Godwin's Law

From Citizendium
Revision as of 19:34, 4 October 2010 by imported>Howard C. Berkowitz
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is developing and not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Godwin's Law began as a humorous observation about online discussions, by Mike Godwin, general counsel of the Electronic Freedom Foundation. As it has evolved, it has become a guideline that when participants in discussion invoke Nazi analogies, all useful information exchange has ended. [1]

He has clarified that genuine historical references to National Socialism, in context, do not invoke the Law. It has been observed, however, that improper invocations of Godwin's Law also indicate the conversation has lost value. <ref>{{citation

| url = http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitle7vljslfu?from=Main.GodwinsLaw
| title = Godwin's Law
| journal = TV Tropes

References

  1. Mike Godwin, "Meme, Counter-meme", Wired