бұрын

Omg , I do that all the time .

@gezaburkit8914 3 жыл бұрын

HISTORY. I realizing more and more, as time goes by, you got these publishers that put a bunch of lies out there and people buy in to that. As time goes by they think people will forget, or some younger generation will not know the truth and be mislead into believing these fallacies. This is why history is so important, to preserve, to teach to reach to upbuild one from within. I'm a Skeptic Nature, optimistic. Every time I see something, I'm like "What are they trying to hide now!?" As teens, We thought we had this settled during the mid to late 1990's (1993-1999), but yet there back again doing things like this "Fallacies." It's even worst now, the History Channel is teaching Aliens from space, the paranormal, etc... .

@gezaburkit8914 3 жыл бұрын

> Hey Joseph Wu, I spotted some Fallacies of Relevance, and Red Herrings; also seen Proof by Verbosity, and confirmations bias in a BOOK PUBLICATION. The book is titled: " You May Ask Yourself, " 6th Edition, Dalton Conley, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Independent Publishers. For Sociology Introduction, for college course. > The book was terribly written and researched, Chapter # 10 (Poverty) was really bad, it gave credit to former President Lyndon B. Johnson, as staring the war on poverty. I did real actual research and findings outside the book publication, President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Johnson Holy Rock (Lakota President). All three of them Initiated the war on Poverty. The book gave no credit to MLK nor Kennedy. A lot of people liked Kennedy, he was a peoples president, a lot of people liked him, African-Americans liked him too. The book should have stated that President Lyndon B. Johnson "continued" the works of MLK and Kennedy. > More info on this publication is chapters # 6 (Social Control and Deviance), # 8 (Gender). Chapter 6, was not written well, it talked as if a person owned another person (ownership chapter), not acceptance. Chapter # 8, used long words to try to confuse people, then going from science it went into Pseudoscience and adhering to gods (mystic power) to prove peoples gender status. Some other problems were 1990s economic boom? -That was a lie people found it hard to get employment because a lot of companies filed chapter 11 bankruptcy such as Steel companies. It also said people gambled over their health between 1900 - 1946 in the industry, people did not have a choice of employment back then. Even thou the book talked about religion, it never got into the deviance of the clergy abuse issue, making them all look immune to justice. Last but not least, JUSTICE, for a sociology book [Sociology ties with pre-law] it did not go over Human Rights, nor Justice such as Crimes Against Humanity. > The book never covered "all groups," two were missing: Veterans (Men and Women) with prestige, and Disabled individuals, both part of society. Those were not included in Sociology. > Book was Paradox, false proposition, false scheme, false offer, false logic. > Got a B+ in course I liked the Sociology intro course, but hated the book. These were good Sociologists: C. Wright Mills, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Jane Addams, and W.E.B. Du Bois were all good, but after them, I thought what happened to Sociology?

@yoshtopia8046 7 ай бұрын

Do condemn Hamas? Is a red herring

@brucestuff 3 жыл бұрын

US house of representatives loves red herrings

@tiktaktictac 3 жыл бұрын

Am I wrong to say that most examples given in this video are also guilty of "Straw Man" fallacy ?

@rarler3333 6 жыл бұрын

Last example? Throw out like 8 topics in every sentence. It's a way to glean interest from a date. -still single

@xylophone897 6 жыл бұрын

So this includes whataboutism?

@mckt007 6 жыл бұрын

I liked Trump's red herring where he made the media focus on wether some lady was trying to offer him sexual favors - instead of focusing on wether she was sexually assualted or whatever.

@jaychaudhry6461 2 жыл бұрын

why the captions are in Korean?

@agihiruda 2 жыл бұрын

Cause Mr. Wu is Korean himself?

@morespywareforyou2262 Жыл бұрын

If he's drinking whiskey, he's been to Ireland, not Scotland. They drink whisky there.

@anyname777 Жыл бұрын

False dilemma? Not liking pizza does in fact disqualify one from being fit for public office.

@nurannisanatsircaronge2360 2 жыл бұрын

I-im still confused

@kaansancaktarmusic 3 жыл бұрын

In your example there is no red herring. Prosecuter says he commited murder plus he tortured the victim while murdering so he should be punished more. İf he killed the victim just with the gun with one shot for example it would be just murder, but since the crime weapon is something that can cause too much pain and the fact that it kills adds more to his crimes. Bad example.

@jonroth8427 Жыл бұрын

Yep. 👍

@jfrd-pw4hk 4 жыл бұрын

Our president loves committing red herring and equivocation fallacies. I'm from the Philippines and I'm talking about Duterte.

@philosophyphilosophy7647 3 жыл бұрын

@Run, Jack. Run. not these days, it always was. Our minds are very suseptible to fallacies.

@trex511ft 8 ай бұрын

the red herring is usually easy to spot, you just used a crappy example therefore giving the impression that it is hard to spot.

@themasculinismmovement 3 ай бұрын

People do this way too much with me and it's so annoying

@danalex2991 3 жыл бұрын

What is the difference from straw man fallacy then ?

@GigaWh4tt 3 жыл бұрын

"Straw Man Fallacy" is restructuring/rewording an opposing argument to simplify & be easily taken down. A "Red Herring" is adding irrelevant info to the argument to avoid the original subject. The confusion of the two, I think, comes from the fact that both have the same intention (i.e. to misdirect), but different approaches to misdirect. Plus "Red Herrings" try to get you to jump to conclusions by skipping a step in critical thinking. Hope this helped!!

@danalex2991 3 жыл бұрын

@@GigaWh4tt thank you

@kervincapangpangan1340 2 жыл бұрын

Reporter: Americans are reportedly still stranded in Afghanistan, and the Taloban's deadline is fast approaching.Will the withdrawal efforts of Americans be still conducted beyond the deadline. Politician: The government is doing everything to get people that wants to get out of the country back to America. Our record breaking withdrawal efforts managed to bring back almost a thousand americans and refugees in just one day. Is this red herring??

@redapproves1330 11 ай бұрын

I would say yes

@manuelmanuel9248 2 жыл бұрын

The closest fallacy to a red herring is the straw man fallacy. Both are fallacies of relevance.

@brycekindall4564 6 жыл бұрын

You should rename this channel to "reddit philosophy"

@impalabeeper 6 жыл бұрын

It is the same guy from the slipper slope fallacy video (a video in which reddit tore apart). The narrator just isn't that great of an explainer.

@LyndaE79 2 ай бұрын

I'm continually confusing redherring for the straw man fallacy.

@patricktessier7238 4 жыл бұрын

05:15 - "As a result, it becomes extremely difficult to criticize the argument when it is so difficult to identify." Ohhhhhhh my god, welcome to my fuckin relationship...

@mattbrunson8141 Жыл бұрын

Red herring: "Trump, why wont you disavow white supremacy?" Think about that for a minute...

@sepehrsabahi9948 Жыл бұрын

Actually we don't call it philosophy all fallacies categories in speech knowledge and real philosophy we call wisdom ,apparantly in west you call both plosephy

@bassaidai1927 3 ай бұрын

Jordan Peterson uses this A LOT.

@bf2king470 3 жыл бұрын

Why is my poop red

@jasongibson1225 4 жыл бұрын

Laugh if you want, but this very argument 4:08 actually won people when Trump ate pizza in NYC wrong once.

@cristiplopeanu 4 жыл бұрын

I thought all politicians love pizza ...

@wydopnthrtl 2 жыл бұрын

I see what you did there....

@mockupguy3577 4 жыл бұрын

Haha that’s a spot on Trump impersonation.

@rklewis2 4 жыл бұрын

To be honest, it describes all politicians, from all parties.

@thebuzzinc2757 4 жыл бұрын

Aka Ben Shapiro

@annaceyq 3 жыл бұрын

Haha I was just thinking the same

@AbbyGordon98 2 ай бұрын

Sounds like my ex

@gezaburkit8914 3 жыл бұрын

Pseudoscience does not equal Real Science. Next time the " SCHOOL BOARD " wants to replace Science with opinion, Help put an end to the folly of BALANCED SCIENCE. These 4 books are good to read: "the Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark," by Carl Sagan. Flim Flam by James Randi. Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And also, Skeptoid.