Scott Adams' Blog

Does Science Work?

Posted December 18th, 2014 @ 10:52am in #General Nonsense

Earlier this year I worked with Dr. Carmen Simon at Rexi Media to create a memorable SlideShare presentation of my latest book. Did Dr. Simon’s double-doctorate and fancy brain science make any difference to the outcome?

Today I learned that out of millions of presentations on the SlideShare site, our work was picked as a Best of 2014.

Given that my book was not a best-seller or even close, one has to assume my sparkling content was not the reason for the achievement. Science wins again.

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Boring Little Story About My Windows Computer

Posted December 17th, 2014 @ 11:30am in #General Nonsense

I wouldn’t bother reading this if I were you. I’m just venting.

The story goes like this…

Bought a Gateway computer from Best Buy

It breaks, as electronics do when near me.

Independent computer repair guy replaces a bad board.

Windows thinks I have a new machine because it doesn’t see the same hardware mix. I have learned that Windows checks the hardware

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Ineffective Government

Posted December 15th, 2014 @ 10:36am in #General Nonsense

Nearly 100% of the well-informed and honest citizens of the United States agree that the Federal Government should not be in the business of weed-policing in states that allow medical marijuana.

That’s an easy law to change, right? I mean, if something like 80% of voters agree on an issue, it’s a no-brainer.

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An Opportunity to Shout at Assholes

Posted December 12th, 2014 @ 12:20am in #General Nonsense

Recently I wasn’t paying attention and clicked something I shouldn’t have. I got a [update: not the Conduit virus] virus on my Windows machine and it dug in deep.

[Update 2: Called the “fake” Microsoft number a third time today just to see why commenters keep saying it is real. This time the rep told me to do a Windows+R command and enter SLUI_3 and enter my existing Windows license. (The last two days I called the rep told me the “network was down globally. Call back tomorrow.”

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Diet Science in 2014

Posted December 10th, 2014 @ 10:03am in #General Nonsense

I can accurately predict whether you will meet your weight loss goals by the way you talk about it.

I mean that literally. I think I could devise a controlled experiment in which I pick weight-loss winners and losers in advance based on nothing but a transcript of folks talking about their fitness goals.

I’ll give you some examples. What follows is a list of things you will hear from people that have no legitimate chance of losing weight and keeping it off. Yes, your thing is probably on this list and it pisses you off to see it. But stay with me and I’ll change your life by the end of this post.

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The Human Mind

Posted December 8th, 2014 @ 10:12am in #General Nonsense

If you needed to describe the human mind to aliens from another planet, what would be the simplest way to do it? Assume the aliens speak English.

I would tell the aliens that humans form strong bonds with sports teams and enthusiastically cheer for victory. Then I would walk away, done. The aliens, having learned all there is to know about humans, get back in their spacecraft and continue their search for intelligent life.

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Can Your Phone Make You Fat?

Posted December 4th, 2014 @ 9:36am in #General Nonsense

There has been a lot of research on willpower in recent years. The gist of it is that willpower is a limited resource during any given day, so if you use your willpower resisting one temptation you might not have enough to resist the next.

I don’t know about you, but my biggest drain on willpower during any given day is my iPhone 6. It calls to me continuously during the day. Often I need to be focusing on something more important, or it would be socially impolite to check my text messages, or I am driving and it would be dangerous. These situations come up all day long. It’s mentally exhausting. The conversation in my head goes like this: “Look at phone. DON’T LOOK AT PHONE! Look at phone. DON’T LOOK AT PHONE!” And so on

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Texting and Driving - update

Posted December 2nd, 2014 @ 8:12am in #General Nonsense

Here’s a short video of Katie Curic interviewing an entrepreneur with a device like the one I described a few posts ago to prevent teens from driving and texting.

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The Temporary Dictator System

Posted December 1st, 2014 @ 8:53am in #General Nonsense

I propose a constitutional amendment to allow Bill Gates to become dictator of the United States for one year. The only exception to his power would be control of the military. The civilian president along with Congress would still control military actions and policies. That should prevent any temporary dictators from consolidating power and becoming permanent.

During Bill Gates’ one year run as dictator he could create any laws he wished, change national priorities any way he liked, and generally fix things without a lot of political friction. He could even tweak the Constitution while he’s in power.

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The Tyranny of Expectations

Posted November 24th, 2014 @ 11:11am in #General Nonsense

Last year I rejoined the ranks of the spouse-free. Things sure changed since the last time I was single.

For starters, it is not necessary for men to ask women for revealing selfies. Those photos just start showing up on your phone after you exchange numbers. A revealing selfie in 2014 is essentially just a digital business card for your dating life.

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