![]() ![]() ‘Sometimes those comparisons are going to be appropriate, and on those occasions, GL should function less as a conversation ender and more as a conversation starter.’ In 2018, Godwin wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times that clarified his own interpretation of the law, ‘GL is about remembering history well enough to draw parallels – sometimes with Hitler or with Nazis, sure – that are deeply considered,’ he wrote. ![]() That was until the policies of the Trump administration blurred the distinction. According to the man who coined it in the early 90s, Mike Godwin, this intentionally pseudo-scientific theory is meant to suggest that someone who readily ‘escalate a debate into Adolf Hitler or Nazi comparisons may be thinking lazily, not adding clarity or wisdom, and contributing to the decay of an argument over time.’ Since the 90s online commenters have come to invoke automatically Godwin’s Law whenever Nazism is mentioned, as though the current argument is already lost, as though such a reference could only ever signify hyperbole. It’s called Godwin’s Law and it predicts that if an online discussion goes on for long enough, the probability of a reference to Nazism or Hitler approaches one. There is this often-quoted adage about internet comment sections, probably you’ve heard it. ![]()
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