Godwin's Law

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627

Mike Godwin, Usenet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Godwin%27s_law

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2009-07-02T17:50:44Z

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confirmed

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classics, godwin's law, usenet, internet adage, internet rules

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'> <head> <meta content='text/html; utf-8' http-equiv='Content-Type' /> <meta name='keywords' content='classics, godwins law, usenet, internet adage, internet rules' /> <title>Godwin's Law | Know Your Meme</title> <link href='http://cdn0.knowyourmeme.com/stylesheets/mobile.css?1264901130' media='only screen and (max-device-width: 480px)' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /> <script src="http://cdn2.knowyourmeme.com/javascripts/jquery.js?1264901130" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="http://cdn3.knowyourmeme.com/javascripts/jquery-ui.js?1264901130" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="http://cdn0.knowyourmeme.com/javascripts/jrails.js?1264901130" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="http://cdn0.knowyourmeme.com/javascripts/jquery.timeago.js?1264901130" type="text/javascript"></script> <script src="http://cdn1.knowyourmeme.com/javascripts/application.js?1264901130" type="text/javascript"></script> </head> <body id='mobile'> <div id='container'> <div class='c' id='content'> <div class='block c' id='entry_titlebar'> <div class='left'> <div class='c' id='entry_photo'><img alt="" class="thumbnail left" src="http://cdn3.knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/430/thumb/godwin.jpg?1246557044" title="Godwin's Law" /></div> <dl id='entry_details'> <dt>Status</dt> <dd>Confirmed</dd> <dt>Origin</dt> <dd>Mike Godwin, Usenet</dd> <dt>Year</dt> <dd>1990</dd> </dl> </div> <div class='right'> <h1>Godwin's Law</h1> <p class='desc'> Godwin’s Law is an internet adage / behavioral observation that was first coined by Mike Godwin in 1990. This so-called law refers to one of the earliest bits of Usenet customs, which goes “if you mention Adolf Hitler or Nazis within a discussion thread, you’ve automatically ended whatever discussion you were taking part in.” For more information about Godwin’s Law, check out the original FAQ page. While Godwin’s Law was originally conceived for the Usenet newsgroup discussions, the humorous rule remains just as applicable today in any threaded online discussion, such as message boards, chat rooms, comment threads and wiki talk pages. Since the dawn of online discussions, Godwin’s Law has been used as an indicator of whether a thread has gone on too long, who’s playing fair and who’s just slinging mud and who finally gets to “win” the discussion. In 2007, Slashdot noted that Godwin’s Law affected an ongoing, highly public dispute between Linux author Linus Torvalds and the GNOME project. A May 2007 issue of Randall Munroe’s webcomic xkcd anachronistically portrays Allied officers trying to discuss Axis military tactics, but being interrupted by Godwin’s Law. Similarly, a November 2007 issue of Jeph Jacques’s webcomic Questionable Content, entitled “Godwin Wars”, referenced (and contrasted) Godwin’s law and the reductio ad Hitlerum. In October 2007 issue, Wired published a “Geekipedia” piece that includes an entry for “Godwin’s law” among “people, place, ideas, and trends you need to know now”. By 2007, The Economist had declared that “a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument.” …</p> </div> </div> <div class='c' id='entry_content'> <p align="center"><img src="http://knowyourmeme.com/i/4594/original/godwindef.jpg" alt="" /></p> <div class="block"><h1>About / Definition</h1> <p>Godwin’s Law is an internet adage / behavioral observation that was first coined by Mike Godwin in 1990. This so-called law refers to one of the earliest bits of Usenet customs, which goes “if you mention Adolf Hitler or Nazis within a discussion thread, you’ve automatically ended whatever discussion you were taking part in.” For more information about Godwin’s Law, check out the original <a href="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin/"><span class="caps">FAQ</span> page.</a></p> <p><br><p align="center"><img src="http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/039/090/original/godwins-law1.png" alt="" /></p></p> <h1>Usage</h1> <p>While Godwin’s Law was originally conceived for the Usenet newsgroup discussions, the humorous rule remains just as applicable today in any threaded online discussion, such as message boards, chat rooms, comment threads and wiki talk pages. Since the dawn of online discussions, Godwin’s Law has been used as an indicator of whether a thread has gone on too long, who’s playing fair and who’s just slinging mud and who finally gets to “win” the discussion.</p> <h1>Examples</h1> <ul> <li>In 2007, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">Slashdot</a> noted that Godwin’s Law affected an ongoing, highly public dispute between Linux author Linus Torvalds and the <span class="caps">GNOME</span> project.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A May 2007 issue of Randall Munroe’s webcomic xkcd anachronistically portrays Allied officers trying to discuss Axis military tactics, but being interrupted by Godwin’s Law.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Similarly, a November 2007 issue of Jeph Jacques’s webcomic Questionable Content, entitled “Godwin Wars”, referenced (and contrasted) Godwin’s law and the reductio ad Hitlerum.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>In October 2007 issue, Wired published a “Geekipedia” piece that includes an entry for “Godwin’s law” among “people, place, ideas, and trends you need to know now”.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>By 2007, The Economist had declared that “a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument.”</li> </ul> </div><div class="block"><h1>Notable Corollaries</h1></div> </div> <div class='block' id='entry_footer'> <h1>More Info</h1> <div class='c'> <a class='btn left' href='KYM://entry/photos' id='entry_photos'> View Meme Images <br /> <span># Total images</span> </a> <a class='btn right' href='KYM://entry/share' id='entry_share'> Share <br /> <span>Tell a friend!</span> </a> </div> <p> Author <span>aaa</span> </p> <p>Updated xxxx</p> </div> <div class='block c' id='entry_nav'> <a class='btn left' href='KYM://entry/prev' id='entry_nav_prev'>Prev Meme</a> <a class='btn right' href='KYM://entry/next' id='entry_nav_next'>Next Meme</a> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>

Godwin's Law <p align="center"><img src="http://knowyourmeme.com/i/4594/original/godwindef.jpg" alt="" /></p> <h2>About / Definition</h2> <p>Godwin’s Law is an internet adage / behavioral observation that was first coined by Mike Godwin in 1990. This so-called law refers to one of the earliest bits of Usenet customs, which goes “if you mention Adolf Hitler or Nazis within a discussion thread, you’ve automatically ended whatever discussion you were taking part in.” For more information about Godwin’s Law, check out the original <a href="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin/"><span class="caps">FAQ</span> page.</a></p> <p><br><p align="center"><img src="http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/039/090/original/godwins-law1.png" alt="" /></p></p> <h2>Usage</h2> <p>While Godwin’s Law was originally conceived for the Usenet newsgroup discussions, the humorous rule remains just as applicable today in any threaded online discussion, such as message boards, chat rooms, comment threads and wiki talk pages. Since the dawn of online discussions, Godwin’s Law has been used as an indicator of whether a thread has gone on too long, who’s playing fair and who’s just slinging mud and who finally gets to “win” the discussion.</p> <h2>Examples</h2> <ul> <li>In 2007, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot">Slashdot</a> noted that Godwin’s Law affected an ongoing, highly public dispute between Linux author Linus Torvalds and the <span class="caps">GNOME</span> project.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A May 2007 issue of Randall Munroe’s webcomic xkcd anachronistically portrays Allied officers trying to discuss Axis military tactics, but being interrupted by Godwin’s Law.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Similarly, a November 2007 issue of Jeph Jacques’s webcomic Questionable Content, entitled “Godwin Wars”, referenced (and contrasted) Godwin’s law and the reductio ad Hitlerum.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>In October 2007 issue, Wired published a “Geekipedia” piece that includes an entry for “Godwin’s law” among “people, place, ideas, and trends you need to know now”.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>By 2007, The Economist had declared that “a good rule in most discussions is that the first person to call the other a Nazi automatically loses the argument.”</li> </ul> <h2>Notable Corollaries</h2>

1990

2010-02-09T02:14:13Z

430