Dilbert's Scott Adams on the Power of Alternative Explanations, Persuasion, and Capitalism

"You can defend an entirely different view of the world using the same data that's used to defend the standard model. So whenever I can do that, I'm so there," says Scott Adams. "Because as soon as you realize that the model you've been looking at maybe isn't so firm as you thought… Then you're free."

Adams is a man of many talents: Best-selling author behind books such as God's Debris and How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, serial entrepreneur and creator of the time-management system Calendar Tree, and, of course, the man behind Dilbert.

Reason TV's Zach Weissmueller sat down with Adams in his home office to discuss Adams' obsession with Donald Trump ("I see in Trump a level of persuasion technique that is probably invisible to the public"—1:18), his resistance to political labels ("As soon as I join a group, suddenly all those things that I thought were crazy, I start convincing myself…"—2:19), his political philosophy ("My preferred political process would be something like business"—3:08), what Dilbert can teach us about capitalism ("One of those ideas that's terribly flawed, but we haven't figured out anything better yet"—5:22), and the theme that runs through all of his work ("In all cases, I'm interested in the same thing: Is there a different way to look at the familiar?"—10:05).

Watch the full interview above. And don't miss Scott Adams' Trump Master Wizard Hypothesis. 

Approximately 15 minutes. Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Alex Manning and Justin Monticello. Music by Jahzzar.

Scroll down for downloadable versions. Subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube channel for daily content like this.

Originally posted on October 6, 2015.