Televison and War

Philo T Farnsworth, inventor of the television, originally believed that his device would lead to the elimination of war.  People would see and understand other cultures and would not want to go to war with them.  He became thoroughly disillusioned with the crap that was broadcast, and did not have a TV in his house, forbidding his children to watch it.

We read how terrorists exploit television for their own ends and decry the violence that is on the screen.  We never had a TV in our house (we would rent one for the Summer Olympics every four years), and I don't regret our decision.

And yet, maybe Farnsworth was right. The places that have wars are not places with televisions. That may be co-occurring rather than a result, but it gives one pause.