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Scientists Define Murphy's Law

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the brillaint-or-pathetic dept.

Jesrad writes "A mathematician, a psychologist and an economist commissioned by British Gas have finally put into mathematical terms what we all knew: that things don't just go wrong, they do so at the most annoying moment.The formula, ((U+C+I) x (10-S))/20 x A x 1/(1-sin(F/10)), indicates that to beat Murphy's Law (a.k.a. Sod's Law) you need to change one of the parameter: U for urgency, C for complexity, I for importance, S for skill, F for frequency and A for aggravation. Or in the researchers' own words: "If you haven't got the skill to do something important, leave it alone. If something is urgent or complex, find a simple way to do it. If something going wrong will particularly aggravate you, make certain you know how to do it." Don't you like it when maths back up common sense ?"

6 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. Another famous proof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Women are evil.

  2. I don't believe it! by barcodez · · Score: 5, Funny

    Jesrad writes "A mathematician, a psychologist and an economist commissioned by British Gas have finally put into mathematical terms what we all knew: that things don't just go wrong, they do so at the most anno.... 503 service unavailable

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  3. Ugh by mrjah · · Score: 5, Funny

    Quick, somebody start arguing about probability!

  4. Asskissing gives you better results than hardwork! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And from today's joke at thehun.com (link not work safe!!) ...

    From a strictly mathematical viewpoint it goes like this:

    What makes 100%?

    What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

    Ever wonder about these people who say they are giving more than 100%?

    We have all been to these meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%

    How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?

    Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these question.

    If:

    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as:

    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

    Then:

    H A R D W O R K

    8+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

    K N O W L E D G E

    11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

    But:

    A T T I T U D E

    1+20+20++9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

    And:

    B U L L S H I T

    2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

    AND, Look how far ass kissing will take you.

    A S S K I S S I N G

    1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

    So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that whilst hard work and knowledge will get you close, and attitude will get you there, it's the bullshit and ass kissing that will put you over the top.

  5. And while we're on mathematical jokes... by pjt33 · · Score: 5, Funny
    A mathematician, a psychologist and an economist
    is clearly the lead into something like
    were on a train travelling from Glasgow to Edinburgh when they saw a sheep. The psychologist said, "Look: Scottish sheep are black!" The economist replied, "Well, we can at least say that some Scottish sheep are black." At this the mathematician spoke up: "There exists at least one sheep in Scotland at least one side of which is black."
  6. Re:Hundreds! by General+Ishmoo · · Score: 5, Funny

    >> My friends love using quantifiers on values that can'be given a number:

    >> "I have hundreds of luck. HUNDREDS!"

    >I'm sorry, that's only three funny.

    Apparently, so is your comment.

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