Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world Wild Bill @midwest.social 7mo ago

What's it called when an inventor's invention backfires on them?

Is there a name for this specific concept? Where somebody invents something (to do them good) but then that thing turns around and backfires on them?

48 comments

There's the phrase "Hoist by their own petard" but not sure if that's specific enough to inventions, probably not.
- I really hope there’s a single word for it out there… more convenient yanno.
  
  There's probably a long and complex German word for it :-)
Hubris. Irony.
- Might subcategorize, like "Frankensteinian irony."
  
  Or even Frankenstein Ian. Shelleyesque
Not sure about a name, but:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors_killed_by_their_own_invention
- Weird seeing Stockton Rush on there when most of the other inventors are pre-20th century.
  
  I like how Thomas Andrews and Stockton Rush are right next to each other on that list. Kinda poetic.
- Shame there aren't pictures. A lot of these sound pretty cool.
Also not sure about a name, but in Greek mythology, there's Daedalus. He built a massive maze, which was then used against him to imprison him & his son. Daedalus crafted wings out of feathers & beeswax to escape the island of Crete, but his son Icarus flew too close to the sun. Melting the wax, destroying the wings, and drowning in the sea.
- To be fair, he gave adequate warning to Icarus. The fault with the wax wings doesn't lie in the inventor or invention, but pure simple user error not following the directions.
I think Frankensteinian would work based off second definition of Frankenstein from m-w dot com.

2: a monstrous creation especially : a work or agency that ruins its originator

Frankensteinian is the adjective form.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Frankenstein
- This.
Let's call it "Keuriged". The Keurig guy had so much regret on his polluting invention. Not sure if there is an actual term for this though.
- I think Segwayed is better because James Heseldon, inventor of the Segway, died after riding a Segway off a cliff.
  
  Edit: apologies! Apparently he didn't invent the Segway, just owned the company
  
  Didn't own the company just the sole British distribution rights
  
  edit to add: He lived on the south coast, used and enjoyed the product, and was moving out of the way for a pedestrian on a narrow path and went backwards over the cliff edge. A tragedy that doesn't belong in this thread.
  
  Segwayed has got to be the new word of there isn't one already!
[joke]

Pulling a Doofenshmirtz?
If the inventor was known to be hubristic and reckless, it could be poetic justice. Otherwise, I think ironic is the best descriptor.

Btw, here's a historical example of this happening.
Skill issue
- I've been saying this one a lot lately 😂
I want it to be called a Midgley

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley_Jr.
A name for this?

Isn't it ironic, dontcha think?
- Which is, ironically enough, NOT like rain on your wedding day, or a free ride when you've already paid.
- It would only be ironic if it were a lifesaving device, for instance, if the creator of the defibrillator went into cardiac arrest by an accidental misfiring of the defibrillator on him.
  
  Irony requires a reasonable expectation of an opposite outcome.
  
  A solar eclipse happening on a cloudy day is not ironic, it's merely unfortunate. A song about things claiming to be ironic actually containing nothing that will qualify as ironic is ironic.
Choking on dog food?
I call it "Pulling a Midgely"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley_Jr.
The Frankenstein Effect I believe, though that can also be used to describe a human extinction event caused by an invention of some kind.
A "Thomas Midgley Jr."

Alfred Nobel might be considered a runner up, but I feel he recovered his reputation. That and I don't think anyone but himself really was upset with the path his invention took.

I know you wanted a word, but I nominate "Midgley" to be the new word for that. "To midgley something" is to attempt to create something of value that instead only makes things worse. It's an improvement in the negative direction.
Frankensteining
Irony can be used in many situations. I want a German word that specifically refers to this situation. Something like Erfinderhybris; I just slammed Inventor and Hubris together.
I don't know of a single word. How about some phrases?

Choked on your dinner. Shoot yourself in the foot. Cut off your nose to spite your face. Dig your own grave. Sign your own death warrant.
- Step on your own dick.
  
  Ha. Lol.
Frankensteinian
Hmm...

I guess "outvention" works well, because... "out" is the opposite of "in", which is in "invention".
Devention

48 comments