Darn Murphy’s Law
By Scot Refsland, Ph.D.
Murphy’s Law states that the best way to get the right answer on the internet is to post the wrong answer.
Did you stop me and blurt out the correct answer? Bravo! If you’re still scratching your head, I’ll reveal my shenanigans towards the end of the column.
Speaking of laws, while Moore’s law is another one of my favorites, I’m coming to see the inverse in a very different light. Commonly found in the tech world, Moore’s law says: as the speed of something doubles (like a computer) about every two years, the cost of producing it halves. Well, I can tell you for a fact, Dr. Smarty-pants Moore definitely did not have children, as any parent knows that the more speed a kid needs, the expense seems to double. And even more so when their Dad likes to have a second childhood along with them. I mean, when I was a 7-year-old kid, there wasn’t such a thing as a ‘four wheeler’ or a ‘hoverboard.’ God help my wife when my boys want cars and trucks.
While I was contemplating whether I’m young enough, or stupid enough to ride a hoverboard, I stumbled upon an article that proposed that your inner voice didn’t know age. In other words, the voice you have at your current age is the same voice as you had when you were five years old. For instance, I remember how serious I was about my bike at seven years old, and it’s the same voice as the one I have now. So the question is if you remove the context of physical life and the experiences you’ve had over your lifetime, can you tell the age of your voice, and if so, does it age? Maybe we should ask a Robot that question as a Turning test.
Speaking of kids, I’ve been thinking heavily about cryptocurrency lately and the GameStop stock massacre, where millennials grouped together and put some hurt on the hedge fund folks who shorted GameStop stock, then tried to manipulate its demise. Millennials, who grew up on GameStop, got wind of this greed, banded together and drove the price so high that it triggered all the hedge fund’s margin calls. Wowzie, there were some new millionaires and used-to-be millionaires that day.
Yet more to the point, this means there’s a new monetary world and a new power shift emerging here that’s super interesting. Like crypto exchanges that run 24/7, so you can’t manipulate it after hours in one’s favor like stockbrokers can with the Nasdaq. Or like Elon Musk tweeting out, “dogecoin to the moon!” and making that crypto coin go from $.04 cents to $.40 in 24 hours. Several new millionaires were minted on that ride and it’s not over yet. It just hit $0.53, headed towards $1.00.
Alrighty! If you stayed with me until the end, the first sentence is actually Cunningham’s Law, named after the father of Wiki. Yet even though the statement is incorrect, it’s actually right. It proves Cunningham’s law perfectly, as hopefully, you interrupted me with your inner voice, “Well wang-a-dang Dr. News! Don’t you know Murphy’s Law is what can go wrong will go wrong?”
Kudos this week for “those who make the world a little better” goes to our readers who donated to our Greenbrier Humane Society drive. Our offices are stacked with food, bedding, toys, cleaning supplies and more. We smell like a veterinary office! If you see any folks from the Greenbrier Humane Society around town, please thank them for their service. Heck go big and adopt a super cute cat or dog.
Until next week, I’d love to hear your inner voice anecdotes and hints on good folks doing awesome things for our community. I can be reached at drnews@wvdn.com.
