Red Herring
Introducing something irrelevant to divert attention from the actual issue.
Also known as: diversion, misdirection, changing the subject
What it means
A red herring is an argument or piece of information that is introduced to distract from the actual topic of discussion. It doesn’t directly contradict the original point - it sidesteps it entirely, steering the conversation somewhere else. The name comes from the practice of using smoked fish (which turns red) to train hunting dogs - or, in some tellings, to throw pursuing dogs off the scent.
What makes red herrings so effective is that they’re rarely obvious in the moment. The new topic is usually related enough to seem relevant, or emotionally compelling enough that following it feels natural. It’s only afterwards - if you retrace the conversation - that you realise the original question was never answered.
Red herrings can be deliberate tactics, used by politicians, debaters, and anyone trying to avoid an uncomfortable question. But they can also be accidental - people naturally drift toward topics they’re more comfortable discussing, especially when the original topic is difficult or threatening.
In the real world
A journalist asks a politician: “Why did your department overspend by £40 million?” The politician responds: “What we should really be talking about is the incredible work our frontline staff have been doing under enormous pressure.” The staff may indeed be doing incredible work. But that wasn’t the question. The overspend has quietly disappeared from the conversation.
In personal arguments, red herrings are everywhere. “You forgot to pick up the shopping.” “Well, you never thanked me for fixing the boiler last week.” The boiler is irrelevant to the shopping - but suddenly the conversation is about gratitude rather than the original issue.
In online discourse, red herrings are the default evasion. A discussion about climate policy becomes a debate about China’s emissions. A conversation about police reform becomes an argument about crime statistics. Each diversion introduces a genuinely important topic - but its function in the conversation is to draw attention away from the point that was being made.
How to spot it
When a conversation shifts topic and you can't quite remember what the original question was, a red herring has probably been thrown. Ask yourself: does this new point actually address what we were talking about, or has the subject quietly changed?
The thought to hold onto
The best diversions don't feel like diversions. They feel like the conversation naturally moving on.