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Godwin of Godwin's Law: 'By All Means, Compare These Shitheads to the Nazis'
http://gizmodo.com/godwin-of-godwins-law-by-all-means-compare-these-shi-1797807646
Any masochist who has spent a second taking part in the eye gouge that is “internet discourse” has heard one of its core tenets, Mike Godwin’s law. That law, as recounted by Wired, goes as follows:
“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
We’ve all been there. Maybe you were discussing Naruto, or Vince the Slap Chop guy, or comparing saxophone brands on a message board. But then an argument broke out and both sides dug their heels in, and someone got called a Nazi. Then someone else mentioned Godwin’s law, and the conversation was over.
In this case, however, the discussion concerns “alt righters” marching in Charlottesville who were, well, flying swastikas, Sieg Heil-ing, and wearing shirts with Hitler quotes. And Godwin himself took to Facebook to let everyone know that if it walks like a Nazi and talks like a Nazi, you better let people know what it really is.
Godwin said in a comment that the post didn’t come from nowhere, and was in response to a Facebook message from a concerned follower. As you may have personally experienced, people often invoke Godwin’s law to derail conversations where the opponent draws a Nazi comparison. We have reached out for comment.
Any masochist who has spent a second taking part in the eye gouge that is “internet discourse” has heard one of its core tenets, Mike Godwin’s law. That law, as recounted by Wired, goes as follows:
“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
We’ve all been there. Maybe you were discussing Naruto, or Vince the Slap Chop guy, or comparing saxophone brands on a message board. But then an argument broke out and both sides dug their heels in, and someone got called a Nazi. Then someone else mentioned Godwin’s law, and the conversation was over.
In this case, however, the discussion concerns “alt righters” marching in Charlottesville who were, well, flying swastikas, Sieg Heil-ing, and wearing shirts with Hitler quotes. And Godwin himself took to Facebook to let everyone know that if it walks like a Nazi and talks like a Nazi, you better let people know what it really is.
Godwin said in a comment that the post didn’t come from nowhere, and was in response to a Facebook message from a concerned follower. As you may have personally experienced, people often invoke Godwin’s law to derail conversations where the opponent draws a Nazi comparison. We have reached out for comment.
The corollary to Godwin's law is that every time someone does nazi stuff or posts a thread about nazis, someone will try to derail it by invoking Godwin's law.
Godwin's Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches 1."—?that is, if an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will compare someone or something to Hitler or his deeds.
He coined this concept back in 1990, before many of these shitheads were even born.
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I concur.
