
Dilbert's creator says you shouldn't have a career plan - hansy
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/12/13/dilberts-creator-says-you-shouldnt-have-a-career-plan/
======
mikeash
Why do we care what Scott Adams says about any topic other than creating a
successful and amusing comic strip?

~~~
SimHacker
His sock puppets seem to care a lot about what he has to say about all forms
of douchbaggery.

[http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/06/17/the-
saga-o...](http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/06/17/the-saga-of-
scott-adams-scrotum/)

Scott Adams is up to his old obliviously obtuse act again. You may recall that
the creator of Dilbert is an apologist for creationism, a pathetic anti-
atheist wanker, and a narcissistic sock puppeteer, but did you know he’s also
an obnoxist sexist pig? Oh, right, you did already know that. OK, but now he’s
revising his personal history and making up stories about being a poor
oppressed man, crushed by the matriarchy.

[http://comicsalliance.com/scott-adams-plannedchaos-
sockpuppe...](http://comicsalliance.com/scott-adams-plannedchaos-sockpuppet/)

[http://amptoons.com/blog/2011/06/16/scott-adams-still-a-
douc...](http://amptoons.com/blog/2011/06/16/scott-adams-still-a-douchebag/)

[http://www.rickworley.com/2012/06/20/scott-adams-
douchebags-...](http://www.rickworley.com/2012/06/20/scott-adams-douchebags-
of-comics/)

[http://bitchmagazine.org/post/douchebag-decree-scott-
adams-d...](http://bitchmagazine.org/post/douchebag-decree-scott-adams-
douchetoonist)

[http://bbs.boingboing.net/t/incredibly-interesting-
authors-0...](http://bbs.boingboing.net/t/incredibly-interesting-
authors-001-dilbert-creator-scott-adams/13417)

[http://www.reddit.com/r/comics/comments/gqzgx/dilbert_creato...](http://www.reddit.com/r/comics/comments/gqzgx/dilbert_creator_outed_for_using_sock_puppets_on/)

[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/21/987473/-Scott-
Adams...](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/21/987473/-Scott-Adams-can-
suck-his-Dilbert)

[http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/04/18/the-
guy-...](http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/04/18/the-guy-who-does-
dilbert-is-still-a-douche&view=comments)

...and so on...

~~~
rfnslyr
There are better causes to devote yourself to than spreading your hatred for
one man.

~~~
SimHacker
And there are MUCH better causes for YOU to devote yourself to than the
Sysiphian task of carrying Scott Adam's douchebag water.

Nobody had mentioned what a douchebag he is yet, so it's a valid and relevant
point to raise. And posting a few links is a lot less effort than the all the
time and energy Scott Adams puts into his sock puppetry, so why not?

Seeing as how you're so devoted to your own cause, why aren't you also
criticizing his sock puppets for being so devoted to their cause of praising
him and calling everyone who doesn't agree an idiot? Obviously a lot of people
here didn't already know what a douchebag he is, and now they do. Do you agree
that he's a douchebag, or do you beg to differ, agree with his misogynistic
opinions, and do you care to justify and explain his well documented behavior
and opinions and blatant narcissistic sockpuppetry?

~~~
chris_wot
Well that escalated quickly!

Note: previous post was later radically altered.

 _It 's a lot less effort than the all the time and energy Scott Adams puts
into his sock puppetry, so why not?_

Just because something takes a lot less time to do than something else,
doesn't mean it's not ridiculous or awful.

 _Why aren 't you also criticizing his sock puppets for being so devoted to
the cause of praising him and calling everyone who doesn't agree an idiot?_

a. He never called anyone an idiot.

b. He's not emotionally invested in the issue like you are.

 _Obviously a lot of people here don 't know what a douchebag he is._

Thank you for providing evidence in an attempt to back up your beliefs. What a
pity you have to use such aggressive and insulting terms for someone who holds
different views to your own.

 _Do you agree he 's a douchebag, or do you beg to differ, agree with him, and
do you care to justify and explain his well documented behavior and opinions?_

It's possible to answer "no" to every one of these questions. Let's break this
down:

 _Do you agree he 's a douchebag?_

No. He has different opinions.

 _[D]o you... agree with him?_

No.

 _[D]o you care to justify and explain his well documented behavior and
opinions?_

No.

~~~
SimHacker
So my post with links to articles about what he actually did and said is
ridiculous and awful, but nothing Scott Adams has ever done or said is
ridiculous and awful?

And what's so ridiculous and awful about linking to Scott Adam's own
misogynistic rants and the reactions they provoked? I'm certainly not the only
one who disagrees with you and thinks Scott Adams is a certifiable douchebag.
Are your sensitive oppressed male feelings hurt that I pointed out his history
of saying misogynistic things like "The reality is that women are treated
differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the
mentally handicapped are treated differently. It’s just easier this way for
everyone. You don’t argue with a four-year old about why he shouldn’t eat
candy for dinner. You don’t punch a mentally handicapped guy even if he
punches you first. And you don’t argue when a women tells you she’s only
making 80 cents to your dollar. It’s the path of least resistance. You save
your energy for more important battles."

"He never called anyone an idiot." Get your facts straight. You could at least
read the links I provided before making stuff up. His sock puppet called
people who disagree with him idiots, in the same breath as calling himself a
genius:

"If an idiot and a genius disagree, the idiot generally thinks the genius is
wrong. He also has lots of idiot reasons to back his idiot belief. That’s how
the idiot mind is wired. It’s fair to say you disagree with Adams. But you
can’t rule out the hypothesis that you’re too dumb to understand what he’s
saying. And he’s a certified genius. Just sayin’."

The fact that you have to make stuff up that's not true totally invalidates
your arguments.

"He's not emotionally invested in the issue like you are." And how can you
possibly say that he's not emotionally invested in the issue after reading
what he said, unless you ARE just Scott Adam's sock puppet, and therefore have
special insight into his private mental state. It certainly sounds to me like
he's extremely emotionally invested in the issue, enough to create sock puppet
accounts and write ridiculous awful narcissistic crap like that, which you
interpret as not ridiculous, not awful, and not emotionally invested, since
you have so much insight into his mental state, yet no investment in devoting
yourself to the cause of carrying his douchebag water. (That's sarcasm,
Scott.)

~~~
rfnslyr
It's not whether Scott is a douchebag or not, it's that nobody really gives a
shit. This has clearly touched you on a personal level.

Show us on the doll where Scott touched you.

------
ChristianMarks
Agreed that "passion is bullsh*t." Talk of passion suggests one can articulate
motivations that are largely beyond human control and understanding as if one
had control over them. "Passion" in this sense is ersatz. More than this: the
assumption seems to me that one is willing to openly discuss what I would
consider intimate aspects of one's internal life with strangers. This is game-
theoretically weak. I say instead that I don't experience "passions" as such,
which strike me as mercurial. Instead, I find myself driven. Driven by forces
largely beyond my control, by biophysical processes that I do not comprehend.

------
plax512
It's dangerous business for him to be saying stuff like this. I mean, are we
all going to go out and be lucky enough to have a successful comic strip? No,
it's a fluke. It worked for him, great, but shut up and take your success.
Don't tell others what they should do.

~~~
gress
Why is his opinion to be muzzled, rather than those who suggest having a
career plan? How do we know a career plan is good advice for everyone?

~~~
plax512
nothing is perfect for every single person, which is what I'm saying

~~~
6d0debc071
No advice is perfect for everyone, therefore never give advice? That'd be a
pretty terrible idea.

The question is how many people the advice would be useful to vs how many it
would harm, and to what degree. Framing it otherwise just inflicts a massive
loss of utility on all the people who would have benefited from it - i.e.
you'd be choosing a world with more misery to live in.

------
theg2
I love my job. It's interesting, difficult at times for various reasons, pays
well enough that I can live a good life, and has ideals that I can agree with.
People always looking for the next larger paycheck bother me sometimes and I
think that's at the core of what Scott Adams is saying.

Too many times we get caught up in our jobs because its something we feel we
should do or because it pays more and more money but loving what you do is the
real meaning behind his message.

~~~
marcosdumay
> but loving what you do is the real meaning behind his message.

And his second advice is "Passion is bullshit" (and no, you won't get what he
meant just from the title, again). Maybe you should read the article.

~~~
theg2
Sorry for the late reply but you either mis-understood what I wrote or what
Adams wrote. He's saying that people often sit in a job waiting to be inspired
or suddenly become passionate about it. You seem to be implying that idealism
is a mistake and a poor reason for staying at job.

------
SkyMarshal
Best one-sentence advice I've seen on this topic was here on HN: Don't try to
micromanage your career, just focus on doing whatever has the most impact, and
your career will take care of itself.

------
y0ink
"Fat doesn't make you fat." Mr. Adams has seen the light.

------
iwaffles
"Starting a business that fails makes the comic better."

------
copiga
heres mine:

    
    
        finish college
    
        get job
    
        pay taxes
    
        work until i can afford a van, petrol, food, passport and visas
    
        get van
    
        travel world
    
        die
    
    
    

of course only two of these are certain...

------
JamesArgo
Selection effects, the bane of _almost_ all dreamers.

