In literature circles, a red herring is a narrative element that is meant to mislead readers by providing irrelevant information. For example, an author might introduce some plot point to distract the reader and mislead them so the ending is more surprising. Red herrings also pop up in rhetoric and argumentation. A red herring fallacy … Read more
What is “truth?” Truth has been a topic up for discussion for thousands of years, especially in the eyes of philosophers. But when it comes to everyday people, we typically accept truths as being any ideas or concepts that aim to represent reality or correspond to it in some way. The truth is represented by … Read more
When in his 80s, a friend’s grandfather (Pappy) told me that he’s smoked a pack of cigarettes a day since he was a teenager and he turned out just fine, so it can’t really be that bad for you. Now, for any of you who can think back to statistics 101, n=1 in Pappy’s little … Read more
In 2001, then-president George W. Bush was quoted making the following statement to Congress in response to the attacks on 9/11: “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” In the time since, President Bush has been criticized for his all-or-nothing … Read more
Say you’re debating a friend over the topic of marijuana legalization and they say this: “If we legalize recreational marijuana, then marijuana will become normalized in public life. If marijuana is normalized, that will make it more likely that children and other impressionable people will partake. Before you know it, everyone will be doing drugs! … Read more