Subscribe!

A close up of smoke on a black background.

Red Herrings, another topic left out as a learning tool – Mary T. O’Sullivan

June 12, 2023/Mary T. O'Sullivan

By Mary T. O’Sullivan, MSOL

“If you’re defending a lie, you can only defend it with obfuscations and other lies. You can’t defend a lie with the truth.” – Harvey Bialy

Do you remember back in high school learning about how some leaders try to influence public opinion by using such tropes as “red herrings”, “the yellow press”, and “the bandwagon effect”? I’m wondering if these methods of obfuscation still exist on school curricula because it feels like we’ve lost the ability to discern truth from fiction, sensationalism from fact, and false narratives from reality. It’s becoming worrisome because it’s as if our ability to use critical thinking has vanished.

Using the device of “red herring”, mystery writers throw us off track in tortuous plot lines just to keep us interested. I also remember learning about the newspaper wars in the late 1880s and 1890s, where sensational, exaggerated headlines dominated the press, with the intention of grabbing more readers and selling more newspapers. The headlines were often shocking, partisan, and opinionated, even to the point of drawing the United States into war. And what have we learned about “the bandwagon” effect? That’s the wave of conformity that clouds judgment as we justify our actions because “everyone is doing it”. In the short story, “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, every year, a person is stoned to death picked by random chance, a paradigm of conformity.

By now, much has been written about the comparison of our world today and George Orwell’s novel, 1984, which is banned in some states in the US. “Doublethink”, “Newspeak”, and “Big Brother”, among other Orwellian concepts, when pointedly discussed, seem to make people uncomfortable. It challenges thinking, such as labeling, and behavior, such as conforming to social media frenzies, that have become so common in current society.

How do we recognize a “red herring”? A red herring is defined as a logical fallacy, that is something that seems to be true on the surface, but upon examination, proves to be the opposite. Red herrings are usually used to obfuscate blame or wrongdoing. Say as a child, you are caught stealing cookies before dinner, and you are reprimanded for it. When your response is to distract your parents by telling a story about how your brother took your football, you are using a “red herring.” Furthermore, red herrings are being used more frequently in today’s social and political discourse, and unfortunately, most of us are not familiar with the concept. So, the alternative is rather than address the immediate wrongdoing, people’s attention swerves to something not related to the actual issue.

It’s no secret that leaders in business and politics use red herrings to divert attention, shape the narrative, and manipulate public opinion. In this way, leaders can shift the public discourse away from unfavorable topics or avoid addressing controversial issues which may make them look bad. Rather than take the blame, these leaders point the public in another direction, using name calling, false comparisons, outright lies, and stereotypes, to create the appearance of plausible deniability, steer their audience in another, more favorable direction.

In the business world, where Wall Street must be kept happy, leaders often use red herrings if their reputations or the financial stability of their companies are at stake. Rather than admit to financial wrongdoing, the leaders at Enron, for instance, distracted attention from their corporate misconduct by fabricating complex financial creations and deceptive accounting practices, much like Lehman Brothers did in 2008. In both cases these phony financial instruments were invented to conceal the company’s financial woes. With this misleading practice, Enron was able to distract employees and the public by providing false information to paint a corporate rosy picture and prevent a panic on Wall Street and divert attention from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Unfortunately, their employees lost millions in savings and pensions as a result.

Additionally, politicians consistently use red herrings to deflect intense scrutiny, handle a specific talking point or control their storyline. A prominent example took place during a recent political debate. When caught making an embarrassing, sexually offensive comment on video, a politician, in the same breath, began to pontificate how he would defeat ISIS, one thing having nothing to do with the other.

In another example, a politician has spied on an opponent and the opponent finds out about it. When confronted with the information, the politician spins a story in the opposite direction, instead of addressing the wrongdoing. The discussion shifts to the opponent’s questionable use of campaign finances, with has nothing to do with the original charge, and may not even be true. The campaign finance discussion is a red herring, meant to avoid blame, and assign it elsewhere.

Red herrings are nothing new and have been used to create confusion since the ancient days of fox hunting in the UK, where a red herring was dragged through the woods, to throw the hunting dogs’ sense of scent off the trail. Red herrings are also common in marketing and advertising. A car manufacturer may promote fancy features rather than own up to falsifying emissions records, as happened with Volkswagen.

Red herrings may have short term effectiveness, however, in the long run, they erode trust, reduce transparency, and stop genuine discussions between people.

How do see through the smoke and mirrors and discern truth from fantasy? If we use critical thinking, fact checking and intense scrutiny, if we use our common sense and be informed consumers of information, our deception can be avoided, but only if we want to avoid being deceived. If we engage in the cult of personality, or become easily influenced by false beliefs, we are no different from the Branch Davidians, the People’s Temple of Jim Jones, or the cult of Heaven’s Gate who also committed mass suicide. Is our society so empty inside that we need to fill ourselves with spurious beliefs? We don’t have to be led astray. It’s within our power to examine facts and look for those who spout “red herrings.”

“Life is full of a thousand red herrings, and it takes the history of a civilization to work out which are the red herrings, and which aren’t.” – Peter Greenaway

___

Connect with Mary:

Read all Mary’s columns here: https://rinewstoday.com/mary-t-osullivan-msol-pcc-shrm-scp/

Mary T. O’Sullivan, Master of Science, Organizational Leadership, International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach, Society of Human Resource Management, “Senior Certified Professional. Graduate Certificate in Executive and Professional Career Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas. Member, Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Honor Society. Advanced Studies in Education from Montclair University, SUNY Oswego and Syracuse University. Mary is also a certified Six Sigma Specialist, Contract Specialist, IPT Leader and holds a Certificate in Essentials of Human Resource Management from SHRM.

www.encoreexecutivecoaching.com