On another thread, our esteem'd colleague from north of the Pyranees made a reference to Murphy's Law.

Well, now,

Last weekend we made a trip to Mittle Europa, forecasts from BBC and SKY and Weather Underground predicted rain and cold, so we dressed in a suitable manner - overcoats, pullovers, scarves, oil-rig immersion/survival suits, fur-lined boots etc.

Well, it drizzled slightly and was cool, but not that bad, and one day it was hot. We could easily have managed without all our protective clothing.

Of course, Murphy's Law ! If we hadn't taken the stuff it would have been bitter cold, howling gale, snowstorms etc.

And we like every other person said Murphy's Law. But I wonder. If an alien from another star system - say, Alpha Centuri - or from an alternative universe - arrived on our planet and observed this phenomena, would he accept so readily what we humans seem to believe: that "it's chance that causes the opposite of what we expect to happen" ? Might he (or she, or it, or whatever) assume we actually manipulate the future environment and that this, the FE, is simply reacting to what we expect of it ?

And if that is the case, why does it - the FE - oppose so cussedly what we expect of it ? Just to prove it's there ?

OK, what's a/an/the FE? :confused:

I guess FE means "Future Environment".

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/alternative_energy_revolution.jpg

No, no, Lon More, you're wrong !
Machines' revolution will not begin with wind generators : I saw a report in four parts on TV.
That was called "Terminator 1, 2, 3, 4" : When Governor of California becomes a serial killer, machines get mad at us.

Or maybe Arthur C. Clarke could be right in his book : "2001, Space Odissey". HAL 9000 kills its passengers in order not to lie to them.

Stephen King explains us another possibility in "Christine"... When I look at my car, I sometimes think he could be right.

Anyway, wind generators are not a threat : they don't produce enough energy to move as shown in this cartoon. :)

OFSO,
good question !

Was that Murphy's law : "If something can go wrong, it will go wrong" ?
Meaning : you needed bad weather and you got sunshine...

Or was that Murphy's law : "If there are 2 or more ways to do something, then someone will do it wrong".
In other words, BBC had to provide a weather forecast... and someone did it wrong...

Maybe that was a "Butterfly effect" : because you moved your protection clothes in your house, you created good weather somewhere else, despite BBC's forecast.

BBC told you the weather would be fine so you took your clothes...
Had BBC forecasted good weather, because you know Murphy's law, you would have taken your protections against rain and cold anyway, just to be sure weather would be fine.
But, as Murphy says, because you had taken your warm clothes in order to have sunshine, the weather would have been terrible. No problem with that as you are protected... so, because of Murphy, the weather will be hot.
Conclusion : you shouldn't have taken your clothes... they had told you weather would be fine...

Believe me, except Human species, no creature in the Universe can survive Murphy's law. Aliens have already tried several times to invade us.
They will never succeed : they watch weather forecasts before each attack.

Something Aliens will never understand is that the bread must be buttered on both sides. This way, after "reverted Murphy's law", it can not fall (because there's no more "worst" scenario). Not to mention that technically speaking, the bread sticks to the plate. ;)