Godwin's law

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Mike Godwin, formulator of the "law"

Godwin's law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies or Godwin's law of Nazi Analogies) is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1990 which has become an Internet adage. It states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

[edit] Usage and corollaries

Godwin's law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad Hitlerum form. The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of such a reference or comparison arising increases as the discussion progresses. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued,^[1] that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact. Although in one of its early forms Godwin's law referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions,^[2] the law is now applied to any threaded online discussion: electronic mailing lists, message boards, chat rooms, and more recently blog comment threads, wiki talk pages, and social networking sites.^[3][4]

Godwin's law applies especially to inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic comparisons of other situations (or one's opponent) with Hitler or Nazis or their actions. The law and its corollaries would not apply to discussions covering genocide, propaganda, early 20th century eugenics (racial superiority) or other mainstays of the Nazi Germany, nor, more debatably, to discussion of other totalitarian regimes, since a Nazi comparison in those circumstances is appropriate. Whether it applies to humorous use or references to oneself is open to interpretation, since this would not be a fallacious attack against a debate opponent.^[5][6][4]

Godwin's law itself can be abused, as a distraction, diversion or even censorship, that fallaciously miscasts an opponent's argument as hyperbole, especially if the comparisons made by the argument are actually appropriate. A 2005 Reason magazine article^{[citation needed]} argued that Godwin's law is often misused to ridicule even valid comparisons. Others argue that the law is entirely self-serving bludgeon and that those who invoke Godwin's law would more plainly state their position as "The longer it takes for you to submit and conform to my line of reasoning, the more incessantly I will imply to the rest of the audience that your continued resistance is a crime against humanity that is worse than Hitler."^[7]

Godwin's law has been extended via corollaries to cover other topics being brought up as an off-topic analogy. Stead's Law covers comparisons to Christianity, and Jack's Corollary ("reductio ad Klanum") covers that of racism. A common corollary is that whoever first brings up Hitler or the Nazis is said to have lost the debate.

[edit] History

Godwin has stated that he introduced Godwin's law in 1990 as an experiment in memetics.^[4] Linking by implication the fallacy of reductio ad Hitlerum to online discussion length had been done before 1990 by a poster named Richard Sexton in 1989: "You can tell when a USENET discussion is getting old when one of the participants drags out Hitler and the Nazis."^[8] Godwin's law does not, however, claim to articulate a fallacy; it is instead framed as a memetic tool to reduce the incidence of inappropriate hyperbolic comparisons. "Although deliberately framed as if it were a law of nature or of mathematics, its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler or to Nazis to think a bit harder about the Holocaust," Godwin has written.^[9] It has not been established whether Sexton's quip had any influence on Godwin's law, though Sexton continues, citing an apparent joke by Godwin, to claim Godwin borrowed the idea from Sexton and named it.^[10]

[edit] Variations

In Germany, a Nazometer is a mock measurement device suggested by German comedian Harald Schmidt.^[11] The device allegedly screens spoken language and will give alarms even for minor Nazi-specific formulations such as "Autobahn" or "Eva".

[edit] See also

• Association fallacy
• Benford's law of controversy
• Infinite monkey theorem
• List of adages named after people
• Feminazi

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Look up godwin's law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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More spoken articles

• Godwin's law FAQ (alternate link)
• Godwin's law at the Public Domain Jargon File
• "I Seem to be a Verb"; Mike Godwin's commentary on the 18th anniversary of Godwin's law
• My Nazi Can Beat Up Your Nazi by Michael Sietzman