Poe's Law
Without an explicit signal of humour, no parody of an extreme position is safe from being mistaken for the real thing.
Full definition of Poe's Law →:: COMPARE ::
Poe's lawvsGodwin's law
The short answer
Both are 'internet laws', but Godwin's is a statistical prediction about what will appear in a long thread. Poe's is an epistemic limit on what a reader can determine. One forecasts; the other forbids.
Side by side
| Aspect | Poe's law | Godwin's law |
|---|---|---|
| Type of claim | Epistemic limit | Statistical prediction |
| About | What you can know | What will appear |
| Stated | 2005 | 1990 |
| Deliberately seeded | No | Yes |
What each one means
Godwin's Law
As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Hitler approaches one. The name is also widely used for a later rule — that whoever makes the comparison first has lost the argument — which Godwin himself rejects.
Full definition of Godwin's Law →