Godwin's law

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)^[1][2] is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1990^[2] that has become an Internet adage. It states: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."^[2][3] In other words, Godwin observed that, given enough time, in any online discussion—regardless of topic or scope—someone inevitably criticizes some point made in the discussion by comparing it to beliefs held by Hitler and the Nazis.

Godwin's law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread Reductio ad Hitlerum form.^[4] 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. Precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Godwin has argued that overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.^[5]

Although in one of its early forms Godwin's law referred specifically to Usenet newsgroup discussions,^[6] the law is now often applied to any threaded online discussion, such as forums, chat rooms and blog comment threads, and has been invoked for the inappropriate use of Nazi analogies in articles or speeches.^[7]

Corollaries and usage

There are many corollaries to Godwin's law, some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Godwin himself)^[3] than others.^[1] For example, there is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress.^[8] This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law. It is considered poor form to raise such a comparison arbitrarily with the motive of ending the thread. There is a widely recognized corollary that any such ulterior-motive invocation of Godwin's law will be unsuccessful.^[9]

Godwin's law applies especially to inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic comparisons of other situations (or one's opponent) with Nazis. The law and its corollaries would not apply to discussions covering known mainstays of Nazi Germany such as genocide, eugenics or racial superiority, nor, more debatably, to a discussion of other totalitarian regimes or ideologies, since a Nazi comparison in those circumstances may be appropriate, in effect committing the fallacist's fallacy. 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.

Godwin's law by proxy refers to when a party employs a comparison to a universally reviled figure rather than Hitler himself. It is a debate tactic common among those familiar with Godwin's law who seek to evoke a comparison with a commonly held evil without fulfilling the letter of Godwin's law. Such comparisons include, but are not limited to, Oliver Cromwell, Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Bull Connor and George Wallace.

While falling foul of Godwin's law tends to cause the individual making the comparison to lose their argument and/or credibility, 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.^[10] Similar criticisms of the "law" (or "at least the distorted version which purports to prohibit all comparisons to German crimes") have been made by Glenn Greenwald.^[11]

History

Godwin has stated that he introduced Godwin's law in 1990 as an experiment in memetics.^[2]

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, 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.^[12]

See also

Internet portal

• Association fallacy
• List of adages named after people

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Tim Skirvin (1999-2009). "How to post about Nazis and get away with it—the Godwin's law FAQ". Skirv's Wiki. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin/. Retrieved 2006-05-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Godwin, Mike (October, 1994). "Meme, Counter-meme". Wired. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.10/godwin.if_pr.html. Retrieved 2006-03-24. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Godwin, Mike (January 12, 1995). "Godwin's law of Nazi Analogies (and Corollaries)". EFF.org. Electronic Frontier Foundation. pp. "Net Culture – Humor" archive section. http://www.eff.org/Net_culture/Folklore/Humor/godwins.law. Retrieved 2006-03-24. 
4. ^ Strauss, Leo (1953). Natural Right and History. Chicago, Il.: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226776921. 
5. ^ Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age
6. ^ Godwin, Mike (August 18, 1991). "Re: Nazis (was Re: Card's Article on Homosexuality". rec.arts.sf-lovers. (Web link). 
7. ^ Ben Goldacre (16 September 2010). "Pope aligns atheists with Nazis. Bizarre. Transcript here.". bengoldacre - secondary blog. http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/nazi-youth-pope-aligns-atheists-with-nazis-bi. 
8. ^ "Internet rules and laws: the top 10, from Godwin to Poe" The Daily Telegraph, 23 October 2009
9. ^ Eric Raymond. "Godwin's law". The Jargon File (4.4.7). Self-published. http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/G/Godwins-Law.html. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 
10. ^ David Weigel, "Hands Off Hitler! It's time to repeal Godwin's Law" Reason Magazine, July 14, 2005
11. ^ Greenwald, Glenn (2010-07-01) The odiousness of the distorted Godwin's Law, Salon.com
12. ^ "I Seem To Be A Verb: 18 Years of Godwin's Law". Jewcy.com. 2008-04-30. http://www.jewcy.com/post/i_seem_be_verb_18_years_godwins_law. Retrieved 2010-04-16. 

Further reading

• Anderson, Nate (1 September 2011). "No Nazi comparisons? Sounds like something Hitler would say!". Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/no-nazi-comparisons-sounds-like-something-hitler-would-say.ars. Retrieved 1 September 2011. 

External links

Listen to this article (info/dl)

This audio file was created from a revision of Godwin's law dated 2005-07-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)

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
• "Is it ever OK to call someone a Nazi?". BBC Online (BBC News). 2010-07-14. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10618638. 
• Godwin's Law at Tv Tropes.
• New Jersey Attorney
• Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Mike Godwin from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum