Murphy's Law

Biological Parallel

Entropy ensures that anything that can go wrong eventually will—biology's response is layered redundancy at every scale. DNA replication employs three sequential error-correction systems: base selection discriminates against errors by 200,000-2,000,000 fold, proofreading catches mistakes at 40-200 fold accuracy, and mismatch repair provides a final 20-400 fold check. E. coli maintains metabolic robustness through underground metabolism—knock out one enzyme, and backup routes activate through promiscuous enzyme activity and pathway rewiring. Humans are born with two kidneys when one suffices, allowing complete organ failure without death. The pattern is universal: biological systems expect failure and design multilayered defenses. Murphy's Law isn't pessimism—it's why life survives entropy.