Learn English – it called when you raise a problem and someone else makes it seem like you’re entitled by bringing up something far worse

single-word-requests

For example, you say "These working conditions are subpar. We don't get any breaks." and then someone else says "You're entitled. You know who has it bad? People that work in sweatshops!"

You raised a valid point, but now someone has completely dismissed it by bringing up something unrelated.

A more well known example is "I'm hungry." to which a parent might reply "You're not hungry. Children in Africa are hungry."

I feel like there should be a word for this kind of fallacy.

Best Answer

This is the fallacy of relative privation, which basically argues that you don't really have a problem because there are other people suffering from a much more severe version of the problem.

Here's a quote:

The fallacy of relative privation, or appeal to worse problems, is an informal fallacy which attempts to suggest that the opponent's argument should be ignored because there are more important problems in the world, despite the fact that these issues are often completely unrelated to the subject under discussion.

Related Topic