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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

The term when someone tries to brush aside a situation by quoting something worse

Hey everyone,
I cannot seem to remember the term when someone tries to negate a situation by referring to something relatively worse.

Eg.
A: The AIDS research got a boost with a billion dollar grant by the government
B: Why care about AIDS when there are millions dying of hunger

A: Well you can't say that just because there is world hunger so no attention should be paid to AIDS.

I'm looking for a term for the last sentence.

Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

It is probably considered a variant on the "Relative Privation" informal fallacy.

  • It is probably considered a variant on the "Relative Privation" informal fallacy.
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2 Answers
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It is probably considered a variant on the "Relative Privation" informal fallacy.
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down·play/'doun?pla/
Verb: Make (something) appear less important than it really is: "this report downplays the seriousness of global warming"

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