Godwin's law states that as an online argument goes on the probability of a protagonist being compared to Hitler increases, and as soon as that happens the argument is forfeited.
How to forfeit an argument
The real life version of
Godwin's law was confirmed so long ago in this election cycle that it might as well have included a Godse corollary.
No more static on the radio
Long threads of 300+ comments might have appeared below the link on someone's "Timeline" turning into arguments which may have utilized "
Godwin's Law" or the "Dunning Kruger Effect" in place of a formal debate about the work--a common scenario on social media.
Jean-Michel Basquiat commented on your status
I am reminded of Godwin's Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."
I searched in vain for an example of Godwin's Law, but no one had used the phrase Food Nazi, or at least not yet.
A few comments ... about comments
Coun Mullaney may not be aware of a tradition among internet-users known as
Godwin's Law - the first person to mention the Nazis in an argument is automatically deemed to have lost it.
Small is beautiful, says Tom
One of my favorites is "
Godwin's Law"--"The longer an argument drags on, the likelier someone will stoop to a Hitler or Nazi analogy." How about this, from your wife, after a long argument about you taking so much time fussing with your reloading gear: "You're such a Nazi when it comes to keeping your reloading stuff labeled." Which also crosses into Benford's Law, if you ask me.
The laws
A corollary to
Godwin's Law is the well-known tradition in the Internet's Usenet newsgroups that once a person in a discussion thread invokes the comparison to Hitler or the Nazis, the thread is ended and the person who made the comparison has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress.
Never say Nazi
Jokers will appreciate such entries as HTCPCP, a joke format dreamt up as an April Fools Day joke, while historians will appreciate learning about
Godwin's Law. There are the inevitable high-tech definitions as well plus loads of words that the novice net-user will get a lot of help from so everyone can glean something of use from it.
REVIEW: Microsoft Internet & Networking Dictionary
But those familiar with
Godwin's Law ("as an on-line discussion grows larger, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one") might rather see this laughable exchange more as a product of Internet anthropology than of Afghan anthropology Again, Edwards's argument is neither profound nor explicit enough to be conclusively proven.
Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier
Increasingly, in a modern twist on
Godwin's Law, each side is comparing the other to Daesh (ISIS).
Gamergate and the aACAywar on gaming'
A troll isn't a catchall term that applies to anyone who disagrees with you, the twitter version of
Godwin's Law (" As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1").
Trollistan will put Taliban to shame