God's Debris

A recent book by Scott Adams, God’s Debris isn’t so much a book as it is a long philosophical foray into potential answers to the hardest questions. God’s Debris is unique because it was initially only available online as an e-book only through DigitalOwl. However, it was recently published and released as a hardcover book. The book is very short and more of a short story than a novel or philosophical examination.

Scott Adams, creator of the popular office comic strip Dilbert, addresses what he takes to be the hardest questions, and tries to logically reason you through a radically different explanation of the universe. Ideas concerning god, religion, humanity, technology, intelligence, and human relationships are all addressed. This e-book has little plot, but has thorough discussion on these interesting topics, and some answers that will leave you contemplating the meaning of it all, and wanting to discuss it with someone.

I had wandered into Borders bookstore, just looking to waste some time on a lovely Saturday afternoon. I had already found a book (13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese, if you must know), but this one caught my eye. I grabbed a copy and sat down to read the forward and the first chapter (One must be picky when one has little money, neh?). It seemed strange for Scott Adams to be writing a non-funny book. But in a way, it's perfect.

I'm going to come out and say it, you must get this book. In a very Everythingian way, Adams writes about the things that Oeg1st1 has described. It's not a large book, and is easily read. I don't think I've had this much fun with philosophical matters since I read The Celestine Prophecy. The book's dialogue format makes discussion of the topics easy. The characters while away an afternoon talking, sitting in rocking chairs in front of a calm fireplace.

You might not agree with the ideas, but as long as you keep in mind that it was meant to be a thought experiment and that Adams himself claims to not believe what is discussed, you should be ok.

I'm afraid I must be the first to dissent here. Much as I love Dilbert, and even the more serious parts of The Dilbert Future (which is pretty simillar to this book), I must say I think after buying this book I have wasted my money...

Incidentally the reason for the discrepancy in the two write-ups above is that God's Debris was originally released as an ebook on dilbert.com but was so popular it was released in hardcover.

The book is very short, and could probably be read in half an hour in the bookstore, which is probably the best way to read it. Most of the arguments in the book are deeply logically flawed, and all follow from the premise of the existence of god, which is taken as read. But the main problem with the book is that Adams doesn't realise that his radical ideas have already occured to others. The book is essentially Robert Anton Wilson-ultra-lite , and Wilson is hardly the world's most original author to start with.

Read it by all means, but this is a Readers Digest version of philosophy...