Godwin's law
Godwin's Law ( English for, Godwin's Law ') is a term from the Internet culture, by the lawyer and non-fiction author Mike Godwin was coined 1990th It states that in the course of longer discussions, for example in Usenet - newsgroups that someone with increasing duration the probability of a comparison Nazi brings, the value one is approaching. Similar to Murphy's law , it contains an ironic or even sarcastic dimension.
Basics
In English the rule is:
"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."
"As the length of an online discussion increases, the likelihood of a comparison with the Nazis or Hitler approaches one."
Like almost all "Usenet laws", Godwin's Law is not a scientific law. Mike Godwin aimed to ironically ridicule inappropriate comparisons. An example of this was found on August 12, 2019 on his Twitter account.
Therefore, Godwin's Law is a rhetorical device that can be used in discussions to point out the inappropriateness of Hitler or Nazi comparisons.
As an informal unit of measurement, the Point Godwin “ Godwin point” has been proven in France since at least 2005 , a play on words, as the French point can denote both “point” and “argument”. Points Godwin are typically offered or presented with a perforation that can be cut out from the screen.
« Bravo, vous avez gagné 1 point Godwin. Vous pouvez aller le découper au burin
sur votre écran… »
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French point Godwin with screen perforation
Origin and interpretation
When the alleged law became known in the early 1990s, Godwin was a legal advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation . Because Godwin found the style of discussion widespread in Usenet, of discrediting his opponents with Nazi comparisons, illogical and offensive, he set up the law as a counter- meme . His aim was not to end discussions, but to sensitize participants in the discussion to whether a comparison with the National Socialists or Hitler is appropriate or just a rhetorical exaggeration.
Richard Sexton claims the law is a formalization of his October 16, 1989 posting:
"You can tell when a USENET discussion is getting old when one of the participents [sic!] Drags out Hitler and the Nazis."
"An aging Usenet discussion can be recognized by the fact that one of the participants is serving Hitler and the Nazis."
This interpretation is sometimes applied without checking whether the Nazi comparison could be legitimate in the context. In addition, the author of the comparison is often declared the “loser” of the discussion. However, the text of Godwin's Law does not say that such a comparison means that the discussion is over, nor does it say that the loser has been found.
Godwin's Law is to be distinguished from the term Reductio ad Hitlerum used in philosophy , which stands for the inadmissible reverse conclusion, to demonize something just because Hitler or other National Socialists found it good.
See also
Web links
- Godwin's Law FAQ (English)
- Usenet posting: Mike Godwin states the Usenet variant of Godwin's Law. In: groups.google.com, August 1991 (English; only available to authorized persons in read mode)
- Godwin's Law entry in the Jargon File (English)
- Mike Godwin: memes, counter-memes. In: Wired. # Magazin-2.10, January 10, 1994 (Godwin discusses his law)
- Usenet posting: Richard Sexton's original post. October 1989 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mike Godwin: Meme, Counter-meme . In: Wired Magazine . October 1, 2004. Retrieved March 24, 2006.
- ^ Mike Godwin: If you think comparing me to Hitler works, you must be new to the internet. In: Twitter . August 12, 2019, accessed September 3, 2019.
- ^ Dan Amira: Mike Godwin on Godwin's Law, Whether Nazi Comparisons Have Gotten Worse, and Being Compared to Hitler by His Daughter. In: nymag.com, March 8, 2013, accessed March 10, 2013.
- ↑ Cgo2 (R. Lanvin): Don't feed the troll! Point (s) Godwin. In: Rename . No. December 23 , 2005, pp. 22 (French, PDF; 3.1 MB ( memento of March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )).
- ^ Definition: point Godwin. (No longer available online.) In: Infoclick solution informatique. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010 ; accessed on April 4, 2013 (French): "À découper sur son écran"
- ^ Roland Trique: point Godwin. In: Le Jargon Français (JargonF.org), dictionnaire d'informatique francophone, version 4.1. January 26, 2007, accessed on October 25, 2010 (French): "Il est conseillé de le découper sur son écran (avec un marteau et un burin, c'est efficace) ..."
- ↑ Mike Godwin: Cyber Rights: Defending Free Speech in the Digital Age . MIT Press, 2003, ISBN 0-262-57168-4 (English).
- ↑ Richard Sexton: Reply Richard Sexton to Gene W. Smith in the newsgroup news.groups. In: news.group. October 16, 1989, accessed October 26, 2010 .
- ↑ David Weigel: Hands Off Hitler! It's time to repeal Godwin's law. (No longer available online.) In: Reason.com. July 14, 2005, archived from the original on April 12, 2010 ; Retrieved January 18, 2009 .
- ↑ Internet rules and laws: the top 10, from Godwin to Poe. In: The Telegraph . October 23, 2009, accessed December 21, 2012 .