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Hey, look at that! I mostly see literal Red herrings. But even though it pre-dates Marx, it's still not the same as whataboutism. (Edit: In case anyone misunde
by greglindahl 9y ago
Hey, look at that! I mostly see literal Red herrings. But even though it pre-dates Marx, it's still not the same as whataboutism.
(Edit: In case anyone misunderstands, I'm agreeing that even though I'm a native English speaker, the phrase "red herring" predates Marxism by a bunch of years, so my statement above was incorrect. From the downvotes I'm getting, apparently I wasn't initially clear about agreeing that I was incorrect.)
- Jtsummers 9y ago> A red herring seeks to tie someone's statement to Communism, and then dismiss it. Your original description of "red herring" was clearly erroneous, I was trying to correct that for anyone who isn't a native English speaker. No point in misleading them with red herrings about communists when the phrase has nothing to do with it.
- greglindahl 9y agoUm, congratulations? Is repeating yourself an important part of fixing my error? Did my second statement, which agreed that I was wrong, mislead anyone?
- Jtsummers 9y agoI misread the intent and tone of your reply. Sorry. I deal with a lot of people in person who use a lot of rhetorical tricks and logical fallacies to perpetuate various false (and easily falsifiable, if they considered science valid) beliefs. So I've developed a low tolerance for misstatements like what I originally responded to and interpreted your reply to me as sarcastic rather than an honest reaction. Apologies for misinterpreting.