Finagle's Law: n. The generalized or `folk' version of
Murphy's Law, fully named "Finagle's Law of Dynamic Negatives" and
usually rendered "Anything that can go wrong, will". One variant
favored among hackers is "The perversity of the Universe tends
towards a maximum" (but see also Hanlon's Razor). The label
`Finagle's Law' was popularized by SF author Larry Niven in several
stories depicting a frontier culture of asteroid miners; this
`Belter' culture professed a religion and/or running joke involving
the worship of the dread god Finagle and his mad prophet Murphy.
Some technical and scientific cultures (e.g., paleontologists) know
it under the name `Sod's Law'; this usage may be more common in
Great Britain.
![[prev]](../gif/left.gif){kind=small}
![[up]](../gif/up.gif){kind=small}
![[next]](../gif/right.gif){kind=small}