The Dilbert Blog: My Opinions Part II

Well I guess I can start by hijacking someone else's post. Recently Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, solicited questions from his blogsphere audience and promised to answer as many of them as time permitted as honestly and openly as possible. The questions he selected and his answers can be found at The Dilbert Blog: My Opinions Part II. I agreed with most of what he had to say and I'm not sure what I can add or detract, but I'll give it a stab.

Q. What do you see as the greatest problem facing the world today?
A. Religious extremism (no matter the religion).

Q. What’s your opinion on Indians stealing American jobs?
A. Stealing? Or making a better economic offer to the American company who can't get its act together? That said, other Americans are benefiting from the cheaper goods and services they are getting as a result of outsourcing. The problems here are more long term and haven't been addressed which includes the American education system leaving Americans in the lurch. Immigration policy is also an issue - the Indians who have started these companies in India are mostly Western educated who couldn't stay in the U.S. If they were allowed to stay in the U.S. this wouldn't have become an issue in the first place.

Q. What is your opinion on the nature, constancy, and relevancy of time?
A. On an individual basis time is irrelevant in the long term but extremely relevant in the short term. We do need a basis to structure the lives we've created for ourselves within which we function. Whether or not such a structure makes sense or is at all appropriate or whether it's at all relevant to consider what an individual's perspective on time is (considering the extremely short amount of time most individuals exist) is another question entirely.

For the universe I would say that it's just the oppposite in that time is extremely relevant in the long term and irrelevant in the short term.

I guess it's all relative. :-)

Q. In terms of the Canada/USA softwood lumber dispute, who’s right?
A. Who cares?

Q. Should the government, by power of a law passed by a referendum of the people, be allowed to sterilize those who have proven themselves to be exceptionally stupid, but not criminal, so they may not contribute to the contamination of the gene pool?
A. No. Accepting, for the sake of argument, the relevance of the gene pool as a measure of the survivability and fitness of the species, then humanity would need the variation that the exceptionally stupid adds to it. They could be the key to our survival and we just don't know enough about to future to extinguish that.

Q. Are you a good tipper and what do you think about the whole tipping issue?
A. I think I'm about average. I usually give between 15-20%. Tipping is confusing. I say we should just give everyone a raise and drop tipping entirely.

Q. Why do most people end up living mediocre, "regular" lives?
A. It's easier and cheaper that way.

Q. What's your opinion on abortion?
A. It should be allowed.

Q. What about men's rights on abortion.
A. Women's right trump on this issue, but in legitimate considerations of procreation i.e. not rape or inscest, men should have some say.

Q. Who, out of any person, would do the best job of dictator with total control of the world, and please give a real response.
A. Me! Big head, huh? I can't give an honest answer about anyone else. Actually, my wife would be good too.

Q. What about using public funds in the rebuilding of New Orleans, specifically the areas we *know* will flood again.
A. I'm going to agree with Mr. Adams on this one. His response is long enough without me adding to it.

Q. Do you feel human beings are inherently selfish?
A. Yes.

Q. I would love to have your opinion on celebrities who have "causes." For example Briget Bardot and Paul McCartney recently traveled to Canada to protest the seal hunt.
A. It's nice that they raise awareness of certain issues so long as a balanced objective view is available.

Q. Do you think that a great goal in life is to leave the world a better place than it was when you arrived?
A. See my post on words to live by...

Q. Are organic foods any more healthful than ordinary foods?
A. *shrug* I guess.

Q. Is declawing cats humane?
A. If they are outdoor cats, probably not. Except that domesticated cats are the number one killer of indigenous wildlife in the US. Given that domesticated cats who are let out doors are generally well fed, their hunting is unnecessary and in that case maybe they should be declawed. We have two cats who are strictly indoor cats but we have not had them declawed. That said I don't care to have pets at all. Maybe except for fish or turtles.

Q. Does it make sense for a society to continue to provide free junk food to tens of millions of its sickest citizens? Would it not make more sense to allow food stamps to be used only for dairy, meats, & fish?
A. Yes. Yes. I remember reading an article somewhere that food is food and classifying a type of food as "junk" takes away from the eater's responsibility for making healthy decisions about the food that is consumed. "Junk" food does provide nourishment and calories that the body does use, but as with most things, everything must be done in moderation. That said, I'm sure consumers of food stamps would benefit for a more varied diet.

Q. So do you think George Bush is really an idiot, or incredibly smart and just plays an idiot on TV?
A. He's easily manipulable by people we are only marginally aware of. Have you noticed how much better he is when reading a prepared speech over when he speaks off the cuff?

Q. I would like your opinion on how not to be lazy. I think I am ruining my life being lazy.
A. Just get up and do it. You have to force youirself to at least start something and that usually gets me going on something I don't want to do.

Q. Can you give an easy solution for all the Middle East problems, including but not limited to ethnic issues, religious issues, corruption issues, oil issues, nuclear issues, and last but not least, the poor history of this region in the soccer world cup?
A. Be excellent to each other.

Q. Your thoughts on genetically modified food/animals/people??
A. Inevitable and in some cases preferable.

Q. I was wondering what your opinion is on evolution vs. punctuated evolution vs. Intelligent Design vs. Creationism
A. I'm not sure what punctuated evolution is but I think proponents of Intelligent Design and Creationism (ID&C) are suffering for an intense lack of imagination. The Catholic Church has taken the posistion that the theory of evolution is not in conflict with the teachings of the church and I do agree with that. I'm sure you can find better Catholics out there than me, but if there is a God, proponents of ID&C would make Him a short-sighted simpleton.

Q. What is the title/who is the author of the last three books you've read, and what is your opinion about those books?
A.
1) Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Very well done. I've read a lot of books by and biographies of soldiers in wartime and this is very much in keeping in that spirit. It's amazing how over the years and in each war the experiences of the foot soldier hasn't changed all that much. It kind of puts things in perspective if whether we people would be so gung ho about going into battle if they knew in advance what they would be facing. It also pointed out the effect that testosterone and adrenelin has on young minds and how indoctrination makes ths oldiers gung ho about doing their job and unable to say anything negative or else face the consequences within their units. It makes you wonder how many soldiers even think about these things (probably none) and how that would affect their perspective.
2) A Short History of Thomism by Romanus Cessario. An English translation of a French review of the history of the followers of the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. A collegue lent it to me and I skimmed over most of it. I was looking for a concise "best of" of Aquinas' works to get a feel of what he was all about and this wasn't it. It did however put things in perspective of the time frame and the effect of Aquinas' teachings on the church as a whole.
3) Assasination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Excellent. Very witty and insightful. Provides a perspective on the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley, that you won't find anywhere else while at the same time giving an insight into a long term view of how the Republican Party has become what it has. A must read.

Q. Do you agree that omnivores should be at their most healthy when they eat a mixed diet including both meat and vegetables?
A. *shrug* I like steak.

Q. Telepathy?
A. eh *shrug*

Q. Assisted suicide
A. Yup.

Q. Do you think people can be 'born gay', or is it developmental?
A. As with most things, I think there's a spectrum of human sexuality such that you can't fix an absolute on it. Some people are definetly homosexual and some are definitely heterosexual with a wide range of people in between. Unfortunately we live in a society that tries to compartmentalize things in easy chunks that just don't work.

Q. Is it possible to become wildly successful but still maintain a healthy relationship with my family?
A. Sucessful, yes. Wildly so? I don't know.

Q. Explain your position about torture. That topic about torture was disturbing.
A. Pointless and counter-produtive.

Q. Does a human life have a significant innate worth, or is that worth instead largely determined by what that human accomplishes, experiences, and how the human treats and burdens others?
A. All of existence has inate worth. Given free will, however individuals are able to give more if they strive to do so.

Q. Favorite science fiction TV show?
A. I'm going to have to agree with Scott Adams on this:
Of all time: Babylon 5
Currently: Battlestar Galactica

Q. Most futuristic thing you wish would be invented now?
A. Teleporters.

Q. Berk Breathed was considered by many (including me) to be a cartooning genius; but he walked away from it all. Do you feel he was right? And/or - would you ever do that? Or perhaps, like Charles Schulz and Reg Smythe, leave your characters to be scripted and drawn by someone else?
A. *shrug*

Q. Do you believe in reincarnation and that's why you're a vegetarian?
A. No I don't and I'm not. I think reincarnation may be another way of looking at the General Interconnectedness of All Things (GIOAT). The fact that everthing around us is composed of things that have always been in one form or another could be seen as a form of reincarnation. Whether it is a reincarnation of physical matter or energy, nothing is lost but always was and always will be a part of the universe. The notion that we are distinct entities is meaningless at the subatomic level. There is a continuity of matter density between us and the vacuum of outer space that is manifest only by the conglomeration of matter as we know it.

Q. Scott, do you think, if left alone and unmolested, that Islam will become a religion of peace and usher in a new age of enlightenment and brotherly love?
A. It already was during the Medieval Period when the European powers began the Crusades to "liberate" the Holy Land. It's taken a dive since then. It may come back. We'll see. *shrug*

Q. Do you believe that writing daily affirmations actually works?
A. *shrug*

Q. What's your opinion of yourself?
A. I'm pretty happy. I think highly of myself. I'm happy where I've ended up but I always have this drive to learn more. At the very least I hope I can pass that on to my kids.

Q. Are we the only "intelligent" humanoid species in the universe?
A. Intelligent? Probably not. Humonoid? Possibly.