Real Coffee with Scott Adams

Episode 3014 CWSA 11/10/25
Date: November 10, 2025
Host: Scott Adams

Overview

In this episode, Scott Adams explores current events and political dynamics through his signature "persuasion filter." He discusses developments in tech and politics, offers his thoughts on media narratives, and delves deeply into a new reframe: that conservatives, unlike liberals, have spent the last decade systematically teaching their followers how to think more productively. This central insight is woven through analyses of Trump’s recent pardons, economic debates, media hoaxes, and shifts in partisan strategies. As always, Scott riffs humorously on human behavior, offering reframes and thought experiments along the way.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The "Simultaneous Sip" and Coffee Talk

• Adams opens with his trademark playful tone, celebrating his community and the ritual of the "simultaneous sip," reaffirming coffee’s apparently proven health benefits.
• Quote: "It turns out that coffee is really good for you. According to Dr. Marcus, that your odds of surviving a heart problem if you've got a cup of coffee in you is way better." (02:10)

Tech News: Microsoft and Superintelligence

• Microsoft is reportedly exploring a new deal with OpenAI to aim for true "superintelligence" beyond current generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT).
• Adams dismisses the hype, suggesting it's simply an admission that current efforts are the best available, with superintelligence still "over the horizon."
• Quote: "Does that mean they’ll ever be able to do super intelligence? Probably they will eventually, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen on Tuesday or anything." (06:10)

Trump Pardons and Political Wordplay

• Adams analyzes Trump’s preemptive pardons for allies involved in the so-called "fake electors" case (Giuliani, Powell, Chesebro, etc.).
• He notes the Democrats’ use of the term "fake electors" as a persuasion tool and explores how granting pardons before charges creates mixed optics.
• Quote: "It kind of makes them look a little guilty, doesn't it, that they accepted it. Trump himself did not pardon himself. But does that matter?... He can bang that out in a few minutes." (09:47)
• The narrative battle: Democrats frame the pardons as authoritarian; Adams sees it as both shrewd and likely to be easily overshadowed by bigger news.

Trade Reports and Skepticism Toward China

• Adams takes aim at reports China may ease mineral export curbs, expressing deep skepticism about the credibility of both US and Chinese trade news.
• Quote: "Are you having the same reaction? It’s like, yeah, maybe somebody did something, but more likely they’re all just going to go ahead and do what they were going to do anyway..." (15:05)

The "Big Reframe": Conservatives' Training vs. Liberal Stagnation

• Adams positions himself as an innovator who reframed politics from "policy" to "persuasion" in 2015. He then introduces his latest reframe: conservatives have been systematically teaching each other how to think, while liberals have not.
  • Lists conservative explainer/teachers: Newt Gingrich, Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, Megyn Kelly, Tim Pool, Patrick Bet-David, Sean Ryan, and himself.
  • Asserts conservatives have grown more resilient and productive in arguments, capable of tolerating dissenting voices more effectively than Democrats.
• Quote: "Conservatives have been teaching each other how to think better and more productively for about 10 years. And I don’t think that the Democrats have even tried." (21:36)
• Democrats, he claims, rely on attacking opponents as "racist" or "sexist" and have no equivalent infrastructure teaching productive thinking.

Argument Resilience and Free Speech

• Adams draws a distinction between conservatives' and liberals' ability to handle "frictional" debates, especially with controversial figures.
• Example: If he spoke with Nick Fuentes, Adams argues, he’d be more likely to change Fuentes’ mind than the reverse, framed as a product of training.
• Quote: "It’s just training. And I think a lot of... conservatives are just trained the same way. I’m not saying it’s nothing. I’m just saying that the conservatives can handle it better. They can handle the friction better." (33:34)

Congressional Vote and Intra-Party Tensions

• Eight Democrats voted to reopen the government, prompting internal strife and accusations of betrayal.
• Adams finds it predictable, noting the President seems to be getting his way, with Democrats in disarray.
• Touches on Trump’s ongoing pursuit to eliminate the filibuster—he “never gives up on something once he starts.”
• Quote: "If that's how you want to play it, that your own team is traitors. Even on MSNBC, one of the hosts said it seems like the President was kind of getting what he wanted." (36:12)

The Limits of Democrat Worldview and Narrative Control

• Adams suggests that Democrats lack a worldview that helps them understand their own losses and contradictory behavior from their leaders.
• Democrats, in his view, blame Republicans for all policy failures (climate, border, health care).
• Quote: "There seems to be a clear pattern here, which is the Democrats do these things which have gigantic downsides and then they sell as hard as they can that the problem was from the Republicans." (46:50)

Media Manipulations: The BBC Speech Edit

• BBC allegedly spliced Trump’s January 6th speech to imply calls for violence—a move Adams likens to the "fine people hoax."
• He credits conservatives’ "training" for quick detection and public pushback.
• Quote: "The reason it didn’t work is that we had trained conservatives. What it looks like when they do this kind of hoax, this specific kind of hoax, you've all seen it." (56:30)
• Notes even CNN is calling out the BBC, marking a shift toward more honest reportage.

Free Speech, Safety, and Ostracism at UC Berkeley

• Applauds the presence of Turning Point USA at UC Berkeley but claims conservative attendees, including himself, still genuinely risk being "hunted" for open expression.
• Quote: "If you can’t go outside in your own relative neighborhood because you might get beat up for your political opinion, that's completely legitimate." (1:00:50)

Policy Debates, Economic Questions, and Populism

• Pokes fun at New York’s debates over free buses—"reality has come to visit the socialists."
• Trump mulls a $2,000 tax rebate for non-high-income taxpayers; Adams admits he’s unsure what the macroeconomic result would be, likely inflation, but notes how direct benefits play well with voters.
• Quote: "If he can find any way at all to give somebody a few bucks, they're going to be happier than if they didn’t get a few bucks. And that’s all it is." (1:10:22)
• Ponders whether the U.S. economy is "good" or "bad," noting the lack of any consensus and the subjectivity of news metrics.

Climate Convention (COP30) and More Conservative Explainers

• Briefly notes the COP30 climate summit and the familiar story of such events’ high carbon footprint.
• Returns to more names in the conservative "teacher" category: Mike Benz, Charlie Kirk, Joe Rogan, Glenn Beck, Greg Gutfeld, Mollie Hemingway, Victor Davis Hanson, Michael Shellenberger.

Law, Technology, and Political Rhetoric

• Touches on a Chinese LSAT cheating scandal; U.S. chip industry backlash at a proposal taxpayers take equity in chip companies.
• Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago blames Trump for local woes—Adams ridicules ideas that people are "starving" (calling it a gross exaggeration).

Core Reframe Restated: The "Thinking Class"

• Returns to the central theme: The conservative movement’s self-training is the most predictive variable for political and ideological dominance going forward.
• Quote: "In the same way that persuasion skill predicted that Trump would be in charge, the fact that we've been training other conservatives... would perfectly predict who's going to be in charge." (1:21:19)
• Argues conservatives treat political discourse as a "class," whereas the left does not, resulting in better preparedness and adaptability.

The Reframe of the Day: "History Doesn’t Exist"

(Timestamp: 1:28:45)

• Adams proposes an ontological reframe regarding history—it's not real, only stories we tell about the past; what matters is now.
• Quote: "History doesn't exist. Try getting a handful of history. Where is it? Where's this history you're talking about?... If it's something that did happen in the past, it's not real now." (1:29:10)

Memorable Quotes and Moments

• On training:
  "If every Republican read my books, that Republicans would have like a superpower, it would just be crazy." (25:44)

• On debate:
  "I'm just saying that the conservatives can handle it better. They can handle the friction better." (33:34)

• On MSNBC:
  "Even on MSNBC, one of the hosts said it seems like the President was kind of getting what he wanted." (36:27)

• On media hoaxes:
  "They just took some words that he did say and crafted them together in a way that he didn’t say them and then claimed they did." (57:08)

• On Democrats' narrative:
  "That's their whole game is doing dumb and trying to blame it on the other side. That's it. That's all they have." (47:06)

• On inflation and policy:
  "I have no idea what would happen if you gave everybody $2,000. Inflation. I think the right answer is inflation, maybe, but sometimes the inflation is worth it." (1:11:10)

• On reframing "history":
  "History isn't even real. So there are people who go through their life tortured by things that have gone before... but none of those things are real." (1:29:10)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------|-------------| | Simultaneous Sip & Coffee Health | 00:00–03:00 | | Microsoft/AI/Superintelligence | 05:00–07:00 | | Trump Pardons Analysis | 09:47–15:00 | | China Trade Skepticism | 15:05–17:00 | | Conservative "How to Think" Reframe| 21:36–35:00 | | Debate & Argument Resilience | 33:34–36:10 | | Congressional Vote & Filibuster | 36:10–42:00 | | Democrats’ Worldview Limitations | 46:50–50:00 | | BBC Hoax & Media Literacy | 56:30–59:30 | | UC Berkeley Conservative Safety | 1:00:50–1:05:50| | Policy, Economy, Populism | 1:10:22–1:18:50| | Re-explainer List & Core Thesis | 1:19:45–1:22:30| | History "Doesn't Exist" Reframe | 1:28:45–1:29:40|

Overall Tone and Takeaway

Scott Adams delivers his trademark blend of skepticism, wit, and persuasion analysis, offering a unique reframing of why he believes conservatives are ascendant: they’ve focused systematically on "training to think," not just on what to think. Eschewing tribalism for practical cognitive skills, Adams suggests this internal development will shape ideological outcomes more than any current policy debate or news cycle. For long-time listeners and new audiences alike, this episode offers a comprehensive blueprint of Adams' worldview and a new conceptual tool for analyzing political trends.