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Murphy Martin Commentary
October 18, 2007
"Murphy's Law"
We
received a new version of Murphy's Law from an E-mail friend last
week. It got me to thinking. That's hard to do sometime, but when
the subject is something we relate to because my given name reminds
me at times of the original Murphy's Law. We decided to do a little
checking and find out how it all started.
In
Western Culture, Murphy's Law is an adage that states things can go
wrong in any situation if given a chance. "If there is more than one
possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will
result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will
do it that way.". It is most often cited as "whatever can go wrong,
will go wrong."
The earliest known versions of Murphy's Law are in reference to
stage magic. Adam Hull Shirk wrote in 1928: "It is an established
fact that in nine cases out of ten, whatever can go wrong in a
magical performance will do so....."
Because we, although given the name Murphy, and have faced Murphy's
Law in our own life occasionally, we wanted to learn how the name
Murphy became associated with Murphy's Law.
It reportedly happened this way: A man named Edward Murphy, who
dealt in measuring devices, led to the coining of the phrase, when
his devices failed to perform. The term "Murphy's Law" was cast in a
press conference some months after the devices failure. One report
refers to a project in 1948 and 1949. The work was at Muroc Field
which later became Edwards Air Force Base for the purpose of testing
the human tolerance for G-forces during rapid deceleration. The test
used a rocket sled mounted on a railroad track with a series of
hydraulic brakes at the end.
The system test did not work and Murphy was quoted as saying while
referring to an assistant: "If that guy has any way of making a
mistake, he will.' That statement was conceived as arrogance on
Murphy's part by fellow workers who called Murphy's constantly
blaming others for his mistakes as "Murphy's Law". It depends on who
you believe, Murphy's family or his fellow other workers
reports. The one thing they all agree on, Murphy's Law IS Murphy's
Law because of Edward Murphy.
If people accept the premise of Murphy's Law, and we don't recall
anyone who has not applied Murphy's Law to actual happenings in
their own lives. With so many of you having used Murphy's Law to
explain away happenings in your own lives, we wondered if you would
join us in sharing instances in your life where Murphy's Law raised
it's ugly head. If you will e-mail us one or two such instances
where Murphy's Law entered your life, we will choose some of the
best NEW stories about Murphy's Law. This time someone else named
Murphy (us) will edit the best of what you submit and in a couple of
weeks, we will use this column for a newer version of what Murphy's
Law has wrought. Just send your personal Murphy's Law events to us
at:
murphy@murphymartin.com
We look forward to hearing from you.
That's my time, thank you for yours.
Murphy Martin
Your thoughts and comments forwarded to my website
will be appreciated.
e-mail
murphy@murphymartin.com
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