Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip Dilbert and a longtime agnostic, has announced that he plans to convert to Christianity after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that has left him paralysed, with doctors giving near-zero odds of recovery.
Adams shared the announcement in a video that has since drawn about 1.3 million views and thousands of supportive responses online. In the viral clip, he said his decision was shaped by conversations with Christian friends and by what he described as a rational assessment of belief under uncertainty.
“Whenever I talk about this simulation, and especially when I talk about my own impending death, many of my Christian friends and followers say to me, ‘Scott, you still have time. You should convert to Christianity,’” Adams said. “I’ve not been a believer, but I also have respect for any Christian who goes out of their way to try and convert me… I have great respect for people who care enough that they want me to convert.”
Adams continued: “You’re going to hear it for the first time today, that is my plan to convert,” he said. “I still have time, but my understanding is you’re never too late.”
He explained that his longstanding skepticism about reality, including ideas related to simulation theory, would ultimately be resolved if there is an afterlife. “Any skepticism I have about reality would certainly be instantly answered if I wake up in heaven,” he said.
Addressing his Christian friends directly, Adams added, “Yes, it’s coming. So you don’t need to talk me into it. I am now convinced that the risk-reward is completely smart. If it turns out that there was nothing there, I’ve lost nothing, but I have respected your wishes, and I like doing that. If it turns out there is something there and the Christian model is the closest to it, I win… I promise you that I will convert.”
Adams framed his reasoning around Pascal’s Wager, a philosophical argument proposed by 17th-century thinker Blaise Pascal. The argument holds that when certainty is impossible, belief in God is the rational choice because the potential gain, eternal reward, far outweighs the potential cost, while non-belief risks infinite loss if God exists.
