Have you ever had someone tell you that other people have things worse off than you, expecting you to not vent about your problems or even maybe expecting you to change your way of thinking because of it?
This is the fallacy of relative privation.
The fallacy of relative privation (also known as “appeal to worse problems” or “not as bad as”) is dismissing an argument or complaint due to what are perceived to be more important problems.
There is, of course, some truth to this. There certainly are worse things or problems out there than what someone or some group are experiencing. However, this minimizes the feelings and frustrations of the individual or group, whose feelings are indeed valid. It also does nothing to change the fact that the individual or group have problems in the first place. It’s kind of a ‘suck it up, buttercup‘ attitude, which ultimately isn’t helpful as it doesn’t address the problems of those who are experiencing them. Voicing a complaint is not the same as ignoring the suffering of others, or insisting such suffering does not exist.
I actually got into a debate recently in the comments section of a Facebook post (the commenter has since blocked me; I’d link to it if not; I take that as a win). She was saying that those who complain about having problems are acting as victims and that they shouldn’t complain because as there are bigger and worse problems out there, all should remain stoic in the face of them. The truth is that people’s problems don’t become any less because of the existence of bigger problems out there. Your feelings, your problems – they are relevant. They are valid.
Have you ever encountered someone saying that there are worse problems than yours, trying to diminish what you’re saying and/or feeling?
Here is a short YouTube video on the fallacy of privation for additional understanding.
