If you’re a Jeopardy fan, the answer to the title of this post would be, “What is a red herring?” You may wonder why I’m writing about stinky, smoked fish. A red herring is a term for a literary device that leads readers (or an audience) toward a false conclusion. If you’re a fan of mysteries, I’m sure you’ve seen examples of this. It was coined by polemicist William Cobbett in 1807 who told a story about using a smelly, smoked fish to distract hounds from chasing a rabbit—“distract” being the key word. Some research I found claimed these fish were used to train hunting dogs to stay on course rather than be thrown off by offending smells. Another sight claimed stinky, smoked fish were actually used to train horses, but only if the preferred dead cat wasn’t available.
It’s amazing the things one can learn when digging into the origin of idioms. For example, I had never even heard the word polemicist before. Have you? It’s a person who practices the art of controversy or disputation—meaning they are skilled at debate. Who knew this was a thing? After a little more digging, I learned that the ‘red herring’ William Cobbett referred to was not as a literary device but as a logical fallacy—errors in reasoning based on faulty logic. This is sometimes used on purpose to divert an argument.
Distraction is the name of the game. Anyone who has ever had a toddler knows this concept well. I often used it to keep my children from getting into something they shouldn’t or shift their attention before they pitched a fit when they didn’t get their way. Writers use it to add intrigue to their books, movies or television shows. And from the beginning of time, the enemy has used it to lure us away from the path God desires for us. Think about the serpent with Adam and Eve in the garden.
A red herring is all well and good when used as a literary device, but when seen through the eyes of a polemicist, logical fallacies can whittle away at our faith and create discord in our hearts and relationships. There are several different types of logical fallacies, and understanding what they are, and how we might play into them, can keep us from claiming them as truth for ourselves. I’m only going to cover a few, but you can find the entire list (along with simple examples) here.
One we often see in our society is the hasty generalization fallacy. It’s like the saying one bad apple spoils the bunch. Anytime we use “all” or “none” we fall into this trap. This is the root of all isms—racism, ageism, sexism…It’s judgmental and unfair to those who are clumped into a group rather than seen as individuals.
Appeal to fear fallacy is one used by the enemy as a ploy to play upon our fears. I’ve been a victim of this one more than once. Whenever I forget God’s in complete control, fear of “what if” comes crashing down. You see this one in action whenever there’s an upcoming election. Politicians love to use fear to persuade people to their side of an issue.
And speaking of politics—the ad hominem fallacy attacks people rather than policies. This one had me stepping away from Twitter and rethinking Facebook. I am repulsed by the way people respond to a viewpoint with vicious, personal attacks when they don’t agree with another’s point of view. One well-known, secular author dropped so many f-bombs when talking about former President Trump that I unfollowed him. My mama always taught me that foul language is a sign of a limited vocabulary. I found this especially ironic given that writers are supposed to be wordsmiths.
The fact that the word “fallacy” is included in these descriptors should be enough to get our attention. They’re lies, pure and simple, and when we take part in them or are deceived by them, we’re not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. Just don’t be too hard on us writers when we weave them through our stories. They makes for a much more interesting mystery.
Comments 1
I enjoyed reading this. It is very informative.