It seems weird to think about the Internet in terms of its historical influence on our culture. In some ways, the Internet still seems so new and ever-changing. But, in reality, the Internet has been around for several decades now. A whole history of Internet culture has emerged and from the very start it has been affecting society in the real world.

Perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of Internet wisdom is Rule 34. It is simple and to the point: “If it exists, there is porn of it – no exceptions.” This applies, of course, to Internet porn and, to be fair, people have been trying to disprove the rule for years. The most common targets used when proving Rule 34 are cartoon and video game characters.

Rule 34 was originally coined by cartoonist Peter Morley-Souter in a 2003 web comic he published as a response to seeing Calvin and Hobbes parody porn online.

Since this comic, the Internet has struggled to find any topic or character safe from Rule 34 – and they’ve come up short.

The rule has even found a way to seep into mainstream, Real World culture. In 2009, the Daily Telegraph included Rule 34 in their Top 10 Internet Rules and Laws. Later, a CNN story published in 2013 claimed that Rule 34 was “likely the most famous” Internet rule which has crossed over to pop culture.

So why is Rule 34 so popular? Sure it wouldn’t be hard to disprove it if you were willing to invest the time – right? Is it just another example of ridiculous Internet memes? Actually, it might be bigger than that.

The truth is that Rule 34 resonates with so many people because it simply seems true. For anyone who has spent any amount of time surfing the web and checking out adult entertainment, the idea that there is a porn parody for everything sounds pretty believable. Even before the advent of the internet, the porn industry loved making porn versions of everything they could get their hands on. Classics like Shaving Ryan’s Privates, Forest Hump and I Know Who You Did Last Summer prove that parody is nothing new when it comes to pornography.

With the advent of the Internet, porn became easier to access and worlds easier to create and distribute. Now there are comics, cartoons and live-action porn options for everything from cartoon classics to fornicating architectural landmarks.

The real twist to Rule 34 is that it spawned Rule 35. Thanks to the collaborative nature of the Internet, if anyone was able to find an exception to Rule 34, they would invariably create the match up, which is what inspired Rule 35: If no porn exists, it soon will.

In the end, Rule 34 is simply an updated version of what humans have always known – if something exists, people will find a way to sexualize it.  We used to do it with cartoons in magazines and XXX rated cartoons but these days, all you need is a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection.