The Dilbert Future: Thriving on Stupidity in the Twenty-First Century

Countless people look forward to the morning paper because it contains a Dilbert comic strip, a fine way to start the day on a cheerful note. But recently, at least as evidenced by this book, Adams's humor has developed into something snide and derogatory. He sees most people as ""induhviduals."" Perhaps he is bored--just as we all will become, he declares here, when everything is shared, via the Internet and new developments in video technology. Reading his book piecemeal, one catches more of the facetious humor. Among the 65 predictions here, Adams echoes many scholars in forecasting a work force of freelance experts doing contract work. He hits the target again when he dubs telephone marketing ""confusopoly"" because it serves only to befuddle the customer about price, since all companies provide essentially the same service. But one wonders why he bothers tackling certain areas, as in Prediction 59: ""In the future, there will be drive-through pet-care facilities."" Much of the work reiterates George W.S. Trow's conclusion that our civilization is growing increasingly trivial. Therefore, Adams's inclusion of a recommendation for making dreams come true--writing down one's wishes 15 times each day--is bizarre, suggestive of Coue's 1920s maxim that ""Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better."" (June)