There are Murphy's laws and other assorted descriptions of when things ***$*$* up, or degenerate. Anyone got a name for what happens on many of these threads, which start out civil and have a certain stick-to-the-pointiveness about them, and suddenly have plunged into post after post of personal attacks and tiresome drivel???? It is quite annoying (ok,on occassion funny) and I'm probably not the only one who would love it if the antagonists would take their mouse-slinging elsewhere.....

I'm not wasting my time here for nothing, you know.....

-- Walter S (wsvnsk2@juno.com), January 13, 2000

Answers

There must be an applicable Murphy's Law.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), January 13, 2000.

"Crud expands to fill the avaiable band-width." Ooops, I'm outta here.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), January 13, 2000.

The traditional version of Murphy's Law ("anything that can go wrong, will") is actually "Finagle's Law of Dynamic Negatives." Finagle's Law was popularized by science fiction author Larry Niven in several stories depicting a frontier culture of asteroid miners; this "Belter" culture professed a religion and/or running joke involving the worship of the dread god Finagle and his mad prophet Murphy. Since then, the relentless truth inherent in Murphy's Law has become a persistent thorn in the side of humanity.

-- Etta James (ej@umkc.edu), January 13, 2000.

Of course, some threads are pointless drivel to begin with. ;p

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), January 13, 2000.

It usually happens when a polly troll adds their piece of stupidity and it pretty much goes downhill from there.

-- (jeffDD@ticon.net), January 13, 2000.

How about "entropy."

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), January 13, 2000.

Murphy's Law of Internet Forums states:

All threads eventually mention Hitler.

-- (murphy@work.here), January 13, 2000.

Newton's second law of thermodynamics at work...

-- (Kurt.Borzel@gems8.gov.bc.ca), January 13, 2000.

Actually there is such a law or thread threshold,
it is formally described as: Godwins Law

Godwin's Law of Nazi Analogies: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), January 13, 2000.

We MUST keep to the issue at hand: exposing Y2K in all its disguises. However even the most inane comments may help us all learn.

-- I'mSo (happy@prepped.com), January 13, 2000.

Walter S:

mouse-slinging....? yeeee-ipes!! I will kill any spider in this house, my wife gets all rodents...unless they're really big ones that look like....

HITLER!!!!!

hey, that law really does work!

Is this tiresome drivel or just drivel so far?

-- Ric (ice163@worldnet.att.net), January 14, 2000.