When it’s hard to find a resolution, it can be tempting to search for the middle ground to resolve the conflict. By making us abandon the search for the most suitable resolution, the false compromise fallacy can lead to misleading conclusions and poor <a href="https://nesslabs.com/decision-making">decision making</a> at work and in your personal life.

Unable To Find A Way Out

A false compromise occurs when a resolution cannot be found between two opposing views, and so the middle ground is accepted as the “best of both worlds” instead.If you know that the sky is blue, but someone else argues that it is yellow, a compromise might see you meeting in the middle to conclude that the sky is green. Of course, this agreement settles the difference of opinion in a wholly unsatisfactory way, as there is no truth in the sky being green.  A false compromise only provides the illusion of a resolution.

The False Compromise

False compromises may seem innocent, especially when getting to the correct answer does not particularly seem to matter in everyday life. However, when the topic being discussed and the potential outcome are of great importance, a false compromise could cause harm.A false compromise can also dangerously speed up decision making. This is particularly true if the compromise brings an abrupt end to a debate: hurriedly agreeing to a decision may prevent you from considering <a href="https://nesslabs.com/second-level-thinking">second-order consequences</a>.

The Danger of False Compromises

We will likely all have had experience of false compromises, with various resulting outcomes. Learning to manage this fallacy may help you to avoid unnecessarily meeting in the middle.<ul><li>Consider if consensus is needed.</li><li>Evaluate the strength of evidence.</li><li>Be open to extreme decisions.</li></ul>

How to Manage False Compromises

It can be tempting to seek the middle ground. But the false compromise fallacy can lead to misleading conclusions and poor decision making.

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False compromise fallacy: why the middle ground is not always the best

The red herring fallacy, one of the many logical fallacies you might encounter in essays, speeches, opinion pieces, and even casual conversations, is an attempt to reroute a discussion from its original topic and focus on something unrelated.  Logical fallacies are so pervasive in our communication that they can be easy to miss—but once you know how to recognize them, you can catch them in your work and remove them before they undermine your arguments.

Red Herring Fallacy

A red herring is a misleading statement, question, or argument meant to redirect a conversation away from its original topic. The purpose of a red herring is to distract the reader or listener from the actual issue being discussed in a conversation or piece of writing. This isn’t always for nefarious purposes—sometimes, it’s a literary strategy used to keep readers in suspense.

Uses And Purpose Of The Red Herring Fallacy

Logical fallacies can be broadly divided into two categories: formal and informal fallacies. Formal fallacies are statements that are flawed because the structure of the statement itself is flawed. For example, the non-sequitur fallacy, the type of fallacy where the conclusion does not logically follow the premise, is a formal fallacy. Take a look at this example of the non-sequitur fallacy:If a food is cold, then it is a dessert. Salad is cold. Therefore, salad is a dessert.

Formal Fallacies

Informal fallacies are statements that are flawed because they lack a logically grounded premise. Rather than the statement being structurally unsound, the content presented in the statement doesn’t logically fit into its structure. Here’s an example of a red herring statement using the same content as our non-sequitur example above:If a food is cold, then it is a dessert. Salad is cold. But salad isn’t sweet, so it can’t be a dessert.

Informal Fallacies

In a debate, a participant might use a red herring to avoid discussing a topic for which they don’t have a well-developed position or if their position could make them look bad to the audience and media. Similar to a politician using a red herring in a debate, an individual might use a red herring in an argument to distract the other party from the criticism they’re making.

Areas Of Usage For Red Herring

In philosophy, red herrings function similarly to how they work in arguments and debates. The difference here is that they might be intentionally employed as a way to drive readers to think critically about a new argument. In pedagogy, such as in law school settings, red herrings might be worked into exams and study problems to test students’ comprehension of the information presented and their ability to reach the correct legal conclusion.

Red Herrings in Philosophy and Pedagogy

People use red herrings in nearly every kind of communication. These include the following:<ul><li>Persuasive essays</li><li>Argumentative essays</li><li>Debates</li><li>Speeches</li><li>Conversations</li><li>Storytelling</li><li>Emails</li><li>Blog posts</li></ul>Sometimes, speakers and writers make red herring statements inadvertently, either because they genuinely think the statement they’re making is relevant to the discussion or because they aren’t thinking critically about the statements they’re making.

Wide Usage Of Red Herring

Learn the meaning of red herring in rhetoric, and tips on how to avoid logical fallacies in your arguments, with examples.

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