Edge.org's Question for 2004: What's Your Law?

Provide two laws based on your empirical work, requests Edge's John Brockman.

There is some bit of wisdom, some rule of nature, some law-like pattern, either grand or small, that you've noticed in the universe that might as well be named after you. Gordon Moore has one; Johannes Kepler and Michael Faraday, too. So does Murphy.

141 contributors to date and counting. One small sample from Steven Levy,

Levy's Law: The truth is always more interesting that your preconception of what it might be.

In journalism, this means that the best practicioners should not have the stories written out in their heads before they report them. Preconceptions can blind you to the full, rich human reality that awaits you when you actually listen to your subjects and approach the material with an open mind. It wouldn't surprise me if the same tabula rasa principle applies when scientists try to answer the big questions.

UPDATE: What should have been there and wasn't: Rebecca Blood's Law of Weblog History

The year you discovered weblogs and/or started your own is 'The Year Blogs Exploded'. Corollary: the year after you started your blog is the beginning of 'Weblog Permanent September.'