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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #009761; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#009761"><b>Cogito ergo sum</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Logic and rhetoric</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Logic" title="Category:Logic"><img alt="Icon logic.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/9/99/Icon_logic.svg/100px-Icon_logic.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/9/99/Icon_logic.svg/150px-Icon_logic.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/9/99/Icon_logic.svg/200px-Icon_logic.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#009761; text-align:center;"><b>Key articles</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Logical_fallacy" title="Logical fallacy">Logical fallacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syllogism" title="Syllogism">Syllogism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Argument" title="Argument">Argument</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#009761; text-align:center;"><b>General logic</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Type_theory" title="Type theory">Type theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Handwave" title="Handwave">Handwave</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Symbolic_logic" title="Symbolic logic">Symbolic logic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_shame" title="Appeal to shame">Appeal to shame</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_mystery" title="Appeal to mystery">Appeal to mystery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vi%C3%A9s_de_sele%C3%A7%C3%A3o" title="Viés de seleção">Viés de seleção</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#009761; text-align:center;"><b>Bad logic</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Canard" title="Canard">Canard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Selection_bias" title="Selection bias">Selection bias</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/False_analogy" title="False analogy">False analogy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Denying_the_antecedent" title="Denying the antecedent">Denying the antecedent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greece-baiting" title="Greece-baiting">Greece-baiting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Appeal_to_gravity" title="Appeal to gravity">Appeal to gravity</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Logicnav" title="Template:Logicnav">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Logicnav" title="Template talk:Logicnav">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Logicnav&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Poe's Law</b> states:<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[1]</a></sup> </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Without a clear indication of the author's intent, it is difficult or impossible to tell the difference between an expression of sincere extremism and a parody of extremism.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>The observation that it's difficult, often impossible, to distinguish between parodies of <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalism" title="Fundamentalism">fundamentalism</a> or other absurd beliefs, and their genuine proponents, since they seem equally insane. For example, some <a href="/wiki/Conservatives" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservatives">conservatives</a> consider noted <a href="/wiki/Homophobe" class="mw-redirect" title="Homophobe">homophobe</a> <a href="/wiki/Fred_Phelps" title="Fred Phelps">Fred Phelps</a> to have been so over-the-top that they argue he was a "<a href="/wiki/Deep_cover_liberal" title="Deep cover liberal">deep cover liberal</a>" trying to discredit more mainstream homophobes. This <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory">conspiracy theory</a> of sorts is either supported or refuted (depending on your point of view) by the fact that he ran for office in five <a href="/wiki/Kansas" class="mw-redirect" title="Kansas">Kansas</a> <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Party" title="Democratic Party">Democratic</a> primary elections, none of which he won.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[2]</a></sup> </p><p>Poe's law applies not only to the absurdity of beliefs, but also to the absurdity of the arguments that are used on behalf of those beliefs. Arguments on behalf of <a href="/wiki/Young-Earth_creationism" class="mw-redirect" title="Young-Earth creationism">young-Earth creationism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Theodicy" class="mw-redirect" title="Theodicy">theodicy</a> are especially known for their absurdity. The quintessential Poe's law argument is one on behalf of theodicy, which states: "Who are we/you [mere humans] to question the motives of the almighty?" The absurd, simple, and obvious <a href="/wiki/Non-sequitur" class="mw-redirect" title="Non-sequitur">non-sequitur</a> and <a href="/wiki/Circular_logic" class="mw-redirect" title="Circular logic">circular logic</a> therein (that <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a> is good because he is the god) gives one the impression that that argument is intended as a humorous parody of Christians, but it was in fact an argument made by a few <i>actual insane Christians</i>. </p><p>It's important to note that linking a claim to Poe's Law is not the same as suggesting that said claim <i>is</i> actually any type of parody at all. On the contrary, linking to Poe's Law just means that you <i>could not tell</i> if said claim was parody or indeed sincerely held <a href="/wiki/Crank" title="Crank">crankiness</a> — assuming the original claimant didn't provide a clear indication of their intent. When one is presented with a claim so over-the-top as to <b>either be</b> a brilliant parody <b>or</b> reflect a genuinely outrageous extremist belief, Poe's Law has been invoked. Rule of thumb is that the more controversial the topic is, the more likely what someone is saying is a Poe. </p><p><br /> </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#History"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Earlier_sightings"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Earlier sightings</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="#Examples"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Examples</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#Expansion_of_the_concept"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Expansion of the concept</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#A_Poe"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">A Poe</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Poe.27s_Corollary"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Poe's Corollary</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Rule_34_applied_to_Poe.27s_law"><span class="tocnumber">2.3</span> <span class="toctext">Rule 34 applied to Poe's law</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#Poe_Paradox"><span class="tocnumber">2.4</span> <span class="toctext">Poe Paradox</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="#.22Real_life.22_demonstrations"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">"Real life" demonstrations</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#Experimental"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Experimental</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="#The_Onion"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext"><i>The Onion</i></span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="#This_is_That"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext"><i>This is That</i></span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="#America_turning_2014_years_old"><span class="tocnumber">3.4</span> <span class="toctext">America turning 2014 years old</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="#4chan"><span class="tocnumber">3.5</span> <span class="toctext">4chan</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><a href="#Disciples_of_the_New_Dawn"><span class="tocnumber">3.6</span> <span class="toctext">Disciples of the New Dawn</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><a href="#UndergroundNewsReport"><span class="tocnumber">3.7</span> <span class="toctext">UndergroundNewsReport</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="#Reception_and_usage"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Reception and usage</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19"><a href="#Want_to_read_this_in_another_language.3F"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Want to read this in another language?</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-20"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-21"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Poe's Law was originally formulated in August 2005 by Nathan Poe<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[3]</a></sup> on the Creation & Evolution forum of the website Christianforums.com.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[4]</a></sup> Like most such places, it had seen a large number of <a href="/wiki/Creationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Creationist">creationist</a> parody postings, which were usually followed by at least one user starting a <a href="/wiki/Flame_war" title="Flame war">flame war</a> (a series of angry and offensive personal attacks) after thinking it was a serious post and taking it at face value. Poe summarized this pattern in his original formulation of the law: </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a creationist in such a way that <i>someone</i> won't mistake it for the genuine article.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>The law caught on and has since slowly leaked out as an <a href="/wiki/Internet" title="Internet">Internet</a> <a href="/wiki/Meme" title="Meme">meme</a>. Over time, it has been extended to include not just creationist parody, but <i>any</i> parody of extreme ideology, whether <a href="/wiki/Religious" class="mw-redirect" title="Religious">religious</a>, <a href="/wiki/Secular" title="Secular">secular</a>, or totally bonkers. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Earlier_sightings">Earlier sightings</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Earlier sightings">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Although Nathan Poe's version is the one that has become canon, there are two earlier sightings of the same idea floating around <a href="/wiki/Usenet" title="Usenet">Usenet</a> from "back in the day". </p> <ul><li>In 1983, Jerry Schwarz stated;<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[5]</a></sup></li></ul> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>If you submit a satiric item without this [smiley, i.e. ":-)" or 😀] symbol, no matter how obvious the satire is to you, do not be surprised if people take it seriously.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <ul><li>In 2001, Alan Morgan (note <a href="/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke" title="Arthur C. Clarke">Arthur C. Clarke</a>'s Third Law) stated;<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[6]</a></sup></li></ul> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Any sufficiently advanced <a href="/wiki/Troll" class="mw-redirect" title="Troll">troll</a> is indistinguishable from a genuine <a href="/wiki/Kook" class="mw-redirect" title="Kook">kook</a>.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Examples">Examples</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Examples">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>An example of Poe's law in action is Navy Bean's Amazon.com review (voted "Most helpful", no less) of <a href="/wiki/Ray_Comfort" title="Ray Comfort">Ray Comfort</a>'s book <i><a href="/wiki/You_Can_Lead_an_Atheist_to_Evidence,_but_You_Can%27t_Make_Him_Think" title="You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, but You Can't Make Him Think">You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, but You Can't Make Him Think</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[7]</a></sup> Although the argument in the review is not particularly absurd as far as young-Earth creationist arguments go (in contrast to, say, the extreme absurdity of the <i><a href="/wiki/Crocoduck" title="Crocoduck">Crocoduck</a></i> argument), the <a href="/wiki/Sexual" class="mw-redirect" title="Sexual">sexual</a> humor in it indicates that it was most likely written by a parodist. One real-world example of Poe's Law has taken place in <a href="/wiki/North_Korea" title="North Korea">North Korea</a>, where it is unknown how many actually believe the <a href="/wiki/Propaganda" title="Propaganda">propaganda</a> and <a href="/wiki/Historical_revisionism" title="Historical revisionism">historical revisionism</a>, and how many are faking it out of fear. Another notable example is the <a href="/wiki/Flat_earth" class="mw-redirect" title="Flat earth">flat earth</a> conspiracy theory. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Expansion_of_the_concept">Expansion of the concept</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Expansion of the concept">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:402px;"><a href="/wiki/File:WikiHowtroll.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/2/25/WikiHowtroll.png/400px-WikiHowtroll.png" decoding="async" width="400" height="283" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/2/25/WikiHowtroll.png/600px-WikiHowtroll.png 1.5x, /w/images/2/25/WikiHowtroll.png 2x" data-file-width="770" data-file-height="545" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:WikiHowtroll.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>An example of Poe's Law from <i>How to Persuade an Atheist to Become Christian</i></div></div></div> <p>Originally, the law only made the claim that <i>someone</i> will mistake a parody of fundamentalism for the real thing — that if someone made a sarcastic comment stating that evolution was a <a href="/wiki/Hoax" title="Hoax">hoax</a> because "<a href="/wiki/Birds" class="mw-redirect" title="Birds">birds</a> don't give birth to monkeys", there was a high probability that at least one person would miss the joke and explain (in all seriousness) how the poster was an idiot. (The equally ridiculous <a href="/wiki/Crocoduck" title="Crocoduck">Crocoduck</a> had been intended seriously.) However, the usage of the law has grown, and now the term "Poe" is applied to almost any parody on the internet. Essentially, Poe's Law has developed to include three similar but distinct concepts: </p> <ol><li>The original idea that <i>at least one person</i> will mistake parodic postings for sincere beliefs.</li> <li>That <i>nobody</i> will be able to distinguish many instances of parodic posts from the real thing.</li> <li>That anyone not already in the grip of fundamentalist ideas will (perhaps due to not being sufficiently insane for fundamentalist ideas to "make sense" to them) mistake sincere expressions of fundamentalism for parody.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[note 2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[note 3]</a></sup></li></ol> <p>For example, not only can Poe's Law apply to extreme fundamentalism, but it can also apply to any extreme religious view or belief (including atheism or secularism), philosophy, political stance, phobia, charity, admiration, or emotion (pretty much anything could fall under Poe's Law depending on the reader). The most likely reason for this expansion is the tendency for people to "call Poe's Law" (see below under "Reception and usage") on any fundamentalist rant even before someone has responded negatively. After a while, when many serious posts were called "Poe's Law", or when every parodic statement was labeled "Poe's Law", the concept naturally expanded. </p><p>The actual canonical definition has not changed to encompass the expanded usage, and a true Poe's Law fundamentalist could object to its usage beyond the original concept. On the other hand, the objection itself could be parody. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="A_Poe">A Poe</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: A Poe">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>"Poe" as a noun has been coined from Poe's Law. In this context, <i>a</i> Poe refers to either a person, post, or news story that could cause Poe's Law to be invoked. In most cases, this is specifically in the sense of posts and people who are taken as legitimate, but are probably parodic. Hence a typical phrase would be "it's a Poe, guys, don't be so stupid" when a link to <a href="/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church" title="Landover Baptist Church">Landover Baptist Church</a> or <a href="/wiki/ChristWire" title="ChristWire">ChristWire</a> is posted. A similar use is "I hope this is a Poe," which refers to the desperate hope that humanity isn't quite as stupid as what someone has just read. </p> <h3><span id="Poe's_Corollary"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Poe.27s_Corollary">Poe's Corollary</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Poe's Corollary">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>It is impossible for an act of fundamentalism to be made that <i>someone</i> won't mistake for a parody.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>The main corollary of Poe's Law refers to the opposite phenomenon, where a fundamentalist sounds so unbelievable that rational people will honestly think they're presenting a parody of their beliefs. Such a thing isn't entirely unprecedented: <a href="/wiki/Ray_Comfort" title="Ray Comfort">Ray Comfort</a> now uses his "<a href="/wiki/Banana_argument" title="Banana argument">banana argument</a>" as a comedy routine poking fun at <a href="/wiki/Intelligent_design" title="Intelligent design">intelligent design</a> (claiming that it had <i>always</i> been satirical). Poe's Corollary was submitted to the Urban Dictionary in July 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[8]</a></sup> This corollary comes into play especially when the rational person has already learned and experienced Poe's Law, predisposing them to think that any ridiculous belief is probably a parody. </p><p>This has had dangerous consequences, with mass shooters <a href="/wiki/Elliot_Rodger" class="mw-redirect" title="Elliot Rodger">Elliot Rodger</a> and <a href="/wiki/Christchurch_terrorist_attacks" title="Christchurch terrorist attacks">Brenton Harrison Tarrant</a> regularly broadcasting their intent to do harm and even detailed plans for attacks on many websites. Poe's corollary allowed them to hide in plain sight among trolls and <a href="/wiki/Edgelord" title="Edgelord">edgelords</a>. </p> <h3><span id="Rule_34_applied_to_Poe's_law"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Rule_34_applied_to_Poe.27s_law">Rule 34 applied to Poe's law</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Rule 34 applied to Poe's law">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Rule_34" class="mw-redirect" title="Rule 34">Rule 34</a></div> <p>Poe's law can apply to sexual fetishism as well as parody. For instance, some people may be attracted to <a href="/wiki/Nazis" class="mw-redirect" title="Nazis">Nazis</a> or be aroused by dressing up and acting like one, but they aren't actually <a href="/wiki/Neo-Nazis" class="mw-redirect" title="Neo-Nazis">neo-Nazis</a>, even if they're easily mistaken for one. If the similarity isn't close enough, then the Nazi imitation wouldn't be as effective for the fetishist. Sometimes, <i>the same group</i> may include both true believers in <a href="/wiki/Fascism" title="Fascism">fascism</a> and those who only wear jackboots to get their jollies. There was an all-<a href="/wiki/Gay" class="mw-redirect" title="Gay">gay</a> neo-Nazi group in the 1970s whose leader appeared to be sincere, but the group primarily recruited from among the leather subculture (for whom Nazi uniforms would have an obvious sexual appeal). </p><p>Another example is Christian Domestic Discipline (CDD), whose adherents use <a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">Bible</a> verses to justify <a href="/wiki/Domestic_violence" title="Domestic violence">wife-beating</a>, but there's also a page for CDD on FetLife, making their true motive uncertain. </p><p>Late conservative activist <a href="/wiki/David_Yeagley" title="David Yeagley">David Yeagley</a> was known for the particularly florid denunciations of homosexuality he wrote on his website. A number of his critics claimed that he was a <a href="/wiki/Closet" title="Closet">closeted</a> gay man himself, and that homophobia was a kink for him; one suggested that he was actually <a href="/wiki/Masturbating" class="mw-redirect" title="Masturbating">masturbating</a> when he wrote those articles. <a href="/wiki/Haggard%27s_Law" title="Haggard's Law">Similar claims</a> have been made about anti-gay pastors in general, and Fred Phelps in particular. "Poe's 34th Law" implies that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to know the difference. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Alt-right" title="Alt-right">alt-right</a> uses homoerotic imagery and sexually explicit rhetoric derived from <a href="/wiki/Pornography" title="Pornography">pornography</a> (such as the term "<a href="/wiki/Cuck" title="Cuck">cuck</a>"). Because of Poe's 34th Law, it's hard to tell whether or not they get boners from writing that stuff. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Poe_Paradox">Poe Paradox</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Poe Paradox">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>The Poe Paradox is a further corollary to Poe's Law that results from an unhealthy level of <a href="/wiki/Paranoia" title="Paranoia">paranoia</a>. It states that: </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>In any fundamentalist group, a <a href="/wiki/Paradox" title="Paradox">paradox</a> exists where any new person (or idea) sufficiently fundamentalist to be accepted by the group is likely to be so ridiculous that they risk being rejected as a parodist (or parody).</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>The term was first used by <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki" title="RationalWiki">RationalWiki</a> editor and now respected blogger <a href="/wiki/User:The_Lay_Scientist" title="User:The Lay Scientist">The Lay Scientist</a> to describe an apparent paradox in the management of editing rights on <a href="/wiki/Conservapedia" title="Conservapedia">Conservapedia</a>:<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[9]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[note 4]</a></sup> </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Any new member of the CP project who's not as conservative as them is liable to be chucked out. However, any new member who is as conservative as them is in serious danger of being called a parodist, and chucked out. Is this the first living example of a Poe Paradox?</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <h2><span id=""Real_life"_demonstrations"></span><span class="mw-headline" id=".22Real_life.22_demonstrations">"Real life" demonstrations</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: "Real life" demonstrations">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Experimental">Experimental</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Experimental">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Heather L. LaMarre, Kristen D. Landreville and Michael A. Beam, investigators at the Ohio State University School of Communication, found evidence supporting Poe's Law in a study published in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[10]</a></sup> They measured the relative political conservatism and liberalism of 332 individuals. The study participants then viewed clips from the talk show <i><a href="/wiki/The_Colbert_Report" class="mw-redirect" title="The Colbert Report">The Colbert Report</a></i>, a parody of conservative news commentary shows such as <i><a href="/wiki/Bill_O%27Reilly" title="Bill O'Reilly">The O'Reilly Factor</a></i>. The researchers found that the relatively conservative people in their study reported that the show's anchor <a href="/wiki/Stephen_Colbert" title="Stephen Colbert">Stephen Colbert</a> was actually showing disregard for liberals and covertly expressing his true conservative attitude about the matter at hand. Liberals viewing the show tended to view the work as a sincere parody and not view Colbert as presenting his true political opinions. Curiously, the liberal and conservative viewers in the study found Colbert similarly humorous (no statistically significant difference). While not a direct or intentional test of Poe's Law, the results fit well with the predictions it makes. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Onion"><i>The Onion</i></span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: The Onion">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/The_Onion" title="The Onion">The Onion</a></div> <p>Although not specifically about fundamentalism or extreme opinions, parodic and satirical articles are often mistaken for the real thing. This perhaps proves that even <i>with</i> the winking smiley <a href="/wiki/File:Wink.gif" class="image"><img alt="Wink.gif" src="/w/images/e/e0/Wink.gif" decoding="async" width="15" height="15" data-file-width="15" data-file-height="15" /></a>, things can be misinterpreted. The most notable cases of this are due to <i>The Onion's</i> production values rivaling those of <a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a>. The blog documents numerous cases of <i>The Onion</i> stories being taken as true on <a href="/wiki/Facebook" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>, but sometimes it goes beyond social networking.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[11]</a></sup> </p> <ul><li>In 2012, <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a>'s Fars News Agency took <i>The Onion's</i> "Gallup Poll: Rural Whites Prefer <a href="/wiki/Ahmadinejad" class="mw-redirect" title="Ahmadinejad">Ahmadinejad</a> to <a href="/wiki/Obama" class="mw-redirect" title="Obama">Obama</a>" story and reported it almost as a word-for-word copy. <i>The Onion</i> highlighted this by editing their own version to include the line "For more on this story: Please visit our Iranian subsidiary organization, Fars."</li> <li>Also in 2012, <a href="/wiki/North_Korea" title="North Korea">North Korea</a>'s Central News Agency found <i>The Onion's</i> article naming <a href="/wiki/Kim_Jong_Un" class="mw-redirect" title="Kim Jong Un">Kim Jong Un</a> the sexiest man alive. <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>'s largest newspaper group, the <i>People's Daily</i>, circulated the article as truth. <i>The Onion</i> also updated the article, adding to the end, "For more coverage on <i>The Onion's</i> Sexiest Man Alive 2012, Kim Jong-Un, please visit our friends at the People's Daily in China, a proud Communist subsidiary of <i>The Onion</i>, Inc. Exemplary reportage, comrades."<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[12]</a></sup></li> <li>Fox Nation, a subsidiary of <a href="/wiki/Fox_News" title="Fox News">Fox News</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[note 5]</a></sup> posted a story stating that then-President Barack Obama had written a 75,000 word email ranting about America, sourced to <i>The Onion</i>. As a reference point for comparison, 75,000 words is about the length of a mid-sized novel such as <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> or <i>Lolita</i>.</li> <li>In 2001, the <i>Onion</i> article "Harry Potter Sparks Rise in Satanism Among Children" was copied into an internet circular (tellingly, with the more obviously parodic elements removed) and sent to numerous fundamentalist Christians.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[13]</a></sup></li> <li>In 2011, the article "Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex" took in many people in the blogosphere, whose paranoia over the evils of <a href="/wiki/Abortion" title="Abortion">abortion</a> led them to believe it was genuine. Congressman John Fleming (<a href="/wiki/Republican_Party" title="Republican Party">R</a>-<a href="/wiki/LA" class="mw-redirect" title="LA">LA</a>) was suckered in by it.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[14]</a></sup></li> <li>In 2015, shortly after the mass FIFA arrests, the <i>Onion</i> ran an article titled "FIFA Frantically Announces 2015 Summer World Cup in United States," mocking the league for attempting to placate the United States to avoid having all of their top officials arrested. Trinidadian former CONCACAF Vice President Jack Warner noted in a web video that the US was only doing this as retribution for the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to <a href="/wiki/Qatar" title="Qatar">Qatar</a>, but cited this article as his source. He went on <a href="/wiki/Delusions_of_grandeur" title="Delusions of grandeur">to compare himself</a> to <a href="/wiki/Nelson_Mandela" title="Nelson Mandela">Nelson Mandela</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gandhi" class="mw-redirect" title="Gandhi">Gandhi</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[15]</a></sup></li> <li>Shortly after being made <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Trump</a>'s White House Press Secretary and shortly before the infamous "alternative facts" gaffe, then-<a href="/wiki/White_House" class="mw-redirect" title="White House">White House</a> press secretary Sean Spicer retweeted an Onion video about himself, appearing to take it 100% seriously. The Onion's tweet said "@SeanSpicer's role in the Trump Administration will be to provide the American public with robust and clearly articulated misinformation." The internet noticed.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[16]</a></sup> Paging Dr. Freud? However, Spicer was a fan of the media parodies of him, and exhibited a lighthearted sense of humor about them in interviews and even inside the press room; he was in on the joke, so his retweet may have been intentional.</li></ul> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="This_is_That"><i>This is That</i></span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: This is That">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation" class="mw-redirect" title="Canadian Broadcasting Corporation">Canadian Broadcasting Corporation</a> <a href="/wiki/Radio" title="Radio">radio</a> parody news show <i>This is That</i> mimics the style of <i>actual</i> CBC radio news shows.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[17]</a></sup> The intent of its satire is to mock the beliefs of the <a href="/wiki/Ignorance" title="Ignorance">ignorant</a>, to invent new absurd <a href="/wiki/Moral_panic" title="Moral panic">moral panics</a>, and so on. A major appeal of the show is playback of opinionated call-ins, which consist mostly of people who <i>actually believe</i> that the stories they are reacting to are true.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[18]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect" class="mw-redirect" title="Dunning-Kruger effect">So many embarrassed callers protested that they were fooled that the show is now required by the CBC to mark its articles as "[SATIRE]" in order to warn the very gullible</a>. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="America_turning_2014_years_old">America turning 2014 years old</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: America turning 2014 years old">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p><i><a href="/wiki/The_Huffington_Post" title="The Huffington Post">The Huffington Post</a></i> reported that some people on <a href="/wiki/Twitter" title="Twitter">Twitter</a> were ready to celebrate "<a href="/wiki/USA" class="mw-redirect" title="USA">America's</a> Birthday" instead of a new year on January 1. After posting such, the users in question began receiving floods of hateful comments and a fair share of death threats. Once said users noticed such influx of hate towards them, they started clarifying that it was a joke. </p><p>One of the quoted users emailed <i>The Huffington Post</i>, lamenting that "You used my tweet about "America turning 2014" without having the decency to ask me whether or not I was kidding. Now, I have people telling me to drop dead, to blow my brains out".<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[19]</a></sup> The site did update the news and blurred the handles of the users in question. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="4chan">4chan</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: 4chan">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/4chan" title="4chan">4chan</a></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Antisemitism" title="Antisemitism">antisemitism</a> of some parts of 4chan is a dark case study of "ironic" <a href="/wiki/Bigotry" title="Bigotry">bigotry</a> and <a href="/wiki/Contrarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Contrarian">contrarianism</a>, and where it eventually leads. It's not the same people now as it was initially. The initial crowd of <a href="/wiki/Edgelord" title="Edgelord">edgelords</a> and trolls were just taking the piss. They've been outnumbered; <a href="/wiki/Stormfront" title="Stormfront">bigots show up</a> and eventually take over, because bigots can't understand <a href="/wiki/Irony" title="Irony">irony</a>, while trolls and edgelords cannot distinguish between bigots and other edgelords, and will even try to one up the edginess.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[20]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Disciples_of_the_New_Dawn">Disciples of the New Dawn</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Disciples of the New Dawn">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Disciples_of_the_New_Dawn" title="Disciples of the New Dawn">Disciples of the New Dawn</a></div> <p>Disciples of the New Dawn is ostensibly a <a href="/wiki/Christian" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian">Christian</a> fundamentalist group, but is widely believed to be a parody. Its supposed founder is one "Patrick Oliver Embry", whose initials spell out POE, which would make this an example of a <i>deliberate</i> Poe. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="UndergroundNewsReport">UndergroundNewsReport</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: UndergroundNewsReport">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>When I started this site, I had no idea that the stories would garner this much attention. While writing them, I was aiming for stories that no one would believe, but rather would be satirical in an age where disinformation is so prevalent. Just for fun, I decided to post some of the stories in Trump fan groups on Facebook to see the reactions. To my surprise, the Trump masses embraced my stories as fact, almost universally. <b>It seemed that there wasn’t anything I could write that was too wild or outrageous to be believed by this particular audience.</b></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—James McDaniel of UndergroundNewsReport</cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Despite its disclaimer that it is a satire site, it has enjoyed a big traffic and has seen top comments taking the articles seriously.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[21]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[22]</a></sup> The site has amassed a big following of Trump supporters who believed the stories the site hosted and even some hosted serious <a href="/wiki/YouTube" title="YouTube">YouTube</a> videos on them. The thing is, even after the article admitted that their stories are false and test the gullibility of those who take the site's word for it, commenters <i>still</i> think they're telling the truth. The top comment even says that it "didn't <a href="/wiki/Irony" title="Irony">fall</a> for [the] FAKE STORIES" all while believing a fabricated story that Obama is gay. Apparently, <a href="/wiki/Confirmation_bias" title="Confirmation bias">confirmation bias</a> is powerful enough to override up-front admissions of falsehood. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Reception_and_usage">Reception and usage</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Reception and usage">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>The use of the term is most common in the skeptical and science-based communities on Web 2.0. Many blogs, forums, and wikis will often refer to the law when dealing with <a href="/wiki/Crank" title="Crank">cranks</a> of any stripe. It is most commonly used after a fundamentalist rant has been posted on a topic and people will rush to be the first to respond with "I call Poe's Law." Superior bragging rights can be earned by calling it first. It is also commonly used when linking to highly questionable rants by prefacing them with "Poe's Law strikes again" or just simply "Poe's Law." </p><p>Outside of Web 2.0, the law is far less known and probably rarely used. <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law" class="extiw" title="wp:Poe's law" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Poe's law">article on Poe's Law</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> was deleted once<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[23]</a></sup> (but seems to have stuck the latest time around, with an academic reference<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29">[24]</a></sup>), but is listed on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponymous_laws" class="extiw" title="wp:List of eponymous laws" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of eponymous laws">list of eponymous laws</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> following mention in an article in <i>The Telegraph</i>. Poe's law is now also on the <a href="/wiki/TV_Tropes" title="TV Tropes">TV Tropes</a> site.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30">[25]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fake_news" title="Fake news">Fake news</a> (particularly the <a href="/wiki/Satire" title="Satire">satire</a> sites)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Horseshoe_theory" title="Horseshoe theory">Horseshoe theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fun:Irony_meter" title="Fun:Irony meter">Fun:Irony meter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Poe%27s_Law_examples" title="List of Poe's Law examples">List of Poe's Law examples</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Just_a_joke" title="Just a joke">Just a joke</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Onion" title="The Onion">The Onion</a></i></li> <li>Mrs. <a href="/wiki/Betty_Bowers" title="Betty Bowers">Betty Bowers</a>, America's Best Christian</li></ul> <h3><span id="Want_to_read_this_in_another_language?"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Want_to_read_this_in_another_language.3F">Want to read this in another language?</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Want to read this in another language?">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table> <tbody><tr> <td><div lang="fr" style="float:left; position:relative; margin:2px; padding-left:35px;"> <div style="position:absolute; top:1px; left:1px;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Lang-fr.gif/30px-Lang-fr.gif" decoding="async" width="30" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Lang-fr.gif/45px-Lang-fr.gif 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Lang-fr.gif/60px-Lang-fr.gif 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="333" /></div>Si vous voulez cet article en <a href="/wiki/Category:Fran%C3%A7ais" title="Category:Français">français</a>, il peut être trouvé à <b><a href="/wiki/Loi_de_Poe" title="Loi de Poe">Loi de Poe</a></b>. </div><br /> </td></tr> <tr> <td><div lang="nl" style="float:left; position:relative; margin:2px; padding-left:35px;"> <div style="position:absolute; top:1px; left:1px;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Lang-nl.gif/30px-Lang-nl.gif" decoding="async" title="Lang-nl" width="30" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Lang-nl.gif/45px-Lang-nl.gif 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Lang-nl.gif/60px-Lang-nl.gif 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></div>Een <a href="/wiki/Category:Nederlands" title="Category:Nederlands">Nederlandse</a> versie van dit artikel is te vinden via <b><a href="/wiki/Wet_van_Poe" title="Wet van Poe">Wet van Poe</a></b>. </div><br /> </td></tr> <tr> <td><div lang="ru" style="float:left; position:relative; margin:2px; padding-left:35px;"> <div style="position:absolute; top:1px; left:1px;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Lang-ru.gif/30px-Lang-ru.gif" decoding="async" width="30" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Lang-ru.gif/45px-Lang-ru.gif 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Lang-ru.gif/60px-Lang-ru.gif 2x" data-file-width="750" data-file-height="500" /></div>Русскоязычным вариантом данной статьи является статья <b><a href="http://ru.rationalwiki.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%9F%D0%BE" class="extiw" title="rurw:Закон По" rel="nofollow">Закон По</a></b> </div><br /> </td></tr> <tr> <td><div lang="zh" style="float:left; position:relative; margin:2px; padding-left:35px;"> <div style="position:absolute; top:1px; left:1px;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Lang-zh.gif/30px-Lang-zh.gif" decoding="async" width="30" height="20" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Lang-zh.gif/45px-Lang-zh.gif 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Lang-zh.gif/60px-Lang-zh.gif 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></div><b><a href="/wiki/%E6%B3%A2%E5%B0%94%E6%B3%95%E5%88%99" title="波尔法则">波尔法则</a></b>是本文章的<a href="/wiki/Category:Chinese" title="Category:Chinese">中文</a>版本 </div><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.poeslaw.com/">Where the line between opinion and satire becomes blurred</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/2/212">The Irony of Satire — Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PoesLaw">TV Tropes page about Poe's Law</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://deadspin.com/5919225/ohio-man-wants-buckeye-removed-as-state-tree-because-its-a-bisexual-plant">A sterling example of the art form</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://realorsatire.com/">Real or Satire? — Applied Poe's Law</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment" class="extiw" title="wp:Rosenhan experiment" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Rosenhan experiment">Rosenhan experiment</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <ul><li>At least one person will mistake parody for serious fundamentalism</li> <li>Much parody will become indistinguishable from the real thing for anyone</li> <li>Sincere expressions of fundamentalism will seem like parody to less crazy people</li></ul> </span></li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">A possible corollary of this is that extremism and parodies of it tend to evolutionarily converge.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">A second corollary is that those who <i>are</i> already in the grip of fundamentalist ideas will take a seemingly-fundamentalist statement at the fundamentalist face value, failing to notice the undercurrent of mockery in a parody of fundamentalist ideas and mistaking the parody for a sincere expression of fundamentalism.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Conservapedia_talk:What_is_going_on_at_CP%3F/Archive346#Mystery:_Why_exactly_don.27t_they_allow_new_registrations_anymore.3F" title="Conservapedia talk:What is going on at CP?/Archive346">It's only gotten worse since then.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">which itself may as well be a parody of an actual news organisation.<sup><i>(Warning: <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Poe's Law</a> in action!)</i></sup></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Poe%27s_Law&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Aikin, Scott F. (January 23, 2009). "Poe's Law, Group Polarization, and the Epistemology of Online Religious Discourse". Social Science Research Network. SSRN <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=1332169">1332169</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps#Democratic_Party" class="extiw" title="wp:Fred Phelps" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Fred Phelps#Democratic Party">Phelps ran in various Kansas Democratic Party primaries five times, but never won.</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Nathan Poe's original post is <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.christianforums.com/threads/big-contradictions-in-the-evolution-theory.1962980/post-17606580">here</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.christianforums.com/forums/creation-evolution.70/">Creation & Evolution</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://groups.google.com/group/net.announce/msg/560902c8e2b8e9f1">On net.announce</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://groups.google.com/group/talk.origins/msg/56d5f0cc584b0824">On talk.origins</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Review of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Atheist-Evidence-Cant-Think/product-reviews/1935071068/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_kywd?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterByKeyword=tunic">You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, But You Can't Make Him Think: Answers to Questions from Angry Skeptics</a> on Amazon.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Poe's%20Corollary">"Poe's Corollary"</a> in the Urban Dictionary</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Conservapedia_Talk%3AWhat_is_going_on_at_CP%3F&diff=191625&oldid=191609">On TWIGO:CP</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/2/212">The Irony of Satire: Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report</a> by Heather L. LaMarre, Kristen D. Landreville and Michael A. Beam (2009) <i>The International Journal of Press/Politics</i> Volume 14, Issue 2.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://literallyunbelievable.org/">Literally Unbelievable</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.npr.org/2012/12/01/166293306/the-onion-so-funny-it-makes-us-cry">Sexiest Man Alive Gets 'The Onion' Taken Seriously.</a> <a href="/wiki/NPR" class="mw-redirect" title="NPR">NPR</a>, 1 December 2012.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://theoutline.com/post/6504/satan-devil-cultural-history-chilling-adventures-of-sabrina?zd=1&zi=irpjuqhl">Every generation gets the devil it deserves</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.politico.com/story/2012/02/rep-fleming-skinned-by-the-onion-072507">Congressman links to Onion story</a> by Mackenzie Weinger (02/06/2012 01:57 PM EST; Updated 02/07/2012 11:27 AM EST) <i>Politico</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2481782-former-fifa-vp-jack-warner-uses-article-from-the-onion-to-criticise-usa?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national">Bleacher Report documents the entire deal.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/01/sean-spicer-retweets-the-onion-calling-job-misinformation.html?mid=fb-share-selectall">Sean Spicer Retweets Onion Video Saying He Provides 'Robust Misinformation': 'You Nailed It'</a>, New York Magazine.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thisisthat">This Is That</a> at cbc.ca.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thisisthat/canadians-react-to-canada-post-releasing-nude-stamp-honouring-wreck-beach-1.3811344?autoplay=true">Canadians react to Canada Post releasing nude stamp honouring Wreck Beach</a> at cbc.ca.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/02/america-2014-years-old_n_4520508.html">"Meet The People Who Think America Is 2014 Years Old"</a>. <i>The Huffington Post</i>. 12/30/2013.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-25">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jacob Siegel, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/29/dylann-roof-4chan-and-the-new-online-racism.html">"Dylann Roof, 4Chan, and the New Online Racism"</a>, <i>The Daily Beast.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-26">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Murdock, S. (March 11, 2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-million-trump-supporters-fell-for-this-absurd-fake-news-site_us_58c42653e4b0d1078ca7222e?">A Satire Website Posted Fake News To Trump Supporters. Many Believed It.</a> <i>The Huffington Post</i>. Retrieved March 12, 2017.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Underground News Report</i> (March 3, 2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://undergroundnewsreport.com/the-truth/breaking-satire-makes-fools-gullible-trump-supporters/">BREAKING: Satire Makes Fools of Gullible Trump Supporters</a>. Retrieved March 12, 2017.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Poe%27s_law_(2nd_nomination)" class="extiw" title="wp:Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Poe's law (2nd nomination)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Poe's law (2nd nomination)">2<sup>nd</sup> AFD discussion for Poe's Law</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-29">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law" class="extiw" title="wp:Poe's law" rel="nofollow">Poe's law</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-30">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">TV Tropes, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PoesLaw">Poe's Law</a>.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="Articles_on_RationalWiki_about_Eponymous_lawsv_-_t_-_e-navigationbox" class="toccolours" style="clear:both; margin:0.5em 3.5%; text-align:center;"> <div style="margin:0.15em; padding:0.1em; background:#ccccff; font-weight:bold;"><span id="Articles_on_RationalWiki_about_Eponymous_lawsv_-_t_-_e-navigationbox">Articles on RationalWiki about <a 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