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by Rachel Rozema

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A planted distraction or misguide from an event, question or thought in order to get further away from the topic at hand.

Many people recognize the term 'red herring' from literature and politics. In literature, this is usually active in mysteries. Authors use this to direct attention to a specific character in order for the audience to believe that they must be the killer. They direct suspicion onto them while distracting the audience from the real killer. In real life, however, red herrings are used most often in debates and politics. Many people use this tactic in order to win the argument by constantly distracting their opponent to the real discussion. It is an actual tactic that people can learn and perfect. This was famously seen in the Romney -Obama debate over the presidential elections a few years ago as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6VmYOFGpbM

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Politicians will do anything to avoid answering a question directly. They use a multitude of avoidance tactics in their rhetoric, including red herring fallacy. But what does this term actually mean and how can we use it to master everyday conversations?

Red herring fallacy occurs when someone deliberately introduces an irrelevant subject into a discussion in order to divert the other person's attention. In essence, red herring fallacy is a form of changing the topic of conversation for personal gain. It's an extremely common tactic in debating and political discourse. It may also be referred to as 'smoke-screening', 'sidetracking', 'hair-splitting' or 'digression.'

The name 'red herring fallacy' originates from training hunting dogs. In order to build up a hunting dog's skill for following a scent, people used to throw a pungent smoked herring (which is a reddish-brown colour) across the path of a group of bloodhounds. The aim was to divert the dog's attention and ward them off from tracking a fox's scent. This is also we get the phrase to 'throw someone off the scent.'

How politicians use the red herring fallacy to win arguments

Red herring fallacy is an important tool for high-profile individuals across the world. For example, an interviewer is grilling a movie star about a reported affair with a co-star. Instead of trying to rebuke the claims, the actor may choose to derail the conversation by introducing a totally different topic. Perhaps they bring up their next project in the pipeline or box office sales. It can be anything as long as it's not related to the topic of the affair. Whilst most reporters will be familiar with this technique, they should take the hint that the actor is not going to divulge any information. Thus, they will swiftly change the line of questioning or risk jeopardizing the interview.

Politics is another arena where the use of red herring fallacy is rampant. Political figures mainly use it to avoid scandal and to mislead the general public. Interviews with President Trump provide a wealth of examples of red herring fallacy in action.

For instance, when the president was being questioned about the degrading comments he made about women to Billy Bush in 2005, Trump responded with

"It's locker room talk, and it's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of ISIS. We're going to defeat ISIS. ISIS happened a number of years ago in a vacuum that was left because of bad judgment. And I will tell you, I will take care of ISIS."

Instead of addressing his degrading comments about women, Trump changes the topic to ISIS. It seems obvious and almost ridiculous when it's on paper, but in the moment it's an effective tactic. By choosing a sensitive topic like ISIS, Trump knows he will be able to capture his audience's attention and avoid the subject in question.

How can you utilise red herring fallacy in everyday conversation?

The use of red herring fallacy isn't reserved for movie stars and politicians. You can use it in everyday conversations to great effect.

For example, your partner comes home and asks you to take the rubbish out. You've had a really long day and don't want to go outside into the cold. Instead of potentially starting an argument by refusing to do it, you change the topic of conversation in hope of avoiding the task. It's probably safer to be less obvious than President Trump and not choose a topic that's wildly off-piste.

For example, you can bring up the terrible effects of plastics that are in our oceans at the moment. Then suggest you watch a documentary on the subject that happens to be on TV that night.

However, if you are guilty of using red herring fallacy a lot, then you're partner might clock on and not let you get away from the subject. So it is best to save the technique for when you really want to swing something in your favour.

How can you avoid falling prey to red herring fallacy in everyday conversation?

In simply being aware of red herring fallacy, you are less likely to fall for it in conversation. However, masters of red herring fallacy may artfully weave it into discourse without you realising it. If you find yourself within a debate and suspect that the use of the technique is likely, then make sure you listen really carefully to your opponent's argument before responding. Repeat and paraphrase what the person before you has said before you state your case.

The reason to use red herring fallacy can be summarised by this quote by Harry S. Truman,

"If you can't convince them, confuse them."

Whilst this is true, don't rely solely on the use of a red herring fallacy too frequently or people will start to see through the tactic. There is a multitude of techniques you can use in debates and red herring fallacy is just one.

Sometimes, being direct and to the point is your best weapon in conversation.

References:

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What Is Red Herring Fallacy and How to Use It to Win Any Argument

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Red herring fallacy occurs when someone deliberately introduces an irrelevant subject into a discussion in order to divert the other person's attention. In essence, red herring fallacy is a form of changing the topic of conversation for personal gain. It's an extremely common tactic in debating and political discourse.

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The use of items, ideals and methods of that of a past civilization. These are often apparent in medicine, such as replacements for treatment. For example: using leeches to suck out the 'bad blood'.

Bloodletting was the idea of, essentially, cutting one's self open and letting out the bad blood. While this practice is all but extinct today, there are still some cultures who decide to continue practicing it. This is a very dangerous 'procedure': not only can the patient lose too much blood, but it can result in drastic blood pressure drop resulting in cardiac arrest. the wound itself can also become infected. While bloodletting can still be found in some 'natural doctor' offices, most agree that there is very little scientific evidence for it.

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A practitioner known as a Hakeem ties the hand or leg with a cloth rope and makes an incision with a razor blade to let the blood rush out from the body, following the ancient medical practice that assumed draining small amounts of blood would prevent illness and cure disease.

"My family has been practicing this for generations and this is a gift of God," says 40-year-old Mohammad Iqbal, who began running the clinic after his 78-year-old father Mohammad Gayas became too old to handle patients.

"No money is charged for this treatment because if we start taking money from people, then the special power to heal will be snatched from us by God," Iqbal says.

The clinic opens at 9am and shuts at noon, treating about 40 patients a day. After the incisions are made with new razor blades, patients stand in the sun so the blood flows out freely. A helper pours water on the incisions.

"My work is to just take out the bad and impure blood by making these incisions, and the cure is up to God. While some patients get cured in 10 days, there are others who take months. Most of our patients are those who have given up on their doctors and their treatments in hospitals. They come shouting and moaning in pain when they enter the clinic, but go out laughing and smiling," says Iqbal.

In a city with world-class hospitals and facilities, people still queue at this open-air clinic to be treated for various ailments through the process of bloodletting.

Inderjeet Singh, 19, has been visiting the open-air clinic for more than two weeks now. "I used to walk with the help of a walking stick because of some problem in the left side of my body," he says. "I did not want to undergo a major surgery. Instead I decided to come here and I can now walk easily. Few more days and I will be completely cured."

Iqbal says people from all around the country visit him to cure their ailments, though the number of foreigners visiting has dwindled.

While no money is charged for bleeding and curing the patients, Iqbal makes his living by running a family shop where he sells clothes and bags.

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A practitioner known as a Hakeem ties the hand or leg with a cloth rope and makes an incision with a razor blade to let the blood rush out from the body, following the ancient medical practice that assumed draining small amounts of blood would prevent illness and cure disease.

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the use of authoritative figures such as specialists, the famous and well-known or institutions in order to boost positive thoughts and endorse a product or idea.

A very popular example is the advertisement of cigarettes back in the early 1900s. While many people laugh at these ads today, back then, people took them for the gospel. There wasn't much information public about the effects of cigarettes yet and many people saw that, in these ads, doctors were 'supporting' the companies by recommending or using the product themselves. Doctors, to people, are a sign of trust. We confide in them. They make us healthy when we are ill. It is only natural that people began believing that if 'doctors use them/ say they okay, they must be.

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The belief of 'magical' properties in some objects with results that cannot be explained with science. These include the use of crystals, certain sounds, the use of light and pyramid shapes.

In today's society, a big belief in mystical energy comes from the use of crystals. People swear on them. Each type of crystal supposedly invokes a different response, emotion or feeling. While there isn't any reliable scientific evidence to support these claims, many people believe that there doesn't need to be. It just works. Kind of like magic. People will spread these around their homes and can become quiet reliant on them in their day-to-day life. Some people become obsessed with them to the point where they look to crystals from everything from solving medicinal issues to instating protection on them and their friends and families.

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The idea that foods and products with the "ALL NATURAL" label are healthier for the body and show better results when compared to other foods, products or medicines.

Just because something is "all natural", doesn't immediately mean that it is better for the body. In fact, there are many all natural things that actually can cause great harm to people that decide to use it. Many natural components cause rashes or reactions as they weren't intended for specific uses. Others, if not handled properly, can become poisonous. This is a fact for something even more surprising: natural water. Some people's choice of drink is purely water- and alot of it. In fact, these people could contract 'water intoxication'. Drinking too much natural water can result in your body being unable to recollect electrolytes and can led to death. The video below explains 25 all natural things that can cause us harm:

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25 All Natural Things That Can Be Harmful To You

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People may believe in the strange due to the simplicity of it. It is easier for a person to just accept that something in weird and 'supernatural' than taking the time to think logically about the event.

This website below documents events that are 'unexplainable' and documents them as supernatural. While many of them can be explained with logic, stating it was done by unseen forces and the supernatural is easier to believe than some more likely solutions- such as how brutal or 'evil' humans can be and how strong the world and nature can be.

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Unexplained Mysteries - Paranormal News and Discussion

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Daily coverage of UFOs, paranormal phenomena, ancient mysteries, metaphysics, cryptozoology, philosophy, science and space exploration.

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The thought process that just because it hasn't been proven yet, doesn't mean that the event isn't real. This is often seen in the debate of aliens and ghosts.

The idea of believing in the unexplained is that even though something hasn't been proven, doesn't mean it won't. It is a battlecry among many hunters of the supernatural: aliens and ghosts among the most popular. While many scientistic believe it is nearly impossible to believe we are the only life forms out in the universes, it has to be noted by skeptics that no evidence has yet been found to prove the existence of other lifeforms. While this is true, believers still fight back with the age old argument that "just because you can't see it, doesn't mean its not real" or in our terms: "just because they haven't been proven YET doesn't mean they won't eventually be." This website keeps track of UFO encounters across America with daily reports, sightings and infomation.

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Recent UFO Sightings | Daily Alien News & Encounters

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Discover the truth about UFOs. At Mufon, find out more about recent UFO sightings, daily UFO sightings, alien news and alien encounters.

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The effect of emotions can sometimes blur and alter that of our logical mind. For example having a death in the family may result in the living seeing easily explained events as "signs" from the departed because they want it to be.

Christine Morgan is a psychic that knows that she will have a more successful appointment with her clients if she circles back and talks about topics that will elicit an emotional response. In this stories case, it was that of the client's father's death. Regardless or not if what Christine is saying is true, hammering into the fact will naturally result in sadness. In sadness, we look for comfort. The writer looks for comfort in her sadness. It doesn't matter before hand if the author believed in the afterlife or the supernatural, because now she wants to believe that her Father is there, she wants to be believe that he is still around. It brings her peace. It makes her feel safe knowing that there is more, than her Father isn't truly gone. It is a comforting thought. Logically, she knows that Christine had been just talking at random; grasping at straws. She states that she "scrunched her nose" in annoyance. It's only when Christine realizes she hit a tender spot with the author's father's death, that it upset her and continued to take about it, did the author begin to get invested, to believe- or rather- wanted to believe as a form of comfort to herself.

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By Samantha Selinger-Morris

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I know what you're thinking ... Who goes in for psychics and fortune-tellers anymore? Didn't they go out of fashion along with other 1980s hits like Soap-on-a-Rope and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ?

As it turns out, no. They're more popular than ever. While only 49 per cent of visitors to the Mind Body Spirit Festival in Sydney in 2012 were interested in having a psychic reading, that level jumped to 72 per cent for this year's festival in May.

"Life is random... people want certainty about the future."
Photo: Stocksy

Could it be because, as Emma Freud - great-granddaughter of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud - put it earlier this year, they are "cheaper than therapy"?

I'm a die-hard sceptic. But then, I also have wince-inducing therapy bills. And as novelist Jeanette Winterson once put it, a hole in my heart in the shape of a loved one who has died - in my case, my late father. Could Emma Freud be right?

In order to find out, I meet with Christine Morgan, an "evidential medium" who provides "evidence" that a loved one has communicated to you from "the spirit realm".

He adds that my "heart line", which runs across my palm, near where my fingers meet it, has a "fork" in it, meaning, "You like to have your partner, but you like to do your own thing."

It's difficult to believe someone has any particular intuition about your life or future, when what he has said would, I believe, appeal to most sentient beings.

But a "Gypsy" deck of divination cards, says Debono, can help him predict the future. Which in my case means resolving a specific 18-year-long conundrum: in which country will I finally settle for good?

He counts out the 20 cards I've selected, face-down, from the deck - they feature simple symbols, like a love heart, anchor and ring - and he lays them face-side up in four neat rows. The card in the top left-hand corner is a heart. "It's telling you to focus, to feel your way through, and go with your feeling, to go with what you love," Debono says.

The heart card has the number six printed on it, so he counts six cards over, to a card with a picture of a moon on it. The moon, he says, represents "revisiting the past". "So this is a bit of a clue about you going back home."

The other clues, based on the cards he counts to next? "It's going to maybe depend on your relationship as well." (Thanks, "ring" card). "It's gonna take time, and the anchor can mean family roots, so that again has a Canadian feel about it." (Thanks, "anchor" card.) "You have to talk to your partner." (Thanks, "bird holding a letter in its beak" card.)

Being told that the site of your future home will be determined by utterly commonsensical factors that would likely determine the outcome of virtually any conundrum makes you wonder: why are psychics so popular?

"Often, people are moving away from traditional religion, and more into this idea of, 'I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious,' " says Leela Williams, publications officer with the Australian Psychics Association. "A psychic is a tool to discover your own spirituality."

And fortune-tellers will always appeal to people experiencing a period of uncertainty, says the Australian Skeptics' Tim Mendham. "Life is random, and that's probably one of the biggest things that affects people all the time: like, shit happens," he says. "[So] they want to go to someone who can give them certainty about the future."

This is what Emma Freud said she found most comforting, during her visits to a variety of psychics and fortune-tellers in New York City. "The higher purpose of this thriving industry," she wrote in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper earlier this year, "would seem to be that in a competitive, frenetic, feisty, forceful city, they offer a quiet moment to consider the notion that there may be a universal plan, to allow yourself to be guided, to let someone hold your hand."

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Into the mystic: Why more people are going to psychics than ever before

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By Samantha Selinger-Morris Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size I know what you're thinking ... Who goes in for psychics and fortune-tellers anymore? Didn't they go out of fashion along with other 1980s hits like Soap-on-a-Rope and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ?

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Critical Thinking: The Practice of Bloodletting

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Critical Thinking: The Practice of Bloodletting