―Israel Zangwill, The Big Bow Mystery
Imagine this scene: A normal day at Charlie and Natalie's house. Natalie is angry at Charlie for not mowing the lawn.
Natalie: "I had requested you to mow the lawn. It's still not done!"
Charlie: "I rearranged our room yesterday. You did not like the way I did it. You always got something to complain about!"
Charlie has gone completely offbeat to defend his laziness of not doing a particular task. Both the tasks are completely unrelated. But, he used it very effectively to shoo off responsibility from his shoulders, instead blaming Natalie.
Well, this fallacy has nothing to do with the herring fish. The red herring fish is one that has been smoked into a reddish-brown color, hence the name. It was used to divert the attention of hunting dogs or bloodhounds, and ward them off from tracking the foxes, with its smell. Thus, the name red herring fallacy is used to describe a terminology that distracts the mind of someone, and goes completely off on a tangent. It completely discards the main topic, and jumps to a new topic. It is done deliberately to avoid the actual topic of discussion.
Such kind of scenarios can happen in many situations. Let's check out some hypothetical examples of the red herring fallacy to understand this concept better.
Example 2: You got a poor grade in Geometry. Hence, you try to distract your parents' minds by boasting about your high grades in Science. This helps you cover up the bad grades, since you make them feel that you have been great at one subject, hence, the other can be ignored.
She replies: "I will be working on my next venture shortly, and am too engrossed in my professional life to find time for anything personal. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to know the next question, please."
Example 2: Reporter: "Sir, I have heard that your application for your recent research project has been rejected on the grounds that you've been caught with the misuse of funds of your earlier project?"
Prof X: "It is completely unfair and sad that there are few people out there who are in a conspiracy against me. You, as a media spokesperson, should instead stand beside the truth. I am on the verge of achieving a high-profile project that has high chances of success. You should see my track record of earlier success stories. There are so many who have been engaged in misuse of the funds, but no one points their finger at them."
Prof X does not make any reference or give any explanation of the charges made against him. He instead vehemently avoids the topic, and diverts media attention towards others who are also engaged in misusing the funds. He tries to play the 'scapegoat' here.
Reporter: "Sir, the fiscal policy decisions taken by you this year have not given benefits to the economy. Instead, it is still facing devaluation against foreign currency."
Minister: "When I assumed responsibility, our economy was recovering from severe industrial problems that were created due to the wrongful acts of the earlier minister. It has come a long way from that, and I have concentrated majorly on solving those issues."
The minister is simply avoiding all accusations on him, by derailing the topic to something completely unrelated. Clever use of red herring is rampant in politics.
#1: When Abigail tries to flirt with Proctor, he tries to distract her by changing the topic.
#2: Proctor admits to adultery, and Abigail tries to distract Reverend Hale by fabricating a yellow bird that has been sent by Mary Warren to harm her.
In detective, mystery, or horror novels and movies, they use red herring fallacies to distract the reader to a different storyline. In this way, the reader's or viewer's mind is distracted. Of course, you'll find many such instances in Sherlock Holmes' stories.
After reading this, I am sure anyone will be confused, and the lawyer exploits this confusion for defense.
The red herring fallacy can be summed up in this quote by Harry S. Truman, "If you can't convince them, confuse them." Well, indeed, a smart tactic that can be used in our personal as well as professional life, I would say!