44/398
♫ Hello Folly! ♫
44/398
I enter the corridor. It’s always a long ascent to Elysium, even on this Christmas Eve in 1930 A.D. Finally, I reach the top. As I do every year, I report to the Creator.
He looks at me expectantly: “Well?” – “They have disregarded your warning, eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, and left the Garden of Eden.” – “I know, I know. Don’t always start with Adam and Eve.” – “They wage cruel wars in your name, recklessly exploit the creation you entrusted to them, and behave in a downright blasphemous manner—short-sighted, cold-hearted, and narrow-minded.” – “You’re quite the devil’s advocate. I’m painfully aware of all of this.”
“In any case, I think they deserve punishment. May I… cast them into the fires of hell?” I ask slyly, wiping a thread of drool from the corner of my mouth. “Not necessary. They’ll inflict it upon themselves in a few years.” – “Another world war? Hm. Can I at least… further confound their minds, so that they succumb not just to stupidity, but to madness as well?” I ask, trying not to appear too eager. “They’ll handle that themselves too. They’ve just invented television.”
“Television? Oh. Hm. May I…? Is it possible…? With my evil gaze, perhaps…” I stutter, nervously scuffing my cloven hoof and chastising myself for not seeming more confident and convincing. “You’ll simply continue to watch over them, my dear.” – “But why?” – “Because you still have much to learn.”
Manfred von Ardenne’s experimental television system (1930): 