Re: Dilbert revisited

1997-12-27 Thread maxsaw

 From:  James Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 coming back to the gigantic and crucial theoretical debate that held pen-l
 by the throat recently (until comrade Sawicki pointed out the correct path
 to us all), I bought a copy of  THE DILBERT FUTURE: THRIVING ON STUPIDITY IN
 THE 21ST CENTURY (50 per cent off at BookStar).   .  .  .

 BTW, the book isn't as funny as the other one I read, THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE.
 It's not funny at all. I think Adams has been mass-producing humor in order
 to exploit his 15 minutes of fame. This is his third book in about a year
 and a half. And one can't mass-produce humor. I think his daily strip has
 also gone down hill. 

Obviously anybody is going to have good days and 
bad.  You can't judge Marx, for example, by his 
disappointing "Favorite Schnitzel Recipies."

Another axiom is that people often run out of 
ideas, so I wouldn't be surprized if Adams 
couldn't keep up his current pace.  I still like 
the strip, and haven't bothered to read the 
books.

See in you Chicago.

Max


==
Max B. Sawicky   Economic Policy Institute
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Dilbert revisited

1997-12-24 Thread James Devine

coming back to the gigantic and crucial theoretical debate that held pen-l
by the throat recently (until comrade Sawicki pointed out the correct path
to us all), I bought a copy of  THE DILBERT FUTURE: THRIVING ON STUPIDITY IN
THE 21ST CENTURY (50 per cent off at BookStar). Scott Adams writes:

 "In a departure from the past, [in this book] I will also say as many
controversial and inflammatory things as I can (i.e., pretending to have
actual opinions). If lots of gullible Induhviduals [i.e., people] get mad at
me, it might generate enough publicity to get me invited as a guest on LARRY
KING LIVE. That's really the goal here. So if you see something that makes
you mad, don't just sit there, organize a protest. I'll chip in for the
poster boards and Magic Markers."

He _wants_ protest, because there's no such thing as bad publicity. This an
example of the classic US problem: cynicism trumps absolutely everything,
until the whole place blows up. 

BTW, the book isn't as funny as the other one I read, THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE.
It's not funny at all. I think Adams has been mass-producing humor in order
to exploit his 15 minutes of fame. This is his third book in about a year
and a half. And one can't mass-produce humor. I think his daily strip has
also gone down hill. 

In a closing note, I recently saw a sign for a daycare center nearby here in
L.A.: it's the "Shining Path" daycare center! Run by Peruvians?

have happy holidays, nog, and nosh,
Jim Devine
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://clawww.lmu.edu/1997F/ECON/jdevine.html
Academic version of a Bette Midler song: "you are the hot air beneath my wings."