Statement #53 Discussion

Below is the statement as it appears with the fallacy marked as correct. You can see the totals of most frequent responses to this statement. And after reading the any discussion going on below, you can select your choice(s) for the correct answer. For now, whoever posts each statement can update corrections.

Grading this exam on a curve would be the most fair thing to do. After all, classes go more smoothly when the students and the professor are getting along well.

Red Herring
AKA Smoke Screen, Wild Goose Chase
Category: Fallacies of Relevance (Red Herrings)

A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win" an argument by leading attention away from the argument and to another topic. This sort of "reasoning" has the following form:

Topic A is under discussion.
Topic B is introduced under the guise of being relevant to topic A (when topic B is actually not relevant to topic A).
Topic A is abandoned.

This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because merely changing the topic of discussion hardly counts as an argument against a claim.

Red Herring

1,411 Total Answer Attempts 28%
400 Correctly Popped Fallacies
1,011 Incorrectly Un/Popped

posted by wikiworldorder url: writingcente...

( Random Image )

Most Common Responses

400 - Red Herring
72 - Appeal to the Consequences of a Belief
68 - Appeal to Popularity
65 - Confusing Cause and Effect
63 - Appeal to Emotion
40 - Peer Pressure
38 - Middle Ground
37 - Appeal to Flattery
36 - Appeal to Common Practice
35 - Biased Generalization
34 - Appeal to Belief
33 - Relativist Fallacy
33 - Ignoring a Common Cause
33 - Special Pleading
32 - Fallacy of Composition
32 - False Dilemma
28 - Hasty Generalization
28 - Fallacy of Division
26 - Begging the Question
25 - Appeal to Authority
23 - Slippery Slope
22 - Post Hoc
22 - Appeal to Pity
21 - Burden of Proof
18 - Misleading Vividness
18 - Ad Hominem Tu Quoque
17 - Appeal to Novelty
15 - Appeal to Fear
14 - Circumstantial Ad Hominem
12 - Appeal to Tradition
11 - Ad Hominem
11 - Genetic Fallacy
11 - Poisoning the Well
11 - Gambler's Fallacy
9 - Guilt by Association
9 - Appeal to Ridicule
7 - Appeal to Spite
2 - Personal Attack

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* Fallacious statements are usually paired with a random image of a person who never spoke those words.
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