Murphy’s Law: When there is more than one way to do something, and one of those ways will result in a catastrophe, then someone will eventually do it that way. There is a second Murphy’s law: if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. It is a universal law that we all believe in. Murphy’s Law is the best known, but there are many more such ‘laws’ that we all believe to some extent may be true.
What is ‘Murphy’s Law’
“If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it,” states Murphy’s first law. (When there is more than one way to do something, and one of those ways will result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way.) The law was passed in 1949 by Edward A. Murphy Jr. for the first time stated, indeed Murphy exists. It seems like a universal truth, if you do something often enough it will definitely go wrong at some point. A second law of Murphy is even more often quoted: “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
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The latter is also called the law of deception. Various variations on the laws can be found in books and on the internet. We seem to believe in fatalistic, universal laws and use them. In the aircraft industry, checks are carried out to avoid mistakes (Murphy’s Law to be avoided), but at some point someone makes a mistake.
Edward A. Murphy Jr
Edward A. Murphy Jr. was a captain in the United States Air Force just after WWII. He worked as an engineer at the Wright Field Aircraft Laboratory and conducted research into, among other things, the effect of acceleration on the human body. This was measured by using a simulator that could develop enormous speeds. The effect of an emergency stop was also investigated. For this purpose, Murphy had designed a special suit on which sensors were placed. These sensors could measure the G-forces that the body had to withstand in the event of a plane crash, for example. The test is performed and the results examined. Turns out there weren’t any! Further investigation revealed that a technician had placed the sensors incorrectly. Whereupon Murphy made his famous statement.
Murphy’s Law is popular
So we are helpless, as the law teaches. Murphy’s Law dictates that no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, things will always go wrong at some point. It’s fatalism, we make that mistake anyway. Maybe it also says something about our intelligence, give us a 50% chance of doing something wrong (and therefore also a 50% chance of doing it right) and we will do it wrong. Or maybe we have no control over that at all and Murphy’s Law is a universal practical joke. Murphy’s Law is the perfect excuse, when things go well we have ourselves to blame, but when things go wrong, Murphys bothers us.
Murphy’s Law was quickly picked up in the media and received numerous variations. Books and sites filled with universal truths are popular. Many laws were given the name Murphys, but others were given the name of their creator. ‘If anything can go wrong, it will’ , is usually called Finagle’s Law (or the Law of Deception), often with the addition, at the worst possible moment . But this one: If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something’ , appears without a name.
Universal ‘laws’
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There are millions of laws, sometimes suitable for a specific field, but all very recognizable. Some were given a name, perhaps from the creator, but that can often no longer be traced. The other row always goes faster’ , Etorre’s observation is called’ but who is Etorre?
Laws with a name
Boob’s Law: You’ll always find it in the last place you look.
Cheop’s Law: Nothing is ever built on time or on budget. (a desperate pharaoh)
Weiler’s law: Nothing is impossible for the man or woman who does not have to do it themselves. Patton’s law: A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow .
Young’s law: All great discoveries are made by chance. Franklin’s rule: Those who expect nothing are not disappointed.
Well-known laws
In addition, there are some laws that have become slightly more widely known. The ‘Peter Principle’ was first formulated by Dr. Laurence Peter and it states: In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. When you promote people to higher positions, there always comes a time when they no longer perform sufficiently, something that every manager can confirm. The career ladder has to stop somewhere, but often it goes just one step too high. Don’t attribute ill will, what can be explained by stupidity is Hanlon’s Razor. This law, whose origin is unclear, is the sequel to the Law of Deception (or Finagles Law). Various variations on this law have been written, but the underlying idea is that we may too often assume malicious intent.
‘Color of the bikeshed’, sometimes pronounced in Dutch as , the color of the shed, but it is an English saying. What are the longest meetings about? Right, about the simplest issues. This is because everyone knows something about it, when it comes to very complicated topics it is more difficult to talk about it. Everyone dares to say something about building a shed or an extension to a house, but when the meeting is about building a station building, many people keep their mouths shut.
After all, Muphry’s law states that anyone who corrects a text always makes a new mistake.
Various other laws
- Repairs always take longer and are more expensive than you think
- Everyone has a theory on how to get rich that doesn’t work
- There is not always time to do something well, but there is time to do it again.
- Children don’t spill on a dirty table
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- If you want a loan, you first have to prove that you do not need it
- Many good things in life are immoral, forbidden or they make you fat
- When in doubt, make it sound convincing
- When you see light at the end of the tunnel, a train is coming
- Every solution brings a new problem
- Only when you start doing something does something come up
- A broken device works fine at a repairman
- Nothing is as simple as it seems
- If it seems easy it is difficult, everything that seems difficult is impossible
- The damage to an object is directly proportional to its value.
- Borrowed books always come back, except for the books you can’t afford to miss