Monday, March 14, 2016

Markley's Law

I knew that there had to be a corollary to Godwin's Law.  Godwin's Law is an internet adage asserting that "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.  In other words, the longer an internet argument goes on, the greater the probability that someone will be declared to be a Nazi.

The basic rule of thumb is that the person who makes that declaration loses of the discussion.

Joe Huffman discusses a variant, known as Markley's Law.
That has to be some kind of variant of Godwin’s Law: As an online discussion of gun owners’ rights grows longer, the probability of an ad hominem attack involving penis size approaches 1.
As in Godwin's Law, the first person to violate Markley's law, also loses the discussion.

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