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Murphy's law. Murphy's law [a] is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." In some formulations, it is extended to "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time." Though similar statements and concepts have been made over the course of history, the law itself was ...
In some cases the person named has coined the law – such as Parkinson's law. In others, the work or publications of the individual have led to the law being so named – as is the case with Moore's law. There are also laws ascribed to individuals by others, such as Murphy's law; or given eponymous names despite the absence of the named person ...
In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences, more colloquially called knock-on effects) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was popularized in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton. [1]
Law of averages. The law of averages is the commonly held belief that a particular outcome or event will, over certain periods of time, occur at a frequency that is similar to its probability. [1] [2] Depending on context or application it can be considered a valid common-sense observation or a misunderstanding of probability.
Appeal to probability. An appeal to probability (or appeal to possibility, also known as possibiliter ergo probabiliter, "possibly, therefore probably") is the logical fallacy of taking something for granted because it is possibly the case. [1] [2] The fact that an event is possible does not imply that the event is probable, nor that the event ...
Edward Aloysius Murphy Jr. (January 11, 1918 – July 17, 1990) was an American aerospace engineer who worked on safety-critical systems. He is best known for his namesake "Murphy's law", which is said to be "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". History. Born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1918, Murphy was the eldest of five children.
L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. (formerly) O.W.C.A. Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, often called "Doof" for short, also known as Professor Time, is a fictional character from the American animated television series Phineas and Ferb. He was created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, and is voiced by Povenmire. He was originally depicted as an incompetent ...
Occam's razor. In philosophy, Occam's razor (also spelled Ockham's razor or Ocham's razor; Latin: novacula Occami) is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony ( Latin: lex parsimoniae ).