Ginsberg's theorem is a parody of the laws of thermodynamics in terms of a person playing a game. The quote was first attributed to the poet Allen Ginsberg in a 1975 issue of the Coevolution Quarterly.[1]
It is possible that the quote originates as a slight misstatement of the opening lines of "You Can't Win," by Charlie Smalls, as the copyright date for Small's song is 1974, earlier than the first attribution to Ginsberg.[2] While the song was cut from 1975 Broadway debut of The Wiz, it was performed at the original 1974 Baltimore run of the musical. It also appears as a 'mneumonic device' in Thomas Pynchon's short story from 1960 titled "Entropy". Even earlier, the phrasing appeared in an issue of Astounding Science Fiction in 1956.[3]
British scientist and author C. P. Snow is given credit by his students for using this to help learn the laws of thermodynamics in the 1950s.[4]