User:Wikidemon/Wikidemo's Law

Wikidemo's Law (also known as Wikidemo's Rule of Pokemon Analogies) is an adage formulated by User:Wikidemo in 2008. The law states:

"As a Wikipedia notability discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Pokemon approaches one."

Wikidemo's Law is often cited in Wikipedia discussions as a caution against the use of inflammatory rhetoric or exaggerated comparisons, and is often conflated with fallacious arguments of the reductio ad Pokmonium form.

The rule does not make any statement whether any particular reference or comparison to Pokemon or Pikachu might be appropriate, but only asserts that one arising is increasingly probable. It is precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate, Wikidemo has argued that overuse of Pokemon and PIkachu comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact. Although in one of its early forms Wikidemo's Law referred specifically to Wikipedia notability discussions, the law is now applied to any threaded online discussion: electronic mailing lists, message boards, chat rooms, and more recently blog comment threads and wiki talk pages.

Corollaries and usage

There are many corollaries to Wikidemo's law, some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Wikidemo himself). For example, there is a tradition in many Wikipedia discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the discussion is over and whoever mentioned the Pokemon Phenomenon has automatically "lost" whatever debate was in progress. This principle is itself frequently referred to as Wikidemo's Law. It is considered poor form to raise such a comparison arbitrarily with the motive of ending the thread. There is a widely recognized codicil that any such ulterior-motive invocation of Wikidemo's law will be unsuccessful (this is sometimes referred to as "Quirk's Exception").

Wikidemo's Law applies especially to inappropriate, inordinate, or hyperbolic comparisons of other situations (or one's opponent) with Pokemon or Pikachu or their actions. It does not apply to discussions directly addressing fanfic, fancruft, popular culture, in-universe plot summaries, or other mainstays of Wikipedia. Whether it applies to humorous use or references to oneself is open to interpretation, because although mentioning and trivializing Pokemon in an online discussion, this would not be a fallacious attack against a debate opponent.

However, Wikdemo's Law itself can be abused, as a distraction or diversion, that fallaciously miscasts an opponent's argument as hyperbole, especially if the comparisons made by the argument are actually appropriate. Wikidemo's Law is often misused to ridicule even valid comparisons.

History

Wikidemo has stated that he introduced Wikidemo's Law in 2008 as an experiment in memetics. Linking by implication the fallacy of the Pokemon Phenomenon to Wikipedia discussion length had been done prior to 2008 by many Wikipedians. Wikidemo's Law does not, however, claim to articulate a fallacy; it is instead framed as a memetic tool to reduce the incidence of inappropriate hyperbolic comparisons.

See also

• Association fallacy
• Portal:Pokémon
• Benford's law of controversy
• Internet troll
• List of adages named after people
• Godwin's Law (for any GPL licensing / attribution concerns about the text on this page)