Will it all go wrong? Sod’s law and medicine
BMJ 2009; 339 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b5299 (Published 14 December 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b5299All rapid responses
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It is alleged that Murphy's Law was named after Capt. Edward A.
Murphy, an engineer with the US Air Force, who was once quoted as saying
(about a technician); "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it".
This allegedly evolved into becoming 'If it can wrong, it will'.
The only real difference between Murphy’s Law and Sod's Law is that
the latter is hundreds of years older than the former (and is uniquely
British).
Girolamo di Sod does exit. He's the conductor on the double decker
bus that Elvis drives on the moon.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
I guess from the humorous tone of the Provenance Statement that the
existence of "Girolamo Di Sod" is an invention of the authors. I can find
no other reference in the readily available English literature, and none
on a Google search, to such a person. The statement about the Einstein
quote being a substitution of 'God' for 'Sod' is so ridiculous that I
think that confirms it. The sources (that I have checked) for the origin
of Sod's Law make no mention of a real person. On the other hand, the BMJ
has credibility, some weird things are true (or at least apparently so),
and its not the "April 1st" issue so maybe there is something to this.
However unless the authors can provide some more detail, I assume this is
a joke.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
It is a pity that Hope and Wilkinson’s otherwise excellent article
fails to elaborate on Di Sod’s equally important second and third laws.
His first law (feared by every bit of buttered toast) is best paraphrased
as: “If it can happen it will”. His second law follows naturally on from
this and annunciates: “Even if it can’t it still might”.
But it is his
little known third law that is so relevant to clinical investigators,
scientists, clinicians and all interested in evidence based medicine.
Roughly translated it reads: “If it ought to, and you try and show it
will, it won’t.” The force and truthfulness of Di Sod’s third law may be
the very reason all attempts to find out more about this remarkable person
have so far come to nought.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
This is an easy reading article which is good for the festive season.
However, the tone is rather fatalistic.
I have read Machiavelli's 'The Prince' and 'Discoures'. They don't get
lost because they are great works and many are keen to possess them. The
description of Di Sod is bordering on paranoid schizoprenia in my view. Di
Sod was probably the first proponent for road safety as he tried to
encourage the use of 'safety helmet'. We should credit him for that.
However, this action itself is contrary to the concept that all events are
outside human control. If it is going to fail, why bother to put a helmet
on in the first place. If Di Sod did not follow his own rule, it means
either he was not serious or the historians got it wrong (after all the
original text was lost).
The fatalistic view would have a lot of supporters now. After all the hard
work from the clinical staff, some clever politicians then decide to
juggle the NHS around. Indeed things will go wrong. However, this is not a
pretext to do nothing. If NHS could be created at all, there is hope that
human efforts would not be wasted completely. The general applications of
the Sod's law in the article is too broad and is unrealistic. It is true
inadequate evidence could cause more harm, that's why we keep asking
questions and try to do more research. The Sod's law cannot be used as an
excuse. Rather, we can use a bit of local spirit like Bob the builder-we
can fix it.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
I read this article in the nick of time. As a great user of
Wikipedia, my resolve against their repeated requests for money was
wearing thin. They've been softening me up with Christmassy logos. I can
almost hear them say Wikipedia with the same intonation as my local Big
Issue seller. "Who'll contribute to Wikipedia? Who'll edit my last
article?" I've defended them for too long, stood up to those who call them
inaccurate or liable to censure. Naturally they were my first port of call
after reading about the wonderful Girolamo. They tried to sweeten me with
lots of other Girolamo's, and asked me to settle for Jeromes or Hieronymi.
Then they questioned me, causing me to doubt my own memory, like some
trickster with a faulty mini mental state. Could I have meant Girolamo di
soda, and when I took up that offer, how about Girolamo di sora, and
finally Girolamo di Sopra. Well that's enough. No donations. Scrooge
rules. They can jolly well Girolamo off.
Competing interests:
Niente
Competing interests: No competing interests
Hope and Wilkinson's otherwise excellent account of the history of
Sod's Law is marred by a rather dismaying reference to Murphy's Law, which
in truth is quite distinct from Sod's Law. Murphy's Law states that "If
something can go wrong, given long enough it will".
Competing interests:
My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Murphy
Competing interests: No competing interests
Life is unfair. Some people seem blessed with opportunity, while others seem
cursed with obstacles. So it is natural for some people to feel optimistic, while
others feel pessimistic. How can we cope with the deadening, disabling
feelings of pessimism? The trick in life is to turn obstacles into opportunity by
using courage, creativity, and perseverance. It's amazing how often this
formula works, and I encourage all pessimists to give it a try.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Prescription for Pessimism
Bravo!
I have not read anything more to the point and written in such a
simple but erudite fashion as Dr. Mann's comment.
Oh that the pessimists would read this and act out new fantasies!
We ought to be careful in keeping from them the widely known fact
that pessimists in the vicinity usually manage to create company for
themselves; they pull people down as fast as the gravity of their
situation allows.
If they do find out or are aware already what their state of
behaviour may do to others they will only react by growing ever more
pessimistic.
Finally, always give both pessimist and optimist a FULL cup.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests