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thinkinginpictures
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13 Jul 2014, 2:23 pm

Godwins law states that the longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing anything to the nazis, rise.

Why is this interesting? I could say the same about aliens. The longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing something with aliens.
Or a cheeseburger. Or something else.



LoveNotHate
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13 Jul 2014, 2:53 pm

Nazi/Hitler is one of the last politically correct bad people ...

-cheeseburgers might indirectly make fun of obese people, so cheeseburgerism might not be politically correct
-aliens would invite ridicule since many people don't think they are factual
-American Indians were were once "bad people", now it is not politically correct to show American Indians attacking white settlers.
-Italians were depicted as mafia people, now such a stereotype draws criticism.
-Middle Eastern people were depicted in the movies as terrorists hell-bent on killing Americans, lately the movies don't appear to use this stereotype

However, who will defend Hitler ?


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13 Jul 2014, 6:06 pm

thinkinginpictures wrote:
Godwins law states that the longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing anything to the nazis, rise.

Why is this interesting? I could say the same about aliens. The longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing something with aliens.
Or a cheeseburger. Or something else.


Sure, the longer a conversation is, the higher the probability of any particular thing being said during the conversation is, if you want to be pedantic about it.

It's obvious what Godwin meant though. Just check any online forum and you're bound to see people moaning about how this or that is just like what the Nazis said or did.



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13 Jul 2014, 8:50 pm

I'm not sure, but I think it's because people compare all kinds of silly things to Nazis, like say your mom asks you to put the sink in the dishwasher - suddenly she's a Nazi.

I kind of tend to do that myself though, try not to do it so much because it's just a cliche and has lost meaning.

Example - the other day I went to meet a guy about getting a cat from him (he rescues cats). Well, he's all I can't give you the cat until I come into your home and make sure you have an appropriate space for him. Now, I understand that he wants to make sure I'm a real cat lover and I'm not going to sell the cat to a lab, I understand he wants to know the cat will be taken care of. BUT I gave him my vet's phone number and she was happy to tell him that I take good care of my cats.

Beyond that, if you ask me, he's a CAT NAZI.

See, I could say Cat Milosevic, but it just doesn't have the same quick easy image recall.



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13 Jul 2014, 9:40 pm

Unless the post in question is specifically about issues where national socialism is of particular relevance a resort to using this party and it's members shows a couple of things

The guilty poster has so little imagination or knowledge of history etc, that hey have need to resort to nazism as a tool to illuminate their point of view

Or the thread has gone on for so long that all the alternative ways of explaining a poosition have been used and exhausted and a resort to Naziism is a last act to save a dying thread.

Conversely the invocation of Godwin's law can also be the result of a debater trying to obfuscate the issue and belittle what may be a relevant and succinct point when they cannot think of a strong counter point.

It is also interesting as to a reasonable degree it is correct, and maybe says a lot about how the victors have managed to use the horrors of nazism to obscure their own past atrocities, eg the genocide of the native Americans and countless atrocities carried out by the English and maybe it demonstrates just how easy it is to manipulate common historical knowledge


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wozeree
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13 Jul 2014, 10:53 pm

DentArthurDent wrote:
Unless the post in question is specifically about issues where national socialism is of particular relevance a resort to using this party and it's members shows a couple of things

The guilty poster has so little imagination or knowledge of history etc, that hey have need to resort to nazism as a tool to illuminate their point of view

Or the thread has gone on for so long that all the alternative ways of explaining a poosition have been used and exhausted and a resort to Naziism is a last act to save a dying thread.

Conversely the invocation of Godwin's law can also be the result of a debater trying to obfuscate the issue and belittle what may be a relevant and succinct point when they cannot think of a strong counter point.

It is also interesting as to a reasonable degree it is correct, and maybe says a lot about how the victors have managed to use the horrors of nazism to obscure their own past atrocities, eg the genocide of the native Americans and countless atrocities carried out by the English and maybe it demonstrates just how easy it is to manipulate common historical knowledge


It's true that we and others have committed gross atrocities, but the Nazis were a special gross atrocity success story. It's interesting that so much came to light and that was so long ago, yet things that we do remain shrouded and murky - I guess we're better and covering crap up. But Clinton did apologize for what we did to Guatemala - I'm sure that fixed everything! (And hey, I do so have imagination! :D )



thinkinginpictures
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14 Jul 2014, 1:33 am

LoveNotHate wrote:
Nazi/Hitler is one of the last politically correct bad people ...

-cheeseburgers might indirectly make fun of obese people, so cheeseburgerism might not be politically correct
-aliens would invite ridicule since many people don't think they are factual
-American Indians were were once "bad people", now it is not politically correct to show American Indians attacking white settlers.
-Italians were depicted as mafia people, now such a stereotype draws criticism.
-Middle Eastern people were depicted in the movies as terrorists hell-bent on killing Americans, lately the movies don't appear to use this stereotype

However, who will defend Hitler ?


That was not my point. My point is that Godwins law is not interesting, because you could take anything and state that any discussion will include at least one thing from everything,
if it gets discussed long enough. My point is that there really is no interesting stuff about Godwins law.

Rollo wrote:
thinkinginpictures wrote:
Godwins law states that the longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing anything to the nazis, rise.

Why is this interesting? I could say the same about aliens. The longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing something with aliens.
Or a cheeseburger. Or something else.


Sure, the longer a conversation is, the higher the probability of any particular thing being said during the conversation is, if you want to be pedantic about it.


Exactly.



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14 Jul 2014, 2:13 am

thinkinginpictures wrote:
Why is this interesting? I could say the same about aliens. The longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing something with aliens.
Or a cheeseburger. Or something else.


You're missing the point, it's not about the probability of any particular subject being broached, but about the probability of an overwrought, hyperbolic comparison being made, most likely taking the form of comparing some relatively minor policy disagreement to Nazi atrocities. It's skewering the overheated style of argument common to usenet/internet discussions in a way that is familiar to anyone who has participated in one, as it really seems just about impossible to escape Hitler comparison when arguing online, and that familiarity is a large part of what makes it funny.


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14 Jul 2014, 3:54 am

How long will it take for this thread to degrade into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias?



DentArthurDent
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14 Jul 2014, 5:25 am

The_Walrus wrote:
How long will it take for this thread to degrade into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias?


"0h no, not again!"


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kraftiekortie
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14 Jul 2014, 7:38 am

We should never compare Nazis to a bowl of petunias....or a sperm whale.



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14 Jul 2014, 12:01 pm

The_Walrus wrote:
How long will it take for this thread to degrade into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias?


I call Ahab's Law!


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14 Jul 2014, 12:11 pm

thinkinginpictures wrote:
Godwins law states that the longer an internet discussion takes place, the higher the chance of anyone comparing anything to the nazis, rise.

Ah yes; when butthurt spawns name calling. This is just when a thread becomes interesting. :cheers:
As a conservative, I take being called a nazi (or facist or troll,) by a liberal as a compliment of the highest order. :twisted:


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14 Jul 2014, 8:25 pm

^Then you get out your little skull ring and buff it some.Highlight of your day.


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14 Jul 2014, 8:44 pm

/\ You said it, I didn't.....


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14 Jul 2014, 8:50 pm

^What type of silver polish do you use on it? :D


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