''The Dilbert Future'' (1997) is a book published by

Scott Adams Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the syndicated ''Dilbert'' comic strip, and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, and business. ''Dilbert'' gained nation ...

as a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

humanity Humanity most commonly refers to: * Humankind the total population of humans * Humanity (virtue) Humanity may also refer to: Literature * Humanity (journal), ''Humanity'' (journal), an academic journal that focuses on human rights * ''Humanity: A ...

that breaks the net motivations of humanity down into

stupidity Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit. It may be innate, assumed or reactive. The word ''stupid'' comes from the Latin word ''stupere''. Stupid characters are often used for comedy in fictional stories. Walter B ...

selfishness Selfishness is being concerned excessively or exclusively, for oneself or one's own advantage, pleasure, or welfare, regardless of others. Selfishness is the opposite of altruism or selflessness; and has also been contrasted (as by C. S. Lewis) w ...

, and "horniness", and presents various ideas for profiting from human nature. The final chapter invites the reader to ponder upon several open-ended questions, such as the nature of

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

and the utility of affirmations, which are further addressed in ''

God’s Debris ''God's Debris: A Thought Experiment'' is a 2001 novella by ''Dilbert'' creator Scott Adams. ''God's Debris'' espouses a philosophy based on the idea that the simplest explanation tends to be the best. It proposes a form of pandeism and monism, ...

''. Adams makes several "predictions" throughout the book intended for humorous effect: *"There will be two types of people: Superstars and perspiration wipers. Those who are neither will be managers" *"In the Future, the value of your job will decrease, thanks to the godforsaken hellhole of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

". *The book anticipates a fictional food item (which Adams references as the

Dilberito The Dilberito was a vegan microwave burrito introduced in 1999 by Scott Adams Foods, Inc. and named after the comic strip character Dilbert. The product went out of production in 2003. First announced in ''The Dilbert Future'' and introduced in ...

) which is explained as a food source containing 100% of a human's daily nutritional requirements (the point being that otherwise an individual needs a supercomputer and a team of scientists to determine dietary needs.) Scott Adams did publish in issue 15 of his ''Dilbert Newsletter'' (sent to all members of Dogbert's New Ruling Class) an excerpt from this book with permission for it to be re-published (if kept with the copyright text). Adams introduced the word ''

confusopoly Confusopoly (aka Dilbert's confusopoly) is confusing marketing designed to prevent the buyer from making informed decisions. The term was invented by Scott Adams in his comic strip Dilbert. Adams defined a confusopoly as ''"a group of companies wit ...

'' in this book. The word is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsconfusion In medicine, confusion is the quality or state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion"

and

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

(or rather

oligopoly An oligopoly (from Greek ὀλίγος, ''oligos'' "few" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. Oligopolies often result from ...

), defining it as ''"a group of companies with similar products who intentionally confuse customers instead of competing on price"''. Examples of industries in which confusopolies exist (according to Adams) include telephone service, insurance, mortgage loans, banking, and financial services. Adams also explains his belief that positive affirmations can influence external events, claiming that this has worked for him in the past.

References

*Scott Adams, ''The Dilbert Future'', Published by HarperCollins June 1, 1997,

External links

HarperCollins' official ''Dilbert Future'' page

Confusopoly Pricing – Companies Intentionally Trick Consumers Instead of Competing
with examples of Dilbert comic strips that exemplify the meaning of the word

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

1997 books HarperCollins books {{comic-strip-stub