Morgan Bellthe Rule of Nazi Analogies and Reductio Ad Hitlerum
July 27th 2008 16:25
i came across an interesting term about internet forum arguments called Godwin's Law which says the longer an internet discussion goes on the more likely it is that someone will eventually invoke the Nazi argument
apparently you can tell when a internet discussion is getting old when one of the participants drags out Hitler and the Nazis . . . this also applies to Nazi-related terms like "book-burning", "gas-chamber" and "eugenics"
bringing up the Nazi's in an attempt to win an unrelated argument is considered "flaming" and an ineffective debating technique because as soon as the Nazi comparison is made the thread deteriorates and the person who has raised it ultimately loses the argument
"playing the Nazi card" was labelled Reductio Ad Hitlerum in 1950 by Leo Strauss . . . it is basically an argument tactic intended to add emotional weight to the discussion by trying to state that anything (or anyone) that Hitler or the Nazi's used or supported must be inherantly evil, and anything they opposed must be inherently good
when Mike Godwin was participating in discussions on an early internet chat site called UseNet in 1990 he devised his Rule of Nazi Analogies from what he observed was a common tactic amongst people in political debates
nice to know Godwin's Law is still going strong on Orble today!
apparently you can tell when a internet discussion is getting old when one of the participants drags out Hitler and the Nazis . . . this also applies to Nazi-related terms like "book-burning", "gas-chamber" and "eugenics"
bringing up the Nazi's in an attempt to win an unrelated argument is considered "flaming" and an ineffective debating technique because as soon as the Nazi comparison is made the thread deteriorates and the person who has raised it ultimately loses the argument
"playing the Nazi card" was labelled Reductio Ad Hitlerum in 1950 by Leo Strauss . . . it is basically an argument tactic intended to add emotional weight to the discussion by trying to state that anything (or anyone) that Hitler or the Nazi's used or supported must be inherantly evil, and anything they opposed must be inherently good
when Mike Godwin was participating in discussions on an early internet chat site called UseNet in 1990 he devised his Rule of Nazi Analogies from what he observed was a common tactic amongst people in political debates
nice to know Godwin's Law is still going strong on Orble today!
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Comment by RubySoho
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Well some Orblers are ahead of the pack here since they often open their arguments with referneces to the old nazi.
this also applies to Nazi-related terms like "book-burning", "gas-chamber" and "eugenics"
not to mention the old old Nazi Superman/Overman analogy.
Reducto Ad Hitlerum, I love it.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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i thought you might like that term!
yeah if you open with the Nazi argument you might aswell stop right there! haha
im sure i have been guilty of making a Nazi analogy from time to time, but apparently on the internet it is practically inevitable that someone will eventually resort to it out of desperation!
Comment by S.L.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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yeah i said "Nazi" in the title of this post so it was doomed from the very beginning!
i think Strauss was saying any given argument would be stronger if you stayed on-topic and didnt have to resort to Nazi analogies at all
Comment by S.L.
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Comment by RubySoho
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Comment by SL is so Predictable
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by SL is so Predictable
I'm not hiding, I'm not a member of Orble just a recent reader. My name is Karen Lee. I'm not ashamed of what I said at all. I just find in all of the posts and responses I have read that you are very predictable and a little bit laughable.
However, I do really like your posts Ms Morgan Bell.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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thanks for stopping in and having a read!
some conversations on Orble do get a bit circular!
Comment by Natalie 2
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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yeah i didnt realise there was an official name either, but once i read up on it, it was SO TRUE!
thanks for the comment!
Comment by Jose
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Interesting post. As someone who's wasted way too much of his time on forums, I was familiar with Godwin's Law in a practical manner but not so much with its history. Sadly, it even appears in places not related to politics or current events or even history. Talking about Magic: the Gathering? Well, then anyone who doesn't like the same cards you do is like Hitler. Talking about Lego? Well, then anyone who doesn't like the Islander models is like Hitler. And you can't predict when someone's going to pull it out, either.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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haha Lego!
well they had the "soup Nazi" on Seinfeld!