About Scott Adams (1957-2026)
Scott Adams was the creator of Dilbert, one of the most successful comic strips in history, appearing in 2,000 newspapers at its peak. But to his podcast audience, he was something more: a teacher of persuasion, perception, and practical thinking.
A Final Message
On January 13, 2026, Scott passed away. He left this message, written on January 1st:
If you are reading this, things did not go well for me.
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.
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.
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
Books
Scott’s “useful” books, in his own words:
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big (2013)
“My first book in the ‘useful’ genre… 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.”
Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter (2017)
“I followed up with 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.”
Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America (2019)
“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.”
Reframe Your Brain: The User Interface for Happiness and Success (2023)
“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.”
Links
- Dilbert - dilbert.com
- Scott’s Blog - scottadams.blog
- X/Twitter - @ScottAdamsSays
- Rumble - RealCoffeeWithScottAdams
- YouTube - ScottAdams925
About This Wiki
This wiki preserves Scott’s intellectual legacy through:
- 1,151 episodes of Coffee with Scott Adams (2017-2025)
- 37 frameworks he developed and refined
- 4 domains organizing his thinking
- Searchable transcripts with episode links
The goal: make Scott’s ideas discoverable and useful, paying forward his work as he requested.
“Be useful.”