Poe's law

Edward Current is often mistaken for a real fundamentalist Christan by YouTube users.

Poe's law is a humorous law formulated by Nathan Poe, which states that:

"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a fundamentalist in such a way that someone won't mistake for the genuine article."

It is a comment on the wide range of extreme and, many might say, insane opinions expressed by religious fundamentalists, especially on the Internet.

Parody often works by exaggerating the salient features of a person or situation beyond reasonable bounds. Poe's law says that there are no bounds to what fundamentalists will say, and therefore they are impossible to parody.

See Also

• Godwin's law