Godwin's Law: Difference between revisions

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[[File:hitlercard2.jpg|link=Magic: The Gathering|frame|There are some things stupid arguments can't solve. For everything else, there's [[The Hitler Card]]. <ref>[[Magic: The Gathering|You do need 6 untapped lands to cast it, though.]]</ref>]]

{{quote| ''"You wanna know [[Hitler Ate Sugar|who else]] used laws to stop debates? [[Adolf Hitler|HITLER]]!"''}}

{{quote|''"You wanna know [[Hitler Ate Sugar|who else]] used laws to stop debates? [[Adolf Hitler|HITLER]]!"''}}

Also known as "Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies". Originated by Richard Sexton, and popularized by Mike Godwin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (and of [[The Other Wiki|the Wikimedia Foundation]] until 2010) in 1990 in the form:

{{quote| As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving [[Those Wacky Nazis|Nazis]] or [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] approaches one.}}

{{quote|As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving [[Those Wacky Nazis|Nazis]] or [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] approaches one.}}

Reformulated in the [http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/net-legends-faq/part2.html Net.Legends FAQ]s "Usenet Rule #4":

{{quote| "Any off-topic mention of Hitler or Nazis will cause the thread it is mentioned in to come to an irrelevant and off-topic end very soon; every thread on [[UseNet]] has a constantly-increasing probability to contain such a mention."}}

{{quote|"Any off-topic mention of Hitler or Nazis will cause the thread it is mentioned in to come to an irrelevant and off-topic end very soon; every thread on [[UseNet]] has a constantly-increasing probability to contain such a mention."}}

It is generally accepted that [[Derailing|whoever is the first to play the "Hitler card"]] has lost the argument as well as any trace of respect, as having to resort to comparing your adversary to the most infamous mass-murdering dictator in history generally means you've run out of ''better'' arguments. Thus, once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress. This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law.