When in danger...

In a previous blog post, I quoted a ditty: "When in danger, fear or doubt, run in circles, scream and shout". It was only when that post went live (here), that I realised I had no idea where that couplet had come from.

It took quite a lot of internet digging to find the quote itself, as I had remembered the quote incorrectly. I had remembered:

"When in danger[, fear] or doubt, run in circles, scream and shout"

But the actual quote was:

"When in danger or doubt... Run in circles, scream and shout" (Heinlein, 1974, p. 454)

The syllable pattern of the quoted couplet is off though: 6 and 7. Interesting how the memory inserts an extra syllable to make a quote easier to remember... more 'memorable', shifting it to 7 and 7. It is also fascinating that a saying, quoted by a character in a book stays with you for near on forty years!

To add to the - possible - background of this couplet, I found one other early-ish incidence of it online, in a story by Bob Spencer (dated 2001), where it is phrased as I remember it:

"...reminded me of that old [US] Navy saying, 'When in danger, fear or doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!' "

What is more interesting is that Bob recalls this saying in relation to soloing as a fly boy in the Navy, with his soloing certificate dated 1979. Robert Heinlein was in the US Navy in the 1940s, and has written a few stories about fly boys. There is a story about David Lamb in the same Heinlein novel that my recollection of this saying comes from. It seems possible that the US Navy is the source of the saying, and perhaps the saying itself has evolved in the Navy over time, adding that missing syllable.

But wait, there's more. Wikiquote list a similar saying under "Panic", citing it as a "U.S. military saying, e.g. Infantry Journal, Vol. 35, (1929), p. 369.", and wording it - pleasingly 7-7 - as a four line couplet:

"When in danger, When in doubt, Run in circles Scream and shout!"

However, I think I prefer the version that both Bob Spencer and I remember.

Language is fascinating.

Sam

References

• Heinlein, R. A. H. (1974). Time Enough for Love. New English Library.
• Spencer, B. E. (2001). Solo? Who, Me? http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/Solo.html
• Wikiquote (2021). Panic. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Panic

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What can go wrong, will go wrong

As a management lecturer and consultant, I feel it is critical to (a) build a detailed work plan, and to (b) then start work early. I did that during my Master's research, in order to fit in my study around my commitments. As I am about to embark on my PhD, that too will need careful planning so that nothing slips... and I hope to get well ahead of my deadlines.

I do this because I can guarantee that stuff will go wrong - to paraphrase Edward Murphy, what "can go wrong, will go wrong" (Heinlein, 1980, p. 444, after Murphy’s Third Law, 1949). If I am ahead, there will be more room for me to manoeuvre. Being planned and organised gives me more choices when the excrement hits the fan... and I should walk my talk with my students.

A colleague of mine, Christopher Sheldon, made some VERY useful comments on a UoA/FutureLearn MOOC on Academic Integrity that we attended recently. Christopher said "Procrastination is the biggest problem I find. It plays all sorts of problems with prioritising your work, even if you are motivated and organised.

"When I was a full time journalist, I noticed that many of my colleagues left starting their articles until the very last possible moment - I gradually worked out that they did this because they were afraid of not being able to do a good job with their writing, even though they were professionals. They had to wait until the fear of missing the deadline outweighed the fear of doing a poor job, but by that time, any words strung together in a sentence was better than nothing.

"Over time, they began to fool themselves into thinking that they could only produce their 'best work' this way. I watched the agonies they went through every time they had to produce something (although often on the surface they seemed confident enough, which is why it took me so long to see the nature of their problem). When I eventually worked out what was going on and that I was developing similar habits, I had to pull myself up and develop a different way of thinking.

"Now, as a marker, the less I want to do something, the earlier I get down to it."

Wise words!


Sam

References: 

• Heinlein, Robert A (1980) The Number of the Beast. USA: Fawcett Columbine Books
• Sheldon, Christopher (2015).  FutureLearn: Academic Integrity MOOC. Retrieved 28 August 2015 from https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/academic-integrity/4/steps/36173?page=3#reply_to_comment_6599838

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Murphy's Third Law

We quote 'Murphy's Law' all the time - which I tend to shorten to: what "can go wrong, will go wrong" (after Heinlein, 1980, p. ). Many of us probably think it arose with a Murphy lurking somewhere in Ireland.

And we would be wrong. We would be wrong on two counts.

Firstly, while known in the UK as Sod's Law, it is an American creation. According to an article in the Scientific American by Robert Matthews, it is named after Major Edward A Murphy Junior, a development engineer who worked in 1949 for a brief time on rocket sled experiments done by the US Air Force (1997).

The rocket sled project at Muroc Field (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base) tested human g-force tolerances during rapid deceleration, using a rail-mounted sled and a series of hydraulic brakes at the end of the track. While initial tests used a crash test dummy strapped to the sled's seat, subsequent tests were performed by Captain John Paul Stapp (Wikipedia, n.d.).

During the tests, questions were raised about the measurement accuracy of the instrumentation for the g-forces Captain Stapp was experiencing. Edward Murphy proposed using electronic strain gauges attached to the restraining clamps of Stapp's harness to measure the force exerted on them by his rapid deceleration. Murphy's assistant wired the harness, and a trial was run using a chimpanzee. The sensors provided a zero reading, however; it became apparent that they had been installed incorrectly, with each sensor wired backwards. It was at this point that Murphy made his pronouncement (Wikipedia, n.d.).

According to George Nichols, another engineer who was present, Murphy, in frustration, blamed the failure on his assistant, saying, "If that guy has any way of making a mistake, he will". Nichols' relates that "Murphy's law" then came about through the team members' subsequent conversation, and was condensed to "If it can happen, it will happen". This was named Murphy's Law by Nichols in mockery of what he perceived was Murphy's arrogance (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Others, including Edward Murphy's surviving son Robert, deny Nichols' account. Robert Murphy claims that his father's statement was "If there's more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then somebody will do it that way" (Wikipedia, n.d.).

In any case, the phrase first received public attention during a press conference in which Stapp was asked how it was that nobody had been severely injured during the rocket sled tests. Stapp replied that it was because they took Murphy's Law under consideration; he then summarised the law and said that in general, it meant that it was important to consider all the possibilities before doing a test (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Secondly, it is not a stand-alone law. As Edwin Cady (1965, p. 65) points out, what we term as 'Murphy's Law', is actually three laws:

1. Nothing is as easy as it looks.
2. Everything takes longer than you think it will.
3. If anything can go wrong, it will. 

So, what "can go wrong, will go wrong" is actually Murphy's third Law.

Fascinating!


Sam

References:

• Cady, Edwin H. (1965). IDEAtional Items: Murphy's Laws. Business Horizons, Winter 1965, Volume 8, issue 4 (pp. 65-66)
• Matthews, Robert A. J. (1997). The Science of Murphy’s Law. Scientific American, April 1997, Volume 276, issue 4 (pp. 88-91)
• Wikipedia (n.d.). Murphy's Law. Retrieved http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_Law

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