I really dislike it. And what I write here has nothing to do with anybody I know, so nobody think I'm writing about them, because I'm not. You just got me on the path of thinking about the subject matter. This is about OTHER people's application, not anybody I know.

Now...

Murphy's Law. It's fascinating and I've been reading up on it quite a bit (by that I mean not just the passive statement made by the guy involved in the Air Force experiment, but mathematics as well, which is simply called probability). The law, pretty much, states, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." I do not take issue with this statement, it is absolutely true. However, it has its limits. The fact of the matter is that the more time goes by, the more likely a less probable misfortune is to occur; but only if no change occurs. As an example:

Suppose a very large tree that is very well rooted and strong is in your yard. Could it fall on your house? Absolutely. Is it very likely? Not at all. Why? The tree is very strong rooted, and the likelihood of it falling on your house is very, very small. Yet small as that possibility is, it IS possible. So now you have a choice, remove the tree or leave it be. These are your choices. The fact of the matter is that this tree WILL fall someday, perhaps hundreds of years from today or perhaps tomorrow; yet, it WILL fall, and when it does it might land on your house. What do you do?

This is where I take issue with Murphy's Law. In our example, should the person choose to do nothing about the tree, a large truck could go out of control and careen into the tree and knock it right on the house; Or, the house owner could view the small possibility of this tree falling on the house as serious enough to make a change. A change resulting in the chance of said tree falling on the house going from improbable to impossible. How? Remove the tree. Now it's gone. No worries. My issue is with the application of this supposed Law...

Murphy's Law is absolutely true, however it's not meant to make us victims. We are built to have insight and to problem solve, thus in any given situation we must apply Murphy's Law and ask ourselves, "What can go wrong?" And all the things we can think of that are rational and possible, take the first step and take those things from rational and possible to completely impossible. Don't let Murphy have the first move, he only needs one. If you've taken these steps against misfortune, then when something bad happens it's not your fault and it's not Murphy’s fault either. It was simply and purely an unfortunate, unforeseen event.

Edward Murphy was a man conducting tests for the Air Force. Before going through with the tests he was given the opportunity to double check to make sure things were set up correctly which it is reported that he declined "quite irritably". When he started the test he had a zero reading on his "electronic strain gauge" because things were wired backward, which is when he made the statement he made. But had he had the insight to take up the offer to double check to make sure that what could go wrong didn't, then he never would have made the statement he made. We wouldn't have Murphy's Law today.

Don't be like Murphy.