Disinformation and Propaganda Glossary

Something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion.

The term was popularized in 1807 by English polemicist William Cobbett, who told a story of having used a strong-smelling smoked fish to divert and distract hounds from chasing a rabbit.

If you want to avoid talking about something, change the subject. Pick something that will engage the other people. It can be completely off the current track or something related, but not really relevant. Something controversial or anything that arouses their emotions is often a good idea.

Examples:

1. What about Christmas? Well, my aunt is coming next week.
2. This is expensive. Mind you, I heard that we might get a raise soon.

Is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction.

If X is false, then the situation would be absurd. So X is true.

When you want to prove something is true, indicate that if it were false, then the situation would be plainly ridiculous and things might happen that are obviously nonsensical. Make it seem that anyone who believes that the item is false would also be ridiculous and unworthy.

A variant on this is to start by assuming several things might be true, then show that if the (desired) item is true then other items must be false.

Examples:

• If you can't float on water then you would sink like a stone and walk on the bottom of the ocean.
• If people didn't talk to one another, then there would be no society.
• If you were the unhappiest person in the world then you would probably die from sadness. You are still here so you cannot be that unhappy.

Reification is the error of treating an abstract concept, idea, or something that is not concrete, as if it were a concrete, tangible object. While reification is common and often acceptable in everyday language and literature, using it in logical reasoning or rhetoric can be misleading and is usually considered a fallacy.

Examples of Reification:

1. "A computer is like a brain. It can make intuitive leaps as well."
   • This example mistakenly attributes human-like intuition to computers, which do not possess such abstract capabilities.
2. "The Boston Matrix tells us that our product range has a cash cow, two question marks, and a dog. We should remove one question mark and the dog."
   • Here, the Boston Matrix, a conceptual business tool, is treated as if it could actively communicate and make decisions.
3. "Alan is a god amongst men. He will know you better than you know yourself. He will be able to heal you with a single touch."
   • This statement reifies Alan as a deity with supernatural abilities, which is an exaggerated and concrete representation of his qualities.

In logical reasoning and rhetoric, reification can distort the truth and lead to faulty conclusions. It’s important to distinguish between metaphorical language and precise, factual statements to avoid this fallacy.