Murphy's Law

Murphy' Law states : If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.

Murphy used his law to solve problems in his engineering work, but I have been interpreting it literally, to improve our life.

I will use two simple examples to illustrate.  I have friends who told me that they are very careful on the road, and that they will not get into accidents. Here's briefly how I explained to them:

Murphy's Law : If an accident can happen, it will happen.

Why : It is not just about how careful we are, but also about how careless other drivers are.

What : There may be drivers who beat the red light, or are too busy on the phone while driving, or worse, drunk.

How : Besides following all traffic rules (what we can control), we also need to look out for signs of danger (mitigate what we cannot control). Like a speeding car, a dazed pedestrian, an obstruction on the road. Hence, we need to focus on the driving, keep an eye on the surrounding, instead of chatting with other passengers while driving.  Even then, things can still go wrong.  But what we are trying to do is to reduce the probability of accidents happening.

Another example.  Many young people are not good at estimating time, or they do not give allowance for delays.  Like, if they knew a journey takes 30 mins, they will leave the house at 10.30am for a 11.00am meeting. There was once I had to meet one of them for lunch at noon. He told me he would not be late.  But he was late.

Murphy's Law : If it is possible for a person to be late, he can be late.

Why : Traffic, transport problem, weather, other unforeseen circumstances, all of which can cause delays.  

What : The bus took very long to come.  When a bus finally came, he rushed to hopped on, only to find that he took the wrong bus after quite a while on the bus.  By the time he arrived, he was 40 minutes late.

How : Leave the house slightly earlier. While this does not make the bus come earlier or prevent us from taking the wrong bus, it does give us some peace of mind (not to rush), as well as a small time frame to allow for possible delays.  

Murphy's Law is not a magical formula. Things can still go wrong no matter how careful we are. It may not happen to us, but it may happen to someone, somewhere else. 

Hence, do not have this mindset that nothing will go wrong.  We analyse the situation, be aware of the various possible outcomes.  Aim for the best, but be prepared for the worst.  

Important thing is, when things do go wrong, it is crucial that we learn from it, move on and be better.