Gordian’s Law describes a universal phenomenon common to places of construction work. The law is here submitted for peer review.
Gordian’s Law states: “Any cord, cable, hose, strap, rope, or string that can get caught, snagged, knotted, tangled, or kinked, will.”
Extension cords may be bundled with the utmost care, ratchet straps disconnected and rolled immediately after use, air hoses loaded onto retractable spools, and masonry line carefully rewound. Regardless and without fail, they will tangle.
The Gordian of reference is that of Greek legend. A peasant farmer named Gordias was made king of Ancient Phrygia. An oxcart was dedicated in his honor and tied to a post in the center of town with a knot so intricate and inextricable that it became known as the Gordian knot. The oxcart remained in the spot for centuries, and the spot became the acropolis of the Phrygian capital city Gordium. It was said that whoever could unravel the knot would become ruler of Asia. In 333 BCE Alexander the Great was confronted with the challenge, to which he drew his sword and sliced the knot in two. It is this famous knot that we use to designate the law now at hand.
Gordian’s Law refers to the natural propensity of knottable materials to knot. There is an inclination toward tangling. It all became clear to me one afternoon many years ago while I was using a pneumatic coil nailer to install siding on a house. I stood atop a doubled set of scaffolding and the air hoses feeding my gun trailed over the scaffolding edge down to ground level where the air compressor sat rumbling. I worked my way down a piece of siding and as I reached the far edge, I found that the hose was too short to reach for the final nail. Looking down, I noticed that it had tangled and caught around the foot of the scaffolding. Frustrated and still holding the nail gun, I grabbed the hose with my free left hand, gave it a swift shake and tug, and in doing so accidently whipped my hand into the muzzle of the nail gun, sending a 1-1/2in galvanized nail directly into my left palm. It was at this moment that Gordian’s Law struck me. I should have been neither surprised nor frustrated by the snagged and knotted hose, it’s bound to happen, that’s what hoses do. In my failure to acknowledge the natural law, I had become irritated and I made a careless and painful blunder.
