Scott Adams' Blog

Talking Like a Fourth-Grader (Part of my Trump Persuasion Series)

Posted October 25th, 2015 @ 8:48am in #trump

You probably saw one of several articles describing a study that says Donald Trump speaks at a fourth-grade level. Your first reaction might have been to chuckle at his lack of verbal intelligence. 

I was laughing too. But if you have been reading this blog lately, you know I was laughing for a different reason. You and I have a front row seat to a movie that Aaron Sorkin hasn’t even written yet. I’ll outline it for you. 

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How Persuasion Hides

Posted October 24th, 2015 @ 7:00am in #trump

When you study hypnosis, and the art of persuasion in general, you learn that a person practicing at the highest level can appear a fool, babbling lots of feel-good words and ignoring science, data, and what you are sure is common sense.

You probably recognize that I am stealing that concept from Arthur C. Clarke’s idea that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Same idea.

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The Case for a Trump Landslide (Part 1)

Posted October 23rd, 2015 @ 9:37am in #Trump

The latest poll out of Iowa shows Carson ahead of Trump. And you know what that means?

It means Iowa is about to become irrelevant. Here I am assuming evangelicals will band together to give Carson the win in Iowa before Trump goes on to run the table everywhere else.

Keep in mind that if Carson wins the Republican nomination, and Clinton picks a young and appealing VP running mate, Republicans who back Carson are potentially looking at 16 more years of Democratic presidents and full liberal control of the Supreme Court. Iowa might want to make a pro-life point by supporting Carson, but I doubt Republicans in general want to bet on the horse that is the “nicest” but runs the slowest in a race against Clinton.

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Master Wizard Filter - Netanyahu?

Posted October 22nd, 2015 @ 12:16pm in #trump

Sometimes the world seems so small.

See this article from The Times of Israel. (I noticed it was sending traffic here.)

The Alpha in the Room

Posted October 22nd, 2015 @ 7:52am in #trump

We humans like to sort ourselves into categories that are based on how our bodies are different. For example, we see the world as men versus women, and one ethnic group versus another, or old versus young. And we organize our political views around those filters. That made sense throughout history when our bodies defined us and the law was built around those differences. But in 2015, I propose that the most useful categories for grouping people is the distinction between alpha and beta personalities.

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Robots Read News - about Trump and Jeb

Posted October 21st, 2015 @ 10:48am in #trump

If your firewall is being an obstructionist, see the comic on Twitter at @ScottAdamsSays.

Master Wizard Filter Scorecard

Posted October 20th, 2015 @ 4:05pm in #Trump

Pundits declared that Carly Fiornia won the most recent Republican debate. Her poll numbers surged, as you might expect.

Meanwhile, I was applying the Master Wizard Filter to the debate and predicting that Fiorina had self-destructed that night by pairing her brand with the image of a dead baby. INTENTIONALLY! In a blog post, I called that mistake self-immolation.

A new CNN poll says Fiorina’s poll numbers fell off a shelf. We don’t know all the reasons why, but the data conforms to prediction.

In other news, Trump released a funny edit of Bill Clinton’s interview with Colbert that makes Clinton seem to endorse Trump. If you recall, I made a similar observation here. 

Trump’s Third Act (Part of the Trump Persuasion Series)

Posted October 20th, 2015 @ 8:10am in #Trump

This week the media is starting to realize that maybe Donald Trump has a chance of winning the presidency. Howard Kurtz is calling the turn. You will see a lot more stories and opinions along those lines, assuming Trump’s numbers stay strong.

But here’s the fun part: How do you write a story about Trump beating expectations without mentioning that one observer loudly predicted it in August and provided lots of details for how Trump is doing it?

Do you think no one noticed this blog? :-)

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The Right Amount of Government Transparency

Posted October 19th, 2015 @ 8:26am in #Trump

Rand Paul recently live-streamed a day of his campaign. According to the media, it didn’t go well. (Paul’s dry humor did not survive the leap from video to text.) Still, we might be seeing the future with this live streaming stuff. 

If you haven’t tried the Periscope app, or one of the other life-streaming products such as Meerkat, you probably don’t know how big a deal this is. Yesterday, from the comfort of my home, I looked through the live-streaming phones of strangers around the planet. They took me on an African lion hunt (using cameras not guns), a hike in Thailand, a beach in Hawaii, and a Taylor Swift concert. All in five minutes. Live streaming of this type is compelling in a way you can’t understand unless you experience it. 

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Trump’s Persuasiveness - per the Washington Post

Posted October 18th, 2015 @ 8:49am in #Trump

This article in the Washington Post describes Trump’s persuasion skills as a function of his energy and big ideas. Or, as the article says, people respond to narcissists.

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