Godwin's law (or Godwin's rule of Hitler analogies) is an Internet adage asserting that "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 Adolf Hitler or his deeds, the point at which effectively the discussion or thread often ends. Promulgated by the American attorney and author Mike Godwin in 1990, Godwin's law originally referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions. It is now applied to any threaded online discussion, such as Internet forums, chat rooms, and comment threads, as well as to speeches, articles, and other rhetoric where reductio ad Hitlerum occurs.
Video Godwin's law
Generalization, corollaries, usage
There are many corollaries to Godwin's law, some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Godwin himself) than others. For example, there is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that, when a Hitler comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever made the comparison loses whatever debate is in progress. This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law.
Godwin's law itself can be abused as a distraction, diversion or even as censorship, fallaciously miscasting an opponent's argument as hyperbole when the comparisons made by the argument are actually appropriate. Similar criticisms of the "law" (or "at least the distorted version which purports to prohibit all comparisons to German crimes") have been made by the American lawyer, journalist, and author Glenn Greenwald.
Godwin's law does not 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," Godwin wrote, "its purpose has always been rhetorical and pedagogical: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler to think a bit harder about the Holocaust."
Maps Godwin's law
History
Godwin has stated that he introduced Godwin's law in 1990 as an experiment in memetics.
In 2012, "Godwin's law" became an entry in the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.
In December 2015, Godwin commented on the Nazi and fascist comparisons being made by several articles about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying: "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler when you talk about Trump, or any other politician." In August 2017, Godwin made similar remarks on social networking websites Facebook and Twitter with respect to the two previous days' Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, endorsing and encouraging efforts to compare its alt-right organizers to Nazis.
See also
- Association fallacy
- List of eponymous laws
- Straw man
- Think of the children
- Little Eichmanns
References
Further reading
- Anderson, Nate (September 1, 2011). "No Nazi comparisons? Sounds like something Hitler would say!". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
External links
- Tim Skirvin (September 15, 1999). "How to post about Nazis and get away with it--the Godwin's law FAQ". Skirv's Wiki. Archived from the original on October 11, 1999.
- "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
- "Is it ever OK to call someone a Nazi?". BBC News. July 14, 2010.
- Fishman, Aleisa (September 1, 2011). "Voices on Antisemitism - Interview with Mike Godwin". U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013.
- Interview with "Mike Godwin on Godwin's Law" by Dan Amira, New York magazine, March 8, 2013
- Wired 2.10; Meme, Counter-Meme by Mike Godwin
Source of article : Wikipedia
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