There's an interesting logical fallacy I was recently reminded of called the red herring fallacy — when someone tries to divert our attention from the core topic of discussion to an irrelevant point.

It might sound familiar because you might have had discussions at work or with a personal acquaintance that went awry.

But why is learning about this fallacy useful?

Developing an ability to sniff out a red herring when it's thrown into a discussion helps us redirect the discussion to a productive path.

For example, a senior at work might not have a clear answer to your question and tries to redirect the conversation to a vague proposition to not look "less informed".

A higher-up at your company, unable to address your concerns about a project or campaign, throws big but irrelevant numbers to make their request seem valid.

When asked about a local community issue, a politician might redirect the conversation to a broader unrelated problem or a hypothetical scenario to dodge the question altogether.

I've had a colleague at work with whom I'd start a discussion related to work and end up discussing mechanical keyboards or some other gadget an hour later.

In such cases, understanding that there's a red herring fallacy at play can:

1. Help us drive a meeting or debate towards a resolution rather than wasting time on an unrelated topic.
2. Understand when an authority figure is trying to dodge a question because they don't have a clear or safe answer — like a CEO trying to avoid a potential layoff question in a company meeting because an honest answer might create chaos.

So, the next time you sense a discussion is going the wrong way, point out the uninvited red herring to bring it back on track.

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