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Thursday, February 01, 2007

Is Scot Adams an IDiot or does he just play one on TV?

 
Scot Adams, the creator of Dilbert, published an insane, unintelligible comment about the Big Bang and intelligent design. It looks for all the world like he's a tyical IDiot and PZ Myers shot him down [Will Scott Adams Never Learn?].

The Dilbert fans are up in arms. Some of them claim that we shouldn't take Scott Adams seriously—he was only joking. I don't think so. PZ was right. PZ has a history with this dingbat and he knows Adams isn't smart enough to be pulling our leg.

In any case, the question is now settled since Scott addresses it on his blog [Am I Serious?]. Here's his response,
I can’t rule out theory 1, that I am very, very, stupid and uninformed. That’s exactly the sort of thing that a person can’t know about himself. You really need to rely on other people for that diagnosis. Frankly, I’m rooting for that theory to be true; it would be comforting to be a member of the majority.

Then there’s the question of whether I believe what I say. This is a tricky question because people have wildly different opinions of what I’m actually saying. For example, do I believe in psychic powers, or did I simply write a story about a fascinating encounter with a self-described psychic in my book, The Dilbert Future? Interpretations vary.

I can only guess at my own motives for writing on these God-related topics. My understanding of the human mind is that our reasons are just rationalizations for our urges. I try to resist writing on these topics until the urge to do it pushes out all the other urges. I can’t explain the “why” of it. But I can tell you what I enjoy about it.

The part I like the most is the comments. I like the smart comments because they make me think. I like the dumb ones because they fascinate me and make me feel smart at the same time. I like the funny comments because they make me laugh. And the whole process makes me feel connected to something larger than myself.

Unlike most pundit-types, I don’t have a heavy investment in being right. I like to propose a line of reasoning and see what people think. If it exposes my ignorance – or more commonly, the reader misunderstands it and assumes ignorance, also known as the SHAAH method – that doesn’t bother me much.
Well, that does it for me. Scot Adams is an IDiot. What's more he seems to be the worst kind of IDiot, the kind that weaves and dodges in order to avoid being pinned down. Does he reject science in favor of GodDidIt? You bet he does, he's just too cowardly to come right out and admit it.

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