Tu Quoque (Whataboutism) is deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0680, within the Relevance Fallacy family. The core principle: deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
Deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too.
Plain-English Definition
Deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too.
Feynman Explanation
Their hypocrisy is not your alibi.
Core Principle
Deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too.
Mechanisms
Deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too.
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Inputs (Triggers)
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Outputs (Behaviors)
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Behavioral Signature
Their hypocrisy is not your alibi.
Examples
- 'But our competitors do worse.' Doesn't change whether we should.
- Accountability conversations dissolve into mutual finger-pointing.
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Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
Most organizations meet this element as a personnel problem. It is not one. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: their hypocrisy is not your alibi. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, accountability conversations dissolve into mutual finger-pointing. It is amplified whenever accountability conversations dissolve into mutual finger-pointing. Inside organizations that shows up as accountability conversations dissolve into mutual finger-pointing. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to make the desired behavior observable, remove whatever currently pays for its opposite, and attach the reward to the behavior rather than to the noisy outcome downstream of it. Watch for it at the boundaries: handoffs, promotions, incident reviews, and budget cycles are where this element gets its power.
Famous Experiments
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Design Principles
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Measurement Approaches
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Evidence
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
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Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Attacking the person rather than the argument.
It's true because authority says so.
Common sense says so, therefore it's true.
Believing something is true because of the consequences of its truth.
Claiming something is true because it hasn't been proven false (or vice versa).
If it's 'natural,' it's good.
It's better because it's newer.
It's right because it's how we've always done it.
I can't believe it; therefore it isn't true.
Saying it enough times until it sounds true.
It's true because many believe it.
Asking the other side to disprove an unsupported claim.
Where Tu Quoque (Whataboutism) is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
- CourseIncentives 101
The free ten-part primer on reading a payoff structure.
Questions about Tu Quoque (Whataboutism)
- What is Tu Quoque (Whataboutism)?
- Tu Quoque (Whataboutism) is deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0680, within the Relevance Fallacy family. The core principle: deflecting by pointing to the other side doing it too. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of Tu Quoque (Whataboutism)?
- Accountability conversations dissolve into mutual finger-pointing. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0680).
- How is Tu Quoque (Whataboutism) exploited?
- Accountability conversations dissolve into mutual finger-pointing.
- How do you design around Tu Quoque (Whataboutism)?
- Name the behavior you want in observable terms, remove what currently pays for the opposite, attach the reward to the behavior rather than a lagging proxy, and publish how you will detect gaming.
- Which behavioral dimension does Tu Quoque (Whataboutism) belong to?
- Tu Quoque (Whataboutism) is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Relevance Fallacy", class "Logical Fallacy". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0680 and its evidence grade is B.