Dear readers, I apologize for not delivering a Top 10 today, but something else came up that I believe was more important.
Today, we lost a great warrior in politics, someone whose mission in life was to be “useful” to his fellow human beings. I’m talking about none other than Dilbert creator Scott Adams.
Scott was more than just a cartoonist. He was the “Internet Dad” for right-of-center minds. He taught people how to be “useful” in their own lives, ditch loser thinking, and become more persuasive.
I spoke with Scott a few times briefly via online messaging, and I was genuinely honored that he liked my work and took the time to reply to my messages.
But what I admired most about Scott was how deeply he valued his fans.
He believed in simulation theory, yet as he neared the final days of his life, the warmth and love from those fans touched him profoundly. Their persistence moved him so much that it convinced him to convert to Christianity.
Today, Scott’s X account posted his “final message” to the world. It personally brought tears to my eyes, and it captures everything I loved about the man.
I encourage you to read it in full. The world was a better place with Scott Adams around.
If you are reading this, things did not go well for me.
I have a few things to say before I go.
My body failed before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this, January 1st, 2026. If you wonder about any of my choices for my estate, or anything else, please know I am free of any coercion or inappropriate influence of any sort. I promise.
Next, many of my Christian friends have asked me to find Jesus before I go. I’m not a believer, but I have to admit the risk-reward calculation for doing so looks attractive. So, here I go:
I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with him. The part about me not being a believer should be quickly resolved if I wake up in heaven. I won’t need any more convincing than that. And I hope I am still qualified for entry.
With your permission, I’d like to explain something about my life.
For the first part of my life, I was focused on making myself a worthy husband and parent, as a way to find meaning. That worked. But marriages don’t always last forever, and mine eventually ended, in a highly amicable way. I’m grateful for those years and for the people I came to call my family.
Once the marriage unwound, I needed a new focus. A new meaning. And so I donated myself to “the world,” literally speaking the words out loud in my otherwise silent home. From that point on, I looked for ways I could add the most to people’s lives, one way or another.
That marked the start of my evolution from Dilbert cartoonist to an author of – what I hoped would be – useful books. By then, I believed I had amassed enough life lessons that I could start passing them on. I continued making Dilbert comics, of course.
As luck would have it, I’m a good writer. My first book in the “useful” genre was How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. That book turned out to be a huge success, often imitated, and influencing a wide variety of people. I still hear every day how much that book changed lives. My plan to be useful was working.
I followed up with my book Win Bigly, that trained an army of citizens how to be more persuasive, which they correctly saw as a minor super power. I know that book changed lives because I hear it often.
You’ll probably never know the impact the book had on the world, but I know, and it pleases me while giving me a sense of meaning that is impossible to describe.
My next book, Loserthink, tried to teach people how to think better, especially if they were displaying their thinking on social media. That one didn’t put much of a dent in the universe, but I tried.
Finally, my book Reframe Your Brain taught readers how to program their own thoughts to make their personal and professional lives better. I was surprised and delighted at how much positive impact that book is having.
I also started podcasting a live show called Coffee With Scott Adams, dedicated to helping people think about the world, and their lives, in a more productive way. I didn’t plan it this way, but it ended up helping lots of lonely people find a community that made them feel less lonely. Again, that had great meaning for me.
I had an amazing life. I gave it everything I had. If you got any benefits from my work, I’m asking you to pay it forward as best you can. That is the legacy I want.
Be useful.
And please know I loved you all to the end.
Scott Adams
For those who are interested, here's a link to the full video where Scott said to the anti-vaxxers: "You win", along with my comment in response:
> https://workflowy.com/s/beyond-covid-19/SoQPdY75WJteLUYx#/56f970a7a6b1
Thank you, Scott, immensely for your courage and your candor. It means more than you can possibly know for you to be willing to make this kind of public admission.
My only suggestions are that the UNvaxxed position was NEVER weak (2:22).
And this was NEVER a competition. We did our very best to warn as many people as we could because we knew what could happen ~ and, at this point, very few of us who are unvaxxed take any pleasure now in seeing what the vaxxed now have to live with. This can hardly be called a "win".
With Jesus! Praise God!♥️