
He compared this to the dishonest practices of politicians, and thus popularized the term. The term “red herring” comes after a strong-smelling, red-colored fish, and appears to have originated in 1807 when a journalist William Cobbet told a story of how hunters train their hounds by using the smelly fish as a distraction. The most reasonable thing to do depends on the specific situation you are in. It is not always possible to return to the original topic or even continue having a productive discussion. Insist on continuing with the original topic.You can accept the new topic of discussion and continue with it.There may be various factors affecting your opponent’s behavior, and they may still be unwilling to return to the original issue.

Then, direct the focus of the discussion back to the original issue by rephrasing your argument or question. When you do identify one, make it clear to the other party that the new issue is irrelevant to the topic of the discussion and, if needed, explain why they are committing a fallacy. A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. In order to spot the fallacy, you need to remember that, essentially, an argument containing a red herring uses irrelevant information to change the topic of the discussion. When it comes to countering red herring arguments, it is essential to understand how the fallacy works and listen carefully before answering. Any argument in which the premisses are logically unrelated to the conclusion commits this fallacy.

1) Bob: You really shouldnt charge them 30 on their loans. Red Herring is the most general fallacy of irrelevance.

However, the ignoratio elenchi is a deliberate attempt to divert the focus while avoiding the question occurs when someone misses the point unintentionally. This is when we changes the subject or give an irrelevant response to distract. Avoiding the question: Similarly to the topic of this article, avoiding the question is a logical fallacy of presenting an argument or a response that doesn’t address the actual issue in question.The difference is that, unlike the straw man, red herring is an attempt to shift the focus to a different issue. Straw man fallacy: This flaw in reasoning is a distortion or a misrepresentation of an argument in order to make it easier to defeat, while still pretending to focus on the original issue.
