Thursday, May 17, 2007
Goodwin's Law
No this is not a LOST post.
Godwin's Law (proposed by Mike Godwin) states that as online discussion goes on, the chances of a comparison being drawn to Hitler and the Nazis approaches statistical certainty. In other words, if your blog gets enough comments, eventually one of them will draw such a comparison.
Godwin believes that such over use of Hitler/ Nazi comparison weakens the impact of such statements when they are truly appropriate. If Godwin is right, we really ought to figure out which arguments we really don't want to be powerful, or which characters we really wish had less impact, and then comment using ridiculous comparisons all the time.
My preliminary suggestions:
Pat Robertson - "You're just a bigot like Pat Robertson"
Joel Olstein - "Joel Olstein totally understands poverty."
Using rational (sounding) arguments to support non-parallel lines of thought - "an egg hatches and a Chick is born, so astrology works."
Rick Warren - "Rick Warren built such a big church, don't you wanna' be like that?"
Paris Hilton - "Paris Hilton may be a _____ but at least she is honest about it."
Ozzy - "All they need to do is look at Ozzy: he still rocks and he's been high for decades."
Quotations (real or fake) used to by-pass logical inquiry - "Albert Einstein said 'Imagination is more important than knowledge,' so why should I have to spend all my time reading?"
Godwin's Law (proposed by Mike Godwin) states that as online discussion goes on, the chances of a comparison being drawn to Hitler and the Nazis approaches statistical certainty. In other words, if your blog gets enough comments, eventually one of them will draw such a comparison.
Godwin believes that such over use of Hitler/ Nazi comparison weakens the impact of such statements when they are truly appropriate. If Godwin is right, we really ought to figure out which arguments we really don't want to be powerful, or which characters we really wish had less impact, and then comment using ridiculous comparisons all the time.
My preliminary suggestions:
Pat Robertson - "You're just a bigot like Pat Robertson"
Joel Olstein - "Joel Olstein totally understands poverty."
Using rational (sounding) arguments to support non-parallel lines of thought - "an egg hatches and a Chick is born, so astrology works."
Rick Warren - "Rick Warren built such a big church, don't you wanna' be like that?"
Paris Hilton - "Paris Hilton may be a _____ but at least she is honest about it."
Ozzy - "All they need to do is look at Ozzy: he still rocks and he's been high for decades."
Quotations (real or fake) used to by-pass logical inquiry - "Albert Einstein said 'Imagination is more important than knowledge,' so why should I have to spend all my time reading?"
Comments:
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I guess he could quote Jesus to me: "Why do you call me Good-?"
(In Deference to Mike Godwin Esq. I shall amend all instances of his name except that in the title)
(In Deference to Mike Godwin Esq. I shall amend all instances of his name except that in the title)
You just want us all to think exactly alike, and look at you trying to contort young minds on the internet. You know, Nazi Germany had its Hitler Youth Program... why don't you start the Frost Youth Program! Huh? Why don't you do that?! Zig HEIL!
And you know Rick Warren saved that ladies life who was addicted to drugs and got kidnapped! If you want a big church you should probably get kidnapped too.
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And you know Rick Warren saved that ladies life who was addicted to drugs and got kidnapped! If you want a big church you should probably get kidnapped too.
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