HUMOR: Why Dilbert is Sexy

[Doug Johnson <palsdaj@VAX1.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>]

Hi folks,
 
My wonderful daughter sent this to her rapidly aging father, I think to
bolster his ego. I'm not sure it did, but it's one of the funnier things
I've read lately.  Enjoy it on this late Friday afternoon when all normal
people are outside doing healthy things instead of working.
 
Doug
 
>        Men Who Use Computers Are The New Sex Symbols Of The `90s
>
>                Scott Adams
>                Windows Magazine,  May 1995
>
>I get about 100 e-mail messages a day from readers of my comic strip
>"Dilbert."  Most are from disgruntled office workers, psychopaths, stalkers,
>comic-strip fans -- that sort of person.  But a growing number are from women
>who write to say they think Dilbert is sexy.  Some say they've already married
>a Dilbert and couldn't be happier.
>
>If you're not familiar with Dilbert, he's an electrical engineer who spends
>most of his time with his computer.  He's a nice guy but not exactly Kevin
>Costner.
>
>Okay, Dilbert is polite, honest, employed and educated.  And he stays home.
>These are good traits, but they don't exactly explain the incredible sex
>appeal.  So what's the attraction?
>
>I think it's a Darwinian thing.  We're attracted to the people who have the
>best ability to survive and thrive.  In the old days it was important to be
>able to run down an antelope and kill it with a single blow to the forehead.
>
>But that skill is becoming less important every year.
>
>Now all that matters is if you can install your own Ethernet card without
>having to call tech support and confess your inadequacies to a stranger whose
>best career option is to work in tech support.
>
>It's obvious that the world has three distinct classes of people, each with
>its own evolutionary destiny:
>
>Knowledgeable computer users who will evolve into godlike non-corporeal
>beings who rule the universe (except for those who work in tech support).
>
>Computer owners who try to pass as knowledgeable but secretly use hand
>calculators to add totals to their Excel spreadsheets.  This group will
>gravitate toward jobs as high school principals and operators of pet
>crematoriums.  Eventually they will become extinct.
>
>Non-computer users who will grow tails, sit in zoos and fling dung at
>tourists.
>
>Obviously, if you're a woman and you're trying to decide which evolutionary
>track you want your offspring to take, you don't want to put them on the luge
>ride to the dung-flinging Olympics.  You want a real man.  You want a
>knowledgeable computer user with evolution potential.
>
>And women prefer men who listen.  Computer users are excellent listeners
>because they can look at you for long periods of time without saying
>anything.  Granted, early in a relationship it's better if the guy actually
>talks.  But men use up all the stories they'll ever have after six months.
>If a woman marries a guy who's in, let's say, retail sales, she'll get repeat
>stories starting in the seventh month and lasting forever.  Marry an engineer
>and she gets a great listener for the next 70 years.
>
>Plus, with the ozone layer evaporating, it's a good strategy to mate with
>somebody who has an indoor hobby.  Outdoorsy men are applying suntan lotion
>with SPF 10,000 and yet by the age of 30 they still look like dried chili
>peppers in pants.  Compare that with the healthy glow of a man who spends 12
>hours a day in front of a video screen.
>
>It's also well established that computer users are better lovers.  I know
>because I heard an actual anecdote from someone who knew a woman who married
>a computer user and they reportedly had sex many times.  I realize this isn't
>statistically valid, but you have to admit it's the most persuasive thing
>I've written so far.
>
>If you still doubt the sexiness of male PC users, consider their hair.  They
>tend to have either:  (1) male pattern baldness -- a sign of elevated
>testosterone -- or  (2) unkempt jungle hair -- the kind you see only on
>people who just finished a frenzied bout of lovemaking.  If this were a trial
>I think we could reach a verdict on the strong circumstantial evidence alone.
>
>I realize there are a lot of skeptics out there.  They'll delight in pointing
>out the number of computer users who wear wrist braces and suggest it isn't
>the repetitive use of the keyboard that causes the problem.  That's okay.
>Someday those skeptics will be flinging dung at tourists.  Then who'll be
>laughing?  (Answer to rhetorical question:  everybody but the tourists.)
>
>Henry Kissinger said power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.  And Bill Clinton
>said that knowledge is power.  Therefore, logically, according to the U.S.
>government, knowledge of computers is the ultimate aphrodisiac.  You could
>argue with me -- I'm just a cartoonist -- but it's hard to argue with the
>government.  Remember, they run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
>so they must know a thing or two about satisfying women.
>
>You might think this was enough to convince anyone that men who use computers
>are sexy.  But look at it from my point of view:  I'm getting paid by the
>word for this article.  I'm not done yet.
>
>In less enlightened times, the best way to impress women was to own a hot
>car.  But women wised up and realized it was better to buy their own hot cars
>so they wouldn't have to ride around with jerks.
>
>Technology has replaced hot cars as the new symbol of robust manhood.  Men
>know that unless they get a digital line to the Internet no woman is going to
>look at them twice.
>
>It's getting worse.  Soon anyone who's not on the World Wide Web will qualify
>for a government subsidy for the home-pageless.  And nobody likes a man who
>takes money from the government, except maybe Marilyn Monroe, which is why
>the CIA killed her.  And if you think that's stupid, I've got 100 words to go.
>
>Finally, there's the issue of mood lighting.  Nothing looks sexier than a man
>in boxer shorts illuminated only by a 15-inch SVGA monitor.  If we agree that
>this is every woman's dream scenario, then I think we can also agree that
>it's best if the guy knows how to use the computer.  Otherwise, he'll just
>look like a loser sitting in front of a PC in his underwear.
>
>In summary, it's not that I think non-PC users are less attractive.  It's
>just that I'm sure they won't read this article.
>
 
 
Doug Johnson, District Media Supervisor  | Outside of a dog, a book
I.S.D. 77, Mankato Public Schools        | is a man's best friend;
Box 8713, Mankato MN 56002-8713          | and inside a dog, it's too
Voice: 507-387-7698                      | dark to read.
Fax: 507-387-2496                        |     - Groucho Marx
E-mail: palsdaj@vax1.mankato.msus.edu
or:     djohns1@west.isd77.k12.mn.us
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/staffdir/staff2/Johnson_Doug.html