If there is one thing that human beings despise most, it is probably uncertainty.
The 3000-year-old insurance business is ample proof of our revulsion towards it.
There is, however, an underestimated and often overlooked psychological antidote for this primordial revulsion of ours.
And it came from an unlikely source: a world-war 2 air force captain and aerospace engineer named Edward A. Murphy Jr.
Allow me to elaborate.
The popular term ‘Murphy’s Law’ (which states that: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) originated from the utterings and career experiences of Edward A. Murphy Jr. during his time conducting experimental studies for the US Air Force in the late ’40s.
What may initially seem like a deeply cynical view of life, may actually offer a deep philosophical antidote towards our fear of uncertainty.
But before we delve into that, it is worth reflecting on exactly where and how this popular term came into being.
The Origins of Murphy’s Law
After the perils of World War 2, the United States government continued its research and development endeavors on its military technologies. The recently established US Air Force at the time, were using rocket propelled sleds to test the limits and consequences of extreme acceleration and deceleration events on the human body, with the motive of applying this knowledge to create better and faster aircraft war capabilities. This initiative was named Project MX-981.
The ‘guinea pig’ of this study was the leading commander of the study himself: Colonel John Paul Stapp. He was a prolific Air Force officer who was also a trained medical doctor and biophysicist.
As part of the study, Colonel Stapp was strapped with numerous sensors on his suit in order to measure the level of G force endured by the human body during these extreme velocity conditions. He endured deceleration forces of up to 35 Gs whilst reaching speeds of up to 200mph and abruptly decelerating to a halt in less than one second. The theoretical limit for the human body at the time was only thought to be 18 Gs, but the study (and through a heroic level of courage from Colonel Stapp) proved otherwise. Fractured ribs, bruises and blood-shot eyes were unfortunate byproducts of the study, and the person responsible for all data collection and analysis from the sensors was Edward Murphy.
It is from one of these physically traumatic experimental trials that the term ‘Murphy’s Law’ was born. After the powerful ignition of the rocket catapulted the sled and its poor Colonel passenger across the 1.9-mile track and ultimately ending in a violent halt, the engineering team (including Murphy) rushed to the Colonel’s aid to check on his physical condition, as well as collect the data measured by all the sensors strapped to his suit.
Upon inspection, the team discovered that all of the sensors yielded a value of zero. It was as if the Colonel’s traumatic, blood-shot inducing, rib-fracturing event, had never occurred at all. Shortly after, it was discovered that the sensors (all 16 of them) had been installed the wrong way around.
Furious at this wretched and humiliating blunder, it was at this moment that Edward Murphy stated: “If a guy has any chance of making a mistake, he will.” This cynical sentiment eventually morphed and was further popularized by Colonel Stapp into: “Anything wrong that can happen, will happen.”
This was the birth of Murphy’s Law into the lexicon of conversation. Everything from aerospace engineering to business risk management, to building a career, a family or a business; seem to benefit from Murphy’s insight borne from an absurd, silly engineering mishap:
If you leave things to chance, chances are, it will go wrong.
The Life Lessons
Uncertainty is ultimately anxiety inducing. As we get older and certainly as we have more dependents, our potential threats and fears become correspondingly greater. The safety and health of our loved ones, the safety and health of our own, the looming threat of financial instability and the ultimate demise of our own mortality, are just some of the doom and gloom scenarios that may periodically play out in one’s mind. These are essentially not personal thoughts and fears; they are humanity’s collective thoughts and fears that have been experienced throughout the ages.
Murphy’s seemingly random engineering insight, I argue, provide a profoundly stoic and practical viewpoint towards our uncertainties and anxieties in life. And if embraced, can yield a more level-headed, rational way of life.
Here are the three life lessons we can take from Murphy’s Law:
Preparing for The Worst
Murphy’s Law may seem extremely pessimistic, but one cannot argue its brave stance in the face of uncertainty. It encourages us not only to face uncertainty, but to accept and prepare for the worst. This radical acceptance towards potentially bad events is a powerful step towards more rational decision making in the future. Once one is able to accept or even welcome bad events, it leaves less room for negative and unproductive emotions and more room towards rational and productive planning.
In the most extreme case of death, it may be futile to wallow in sadness or fear, given its inevitability. In accepting the obvious fact that it will eventually occur, it empowers us to do away with our pathetic and futile sadness or denial and instead engage in preparatory tasks for our mortal demise.
Investing in an emergency fund, setting up life insurance policies, notarizing death wills and other such endeavors are only possible once one accepts, and even welcomes the inevitability of death.
2. Antifragility
There is a fascinating concept developed by mathematician and financial trader Nassim Taleb called Antifragility.
Antifragility is a property of an object or a system whereby its strength is increased by stressors, instead of decreased. It is the opposite of fragility, whereby stressors decrease the strength of the object (such as a glass mug.) Human beings are anti-fragile entities. Both our physical bodies and our psychological states benefit and become more robust through regular exposure to stressors. Deterioration of the physical body or the mind is usually a result of insufficient exposure to stressors or usage; which is what usually occurs to the elderly.
Murphy’s Law reminds us (in no uncertain terms) that stressors in life will always occur. In fact, if there is even a slight chance of stressors occurring, you would be wise to simply assume that it will definitely occur. This is by no means a purely pessimistic view of life. It simply reminds us that stressors are actually an integral part of existence. Especially for such complex entities like us human beings.
The last thing that any parent would want for their children or that anybody would want for themselves; is to be a fragile human being, either physically or psychologically.
The bruises and fractured ribs experienced by Colonel Stapp during Project MX-981 did not result in a weaker human being. Quite the contrary. For the many traumatic trials (as well as many others not mentioned in this article), he is well regarded as a significant contributor to both military and civilian aviation safety technologies, with notable awards such as enrollment into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1985 and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1991.
3. Humor in the Face of Tragedy
One cannot help but wonder: was there a facetious tone in Murphy’s statement? Or was it literal conjecture?
It is probably true that Murphy was being a little flippant or cheeky when he said those extreme words. But this reveals an important aspect of our reaction towards bad events: we tend to forget the absurdity and randomness of life. And because of that, we often take things way too seriously.
Granted, some events in life are simply not to laugh at. A death of a loved one or an extremely debilitating illness may not provide appropriate space for contemplating the humor and absurdity of life. But many events do provide such spaces: a stolen credit card, losing money on the stock market, a flat tire in the middle of the highway, or violently slipping and falling in front of your boss in an important business event. These things usually ruin one’s day, or month, or year. But they need not have to, if only one can appreciate the sometimes utter-randomness and non-sensical nature of life.
We may not ever know how Edward Murphy actually felt shortly after discovering that all 16 sensors (not one, or two, but all 16) were installed incorrectly. He may have initially felt fury. It is likely that there was humiliation also. A sense of guilt towards the highly respected Colonel is also completely understandable.
But through his flippant statement now well known as Murphy’s Law, there seems to be a hint of humor in there, possibly due to his recognition of the absurdity of what just happened.
The next time something seemingly horrible or humiliating is bestowed upon us, it may be wise to step back and try to sense the humor hiding behind the façade of tragedy.
As the saying goes,
“Man Plans, and God Laughs.”
Nice one. Another saying (courtesy of Thomas a Kempis) is this: "Man proposes, God disposes."
Another similar concept to this is entropy: things get worse/more disordered if left to its own devices. This is something that the modern mind struggles to grasp because of Darwinism (and to a lesser extent laissez-faire capitalism) which basically teaches quite the opposite.