We all know what Murphy’s Law states, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” We hear it all the time on TV, on the internet, from co-workers, bosses, friends and family. It’s another saying like “Thank God It’s Friday” that seems harmless enough, but upon closer examination (which I highly recommend for all seemingly harmless sayings) it’s obvious that it’s complete crap.
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong? Really?
When I’m walking down the street, I could fall and break my femur, I could get attacked by a rabid squirrel, or I could get hit by a bus—but how often do these things actually happen? Rarely, and that’s an understatement. If you really think about it, there is an infinite amount of things that actually could go wrong, but a very tiny percentage do. This led me to do some extensive research (aka Google) on this Murphy character and how they arrived at their brilliant deduction. The answer wasn’t anything that I expected. Here’s what I found:
Arthur Bloch, in his 1977 book "Murphy's Law, and Other Reasons Why Things Go WRONG", prints a letter that he received from George E. Nichols who recalls the event that occurred in 1949 at Edwards Air Force Base, Muroc, California that, according to him, is the origination of Murphy's Law. An excerpt from the letter reads:
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong? Really?
When I’m walking down the street, I could fall and break my femur, I could get attacked by a rabid squirrel, or I could get hit by a bus—but how often do these things actually happen? Rarely, and that’s an understatement. If you really think about it, there is an infinite amount of things that actually could go wrong, but a very tiny percentage do. This led me to do some extensive research (aka Google) on this Murphy character and how they arrived at their brilliant deduction. The answer wasn’t anything that I expected. Here’s what I found:
Arthur Bloch, in his 1977 book "Murphy's Law, and Other Reasons Why Things Go WRONG", prints a letter that he received from George E. Nichols who recalls the event that occurred in 1949 at Edwards Air Force Base, Muroc, California that, according to him, is the origination of Murphy's Law. An excerpt from the letter reads:
“...The Law's namesake was Capt. Ed Murphy, a development engineer from Wright Field Aircraft Lab. Frustration with a strap transducer which was malfunctioning due to an error in wiring the strain gage bridges caused him to remark - "If there is any way to do it wrong, he will" - referring to the technician who had wired the bridges at the Lab.”
So there you have it. We’ve somehow managed to transform the good Capt. Murphy’s insult of one of his bumbling technicians into a “law” that states that anything that can go wrong will, and by golly, there’s not a damn thing we can do about it! This is a shining example of why it’s so important to examine our speech—the history, meaning, and origins. We often take these sayings at face value and assume that some brilliant, bearded psychologist from antiquity must have worked painstakingly through arduous days and candle lit nights, pouring over volumes of research dictated onto parchment paper with a feather pen, before finally exclaiming, “Eureka! I’ve got it! Anything that can go wrong—will!” But alas, the real truth is that some dude just thought his tech was a dip$#*!
So there you have it. We’ve somehow managed to transform the good Capt. Murphy’s insult of one of his bumbling technicians into a “law” that states that anything that can go wrong will, and by golly, there’s not a damn thing we can do about it! This is a shining example of why it’s so important to examine our speech—the history, meaning, and origins. We often take these sayings at face value and assume that some brilliant, bearded psychologist from antiquity must have worked painstakingly through arduous days and candle lit nights, pouring over volumes of research dictated onto parchment paper with a feather pen, before finally exclaiming, “Eureka! I’ve got it! Anything that can go wrong—will!” But alas, the real truth is that some dude just thought his tech was a dip$#*!
Now that I’ve exposed Murphy’s Law for the complete BS that it is, this should be a life transforming day for you. Tell your wife that you’d like to go ahead and build that addition on to your house that you’ve been talking about, and do it all yourself! Who cares if you have trouble hanging a picture and you once failed 9th grade Shop class? After all, what could go wrong? On second thought, it’s usually better to let the pendulum settle somewhere in the middle before swinging it violently to the other side. We’ve just now discovered that Murphy’s Law holds no water, and much like coming to grips with the Earth being round, it’s going to take some time to get used to.
I have my own “law” that I follow and I am more than happy to share it with you—it’s called “Tieffy’s Law.” It simply states, “It’s going to work because I’m going to make it work—dammit!” It’s not always pretty, it’s not always exact, and it rarely follows the original plan as originally constructed. But one way or another, the end result is going to be something I’m satisfied with or by golly--I’m not finished yet! Life rarely works out exactly how we want it to, but there are greater forces working for us than against us. Keep on moving, make adjustments on the fly, and don’t let the details drive you crazy. You will be victorious in the end, and you might even discover that everything that could have gone right—did.
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