Philo T. Farnsworth and the Pixels of Doom

Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever heard of Philo T. Farnsworth? I bet not! It sounds like the name of an old-timey prospector or maybe a wizard from Harry Potter. But no, Philo T. Farnsworth—real name, by the way—is the guy we have to thank for inventing television. Yeah, Philo came up with the idea at age 14, plowing his family’s potato field.

Let’s pause there for a moment. This kid is out there staring at rows of potatoes, and suddenly, he’s like, “Eureka! What if I broadcast pictures as a series of lines and dots?” When I was 14 and doing manual labor, the only idea I had was, “When I grow up, I want a job where I sit down all day and talk on the phone.” Clearly, I’m no visionary like Philo Farnsworth. But you probably suspected that.

So, TV evolved from those dots into pixels. Think about that the next time your screen pixelates during the last minute of the Super Bowl and turns into a bunch of giant, blurry rectangles. Thank you, Philo. Great job on the technology.

Now, imagine being Philo’s parents. Picture this: a nurse asks, “What’s the baby’s name?” and someone, with a straight face, goes, “Philo T. Farnsworth.” What were they thinking? Was this a tough-love strategy? At least they didn't name him Sue.

Philo wasn’t just a genius at inventing TV. Oh no, he thought he was a genius at predicting the future, too. Before World War II, he said TV would spread knowledge and empathy, leading to world peace. Yeah, how’s that working out for us? Because last I checked, the most-watched things on TV are gory true crime shows and news channels that make us yell at each other.

​Farnsworth's claim of inventing TV has been disputed by others who take credit. I've noticed that successful inventions draw many claimants of origin; on the other hand, products that bombed seem to be invented by nobody. Ever hear someone take credit for coming up with New Coke? How about The AMC Pacer? Microsoft Zune?

​Further research uncovered a quote by Johnny Carson, "If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners." If you're old enough, you can probably picture Johnny saying that.

Philo T. Farnsworth: a genius who brought us television and thought it would unite the world. He proved that being brilliant in one thing doesn’t make you brilliant at everything.

So, remember folks, the next time you’re cursing at your pixelated screen, just think of poor Philo, who thought he’d save the world with TV. It’s a good reminder that sometimes our best ideas are just...potatoes in disguise.

I explore the theme of how being a genius in one area can lead to overconfidence in other fields in my upcoming novel: Useful Idiot.

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