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Futurology
Sep. 4th, 2021 01:30 pmBook Review: The Dilbert Future, by Scott Adams
I've certainly dipped in to this volume before, but I'm not sure I've read it cover-to-cover. It's first published in 1997, so it's interesting to look at whether any of the humorous predictions have become reality, or whether they have dated badly. Unsurprisingly, it's a mixture. Broadband and e-books seem not to have been predicted; the ubiquity of CCTV was. The writing style is certainly opinionated, sometimes what one might politely refer to as contrarian, and perhaps with hindsight it indirectly predicts Adams' own diversion into airing more cranky political views (circa 2016, at latest, and onwards). The last chapter is just plain weird, with a flawed presentation of the double-slit experiment that somehow lands up with a plausible (though not mainstream) interpretation, which is then abused in all sorts of vaguely new-age-sounding ways. Please enjoy responsibly.
I've certainly dipped in to this volume before, but I'm not sure I've read it cover-to-cover. It's first published in 1997, so it's interesting to look at whether any of the humorous predictions have become reality, or whether they have dated badly. Unsurprisingly, it's a mixture. Broadband and e-books seem not to have been predicted; the ubiquity of CCTV was. The writing style is certainly opinionated, sometimes what one might politely refer to as contrarian, and perhaps with hindsight it indirectly predicts Adams' own diversion into airing more cranky political views (circa 2016, at latest, and onwards). The last chapter is just plain weird, with a flawed presentation of the double-slit experiment that somehow lands up with a plausible (though not mainstream) interpretation, which is then abused in all sorts of vaguely new-age-sounding ways. Please enjoy responsibly.