XPost: alt.startrek, alt.tv.star-trek, alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise   
   From: sureshot@pcwranglers.com   
      
   Graham Kennedy wrote:   
   >   
   > Numan wrote:   
      
   > > ????  Sorry, I don't follow.  What does GODWIN mean?   
   >   
   > It's an old rule on the net. Whenever somebody invokes Hitler   
   > or the Nazis, the discussion is over.   
   >   
   > The idea was that as a discussion gets longer and longer   
   > it tends to become more and more argumentative. Eventually,   
   > people start to throw insults and since the Nazis are about   
   > the worst bunch of people in recent times (if not ever),   
   > chances are that eventually you get "well if you believe   
   > that then you are as bad as Hitler!" The idea of the law   
   > was that it marked a spot at which the discussion had   
   > fallen so low that there was no point in carrying on, so   
   > any mention of Hitler meant the thread was finished.   
      
   That's correct.  On usenet, it's traditional to use the mention of   
   Nazis/Hitler as an excuse to declare the discussion ended and to move on   
   to new topics.  In a usenet debate, to call your opponent "Hitlerlike"   
   or "Nazilike" is in effect to admit defeat, since only a loser who is   
   out of REAL ammunition would resort to such low tactics.   
      
   Generally, Ad Hominem (against the person, not the issue) attacks are a   
   logical fallacy that get you disqualified in REAL debates.   
      
   http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/logic.html#hominem   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)