I’ve always found the following use of Godwin’s Law to be an interesting idea. For example, there is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress.[8] This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin’s law. I ran into one a week or two ago at VCU’s online summit. Someone literally said to me “Well, I’m older.” My response was something like “You’re really going to play that card?” and so Losing Arguments Cards has been in my head ever since. The following is my homage to this particular losing strategy. There was a time when merely surviving to old age meant you were wiser than just about anyone. You could find food during famine. You knew the poisonous berries and where to find good water. You survived the bears, wolves, and radioactive cannibals. You earned respect by simply not dying . . . However, we live in a civilization. There are legions of people dedicated to keeping you from dying of your own stupidity. Things are labeled poisonous even if no one in their right mind would ever eat them. We killed most every animal that might eat you. Maybe you learned something […]