God's Debris

Lt. Dan · Post by **Lt. Dan** » 2006-08-10 05:53pm

A friend of mine introduced me to a book a while ago entitled "God's Debris" written by Scott Adams. I know that name is familiar to some on the board. But the book is not a comic. In fact, not a whole lot of action happens in the book, but it does go over some interesting ideas. Adams calls it "A thought experiment" meant for "...people who enjoy their brains spun inside their skull." (Further explanation can be found in the Introduction.)

This book is tiny, only 130-some-odd pages long, but it goes over things like evolution, God, space, matter, free will, chance, light, ESP, and more subjects that might make for some interesting discussion. If you have read it, what are your thoughts on this little giant?
Now, if you haven't read it, I would highly recomend it. You could go into a book store and buy it for around $12-$13 USD. What happened when this book came out, they didn't know what shelve to put it on. At Boarders, I found it under Metaphysical or something like that. Now, if you don't want to go out and buy it, you can read it for free online. I googled 'God's Debris' and found the PDF in some of the first links.

Disclaimer: Sorry if this has been posted before. I searched for it and nothing showing this type of information was produced by the search bar. Also, like the book itself, I did not know where to put it, but since it says that the story was fiction, that the best bet was in fantasy. If this is not the case, please feel free to move it to the appropriate area.

Lt. Dan · Post by **Lt. Dan** » 2006-08-13 01:01am

So no one's read it? No one would like to read it? Aw, I feel so alone... *Sigh*

ANGELUS · Post by **ANGELUS** » 2006-08-15 01:57pm

Lt. Dan wrote:So no one's read it? No one would like to read it? Aw, I feel so alone... *Sigh*

I've read it. I particulary like the section when they talk about free will and God's knowledge of the future (or the lack of it).

However I don't think this belongs in the "Fantasy" forum.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2006-08-15 07:33pm

It does belong in SLAM, and so it goes.

I've been meaning to pick it up, I'll get around to it one of these days.

haard · Post by **haard** » 2006-08-16 05:11am

Read it, liked it I think. Can't remember, should probably re-read it.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2006-08-18 12:07pm

Read it a few monthes back, it's available free off of the dilbert site.

It has some interesting ideas, some of them remind me of the Marvel Comic story line where a being that is another universe comes here to visit.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-08-18 12:09pm

Is it one of those books that only forces you to challenge your preconceptions if you're a Christian? Because I've read a few of those "how I changed my thinking" books and I always came away thinking "well duh, you figured out the obvious".

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2006-08-18 12:41pm

DW: not exactly, it does have a lot of god is everywhere though except it's not really about religion, though religion is mentioned.

Phillip Hone · Post by **Phillip Hone** » 2006-08-18 12:54pm

I read the Ebook version awhile ago. I thought that it made afew good points, but they weren't exactly new. The "free will contradicts an omnipotent God" part would be a good example. It probably has the highest appeal to Christians who recently started questioning their faith.

R. U. Serious · Post by **R. U. Serious** » 2006-08-18 05:23pm

It first appeared as an ebook with ugly DRM. After a while it turned out popular enough to appear in print. And a while later it was actually made available for free (without hurting sales too much):

http://images.ucomics.com/images/pdfs/s ... debris.pdf

Despite the url, it is indeed no comic. It's a gentle introduction to some philosophical/physical ideas in the form of a dialogue. Young man meets old, wise man who talks little and asks questions that make the young man think... It's written in a casual and readable tone. I enjoyed it when I first read it several years ago. I think the key aspect of the book is that it approaches questions "that a child would ask" in a seemingly simple way without all the cultural baggage that makes people brush off those questions without thinking much about them.

It's pretty similar to the style of his writing on his blog: http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/

When reading the book, I thought his child-like approch to certain questions was a rhetorical style that he chose because it fit the book. After reading the blog for a while, I think that he seems to be more serious about it. Not sure how to put it, but I think I liked the book better, before I started reading his blog.^^ He likes to push people's buttons. I think from his POV on religion etc. he would feel well in the company of the SLAM forum.

I don't think however that many regular readers of SLAm will be "wow"ed by the book. Though you may find parts of it enjoyable.