Home :: Books :: Literature & Fiction  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction

Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
God's Debris : A Thought Experiment

God's Debris : A Thought Experiment

List Price: $12.95
Your Price: $9.71
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You must buy this book
Review: As a proud DNRC member I must say that it was more than worth the pittance I paid. Now I truly know why I appreciate Dilbert so much. I'm no Doctor of Philosophy but I've always enjoyed epistemology. This masterpiece definitely delivers in that area. Thank you Mr. Adams for giving me permission to remain an agnostic.

As far as theories go all theories have presuppositions so nothing is certain. Those who claim to know are pretty arrogant. But how does one evaluate a theory then if by definition it can't be proven? The answer is simple, a theory is good if it provides a useful perspective. This theory definitely provides a useful perspective. Useful by whose definition? Mine of course.

What's my point? Well it's that this book is a good read. It prompts one to think, it's a nice way to spend a couple hours, and it also provides some good laughs even though the subject matter is pretty heavy. Here's a profound thought for you, I wish you luck in attaining level 5.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Decipher Factual Errors, Specious Arguments, and Conjecture!
Review: For those who love Dilbert, please realize that this book has nothing to do with that enjoyable character. There's also no humor here. Instead, you will find a fable that presents a unified theory of cosmology, religion, and knowledge. Before you get excited about all that you can learn, realize that this unified theory is deliberately flawed by Mr. Adams to provide you with a thought experiment to locate what is wrong with the argument. So the book is actually a brain teaser in its primary intent. It is a brain teaser that most people will find exceeds their knowledge of probability, physics, religion, philosophy, evolution, psychology and logic. So, to pick it apart you will probably need to assemble a team of people with deep knowledge in those areas. As a result, God's Debris is perfect for a serious book club. After understanding what's wrong with the arguments in the book, many will probably begin to see more unity in everything that happens based on a better platform of knowledge. That's well worthwhile.

I found this book fascinating as a puzzle, and enjoyed picking the arguments and misstatements apart. It reminded me of a question on the bar exam from many years ago where I had to write about what the law was in regard to a will written by an illiterate person. Great fun!

Mr. Adams warns that this book is for "people who enjoy having their brains spun around inside their skulls." He also says that it is "a view about God that you've probably never heard before." I certainly agree with both of those points. He also warns that what's in the book "isn't true . . . but it's oddly compelling." He also notes that people under the age of 14 should not read it. Although he doesn't say why, anyone who reads this book without a foundation in the subjects described may actually believe what's proposed by the Avatar. The world has enough false beliefs in it. I applaud Mr. Adams for helping to avoid creating any more.

After this book has honed your knowledge and critical thinking skills, I suggest that you take arguments that you read in other books and practice seeing what is wrong with them. All nonfiction books provide thought experiments of that sort!

I do hope Mr. Adams will write another of these thought experiments.

Overcome the appeal of simplicity to see through to the dynamic reality!



Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mental Refresh
Review: God's Debris is an attempt to force you to hit F5 (refresh) on your beliefs. Ideas once accepted have a way of going unchallenged for years, even decades. By design, Adams makes the scope of the book broad and the subject matter universal. For each section he hopes the Old Man's explanations are compelling enough for you to wonder why you DONT believe the same and to reconsider how you came to believe what you do. You might be appalled at how wobbly the foundations of your own core beliefs are.

Outside their ability to perturb, the Old Man's ideas are irrelevant. It would be a mistake to accept them wholly or to reject them based on their inaccuracies, which are intentional. An inaccurate assertion has the greatest power to stimulate a response (good messageboard "trolls" know this). If, for example, I told you that my clearly polka-dotted shirt was plaid, you'd carefully examine my shirt before telling me I was wrong. Adams wants to prompt the "carefully examine" response and perhaps make it a habit of mind for you.

The absurdities in much of Adams's works relate to a failure to carefully examine ideas, to accept them based on momentum or the resonance of their elegant simplicity. In a sense, this is Adams's antidote for a world where pointy haired bosses reign.

Having said the above, if you don't find the ideas novel enough to jog you into a critical thinking mode, you won't get much out of the book. This is likely the case for philosophy majors. Still, you shouldn't dismiss it out of hand. Consider it a potential gateway drug into more substantial works.

I'm sure that possibility would delight Adams.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best piece of literature I have ever read.
Review: God's Debris is by far the most thought-provoking and interesting book I have ever read. I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind. As advertised, it does make your brain spin around inside your head, at least metaphorically. All the major points have been covered multiple times by other reviews, so I won't restate them here. However, the person who complained about the science being completely wrong OBVIOUSLY failed to read the introduction. Adams explains that a good part of the science is made up. Besides, as with all great books, you either love it or you hate it. There's really no middle ground. Please, do yourself a favor. Buy this book. It's great.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a teenagers thoughts on God's Debris
Review: I recieved this book for Christmas and was skepticle at first. The title suggested some sort of religious story. I was immediatley informed my assumptions were incorrect and began reading. I finished it that day, since i could not put it down. The book was wonderful. It provided amazingly convincing and full proof theories to numerous life questions i could never adequitley answer myself. This book is perfect for people with open minds and the urge to aquire knowledge. The only negative thing i could say about this book is the actual story. If you're looking to be emotionally attached to the characters this book won't accomplish that, but really it doesn't effect what readers get out of the book in any way. I'm almost able to say Scott Adams has converted my beleifs to the ideas present in his book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: definately one of the best books i've ever read
Review: i think the reviewers who give this book low ratings are either taking the book or themselves way too seriously! the author practically provides a disclaimer that he is not a scientist and that his scientific theories should not be taken seriously. but still some reviewers insist on showing how big their brains are by picking apart the very same theories that Adams admits are not sound from the very start.
i think that a great explanation as to why the "scientific" theories were even included was offered by another reviewer down the list. i.e perhaps the incorrect science was included purposely to challenge the reader to research these scientific ideas for themselves. thereby Adams would be, in a weird way, tricking people into becoming more knowledgeable. seems like the sort of thing Andy Kauffman would have found hilarious.
but the real jem of this book was the meaning of the term "god's debris". this was the real reason why the book was written. the importance of all the rest of the content is secondary. i don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it, but the explanation is brilliant and truly unique! i've never read any explanation for the existance of god and the universe that was so profound and yet so obvious! i'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone who just enjoys reading new ideas and philisophical concepts! excluding those who take themselves too seriously. they can stick to math textbooks.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A bit hollow, wouldn't you say?
Review: I'd say I'm right in the middle for this one. Theories are always fun to make up and to toy with mentally. I honestly believe that this book could have been much better. The first word that comes to mind is "hollow". It seemed as soon as the writer touched a point that woke up my brain on a topic, the chapter was already over. I swear every great statement that interested me was the last few sentences of every chapter and the fact that it didn't go into depth kind of ruined those interesting moments.

Don't get me wrong, I think the writer has a lot of potential. I could grab soem nice quotes from the book. I could also look at the positive side and expolore what he didn't in my own mind and have fun with the base theory he came up with. I've read much worse, I've read much better.

I think a better book to rack your brain on is the Conversations with God series. It made me think much more and was longer than a two hour read.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Only Because it's Scott Adams
Review: If this weren't Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, this never would have made it to print. It needed a critical editor to push the storyline to achieve something. As it stands, it's a dialogue between a deliveryman and an old man, whom we are to assume is either God or omniscient or something, and the deliveryman is pushed by the old man into thinking about, and questioning, profound thoughts. It goes along okay, and I won't say it isn't provocative in some ways, and I won't say I didn't enjoy reading it. But a little over halfway through, the "deliveryman" starts bringing up issues of ESP, and the resulting discussion really brings the book down to amateur level. Again, if this weren't Dilbert's creator, no publisher would have considered it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Really funny and fun too
Review: If you find you can't laugh while reading this book, no amount
of explaining will help you. Like most jokes, explaining them
makes it *not* funny. But the next time you hear something
similar you might get it.

I do think Mr. Adams needs more practice writing. This was good,
but definitly an "early work". Most chapters had me laughing,
and on a few it took me several minutes to stop so I could keep
reading. Telling a joke verbally and telling it on paper require
different timing, and I think he's almost got it.

I'm looking forward to more books from Mr. Adams - I'm pretty
sure he will improve with practice. God's Debris is easy to
read, fun and really funny.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Turn your brain inside out!
Review: Mr. Adams warns you before reading the book God's Debris of its uncharacteristic nature in respect to his other offerings. Boy oh Boy is that ever true! I opened the book, thought I'd take a peek and then read the rest over the weekend. Instead I spent the next several hours into the wee hours of the morning hungrily reading every word!

Are you stuck in a rut? Tired of the same old novels? Thirsting for something to stimulate your mind? Do you like to challenge conventional thinking or perhaps defend it? Enjoy brainteasers and the teasing of others brains? Do you really believe the things you believe? Then this book is certainly for you.

Other reviews give you a peek at how the book is structured and it's content so I won't bore you with the same. I can tell you that if you allow it, if you welcome it, this book will turn all of your previous thoughts about life and it's meaning on it's head! No, it's not a "cult" message or urging you to convert to any "new" realm of thought. Although at certain points I did amusingly ponder the emergence of a new "S. Adams cult" ! I loved reading the chapters then sitting back with a cool drink to ponder and absorb its message. I also enjoyed challenging friends and family with several ideas from the book.

Bravo Mr. Adams, bravo!


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates