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#300 – Joe Rogan- Comedy, Controversy, Aliens, UFOs, Putin, CIA, and Freedom

Lex Fridman Podcast

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  • The Art of the Maximized Life A dangerous thing with style is what i call art. I think i call the way people live life art. There’s an art to kindness, and when i’m around them, it’s beautiful. Have you ever made love and it was art? Now, camni, be time o opening a cano dins! Transcript: Lex Fridman Charles do you think he meant by that? Do you agree with this? A dangerous thing with style is art you said bullfighting can be art boxing can be art loving can be art uh have you ever made love and it was art no okay i’m not asking every time bro opening Joe Rogan A can of sardines can be art i think there’s something to that yeah i think i think uh call the way people live life art. Like I wrote a forward to my friend Cameron Haynes’ book, which is right now the number one selling audio book in the world. And it’s the art of the maximized life. And that the discipline that he displays in his life and through his practices and all the things that he does, it’s so difficult to live the way he lives. And knows what he’s doing and appreciates it and appreciates how insanely difficult it is to have a full-time job and run ultra marathons get up at four o’clock in the morning run a full Marathon before work like that’s the kind of shit that he he does when he when he’s training for these 240 mile runs all the the main at the same time being like a father, a husband, having This full-time job, also being the best bow hunter on earth, lifting weights. It’s like, how does a person do this? So in a way, discipline is art too. Lex Fridman Yes. Joe Rogan Discipline is art. Yeah. I think it is. Cause it’s beautiful for me to see. When I see someone who’s really truly disciplined, like a David Goggin, someone who just truly maximizes the grind, I feel like there’s an art to that. And there’s an art to kindness. There’s people that are really kind and really sweet. And when I’m around them, it’s beautiful. It’s like there’s an art to them. No matter what. (Time 0:09:20)
  • Mushrooms And Exercises Critical Mushrooms and exercise exercises critical. They in enduring those, when you endure those, it makes enduring other things much easier. It’s also an understanding of what the hot take is doing. You have to know, like media, you have to understand,. Like if they’re talking about, you know, lex freedman said this, and we have to comment on that. In my case, it didn’t, didn’t work. People take this kind of stuff seri but the promiseo, false narratives take hold. And because of that, everything else is easier. I create my own bulshet. And my own Bulshet is so much harder. Transcript: Lex Fridman People take this kind of stuff seriously, but the problem is the false narratives take hold, and then you have meetings, you have groups, it builds on top of each other, and there’s this Outrage, and then it reaches you at some point, and it can just have these destructive effects. Joe Rogan It can, but it also sometimes doesn’t. And in my case, it didn’t. It didn’t work. Lex Fridman What lessons did you draw from that? Mushrooms, exercise? Mushrooms and exercise. Joe Rogan Exercise is critical. I don’t think the mushrooms by themselves would have worked. But that’s the thing that I use for everything is the brutal exercise. Like my exercise routines are horrible. And because of that, everything else is easier. I create my own bullshit and my own bullshit is so much harder. And it’s not just that. It’s also sauna and cold plunge and these torture sessions. They, in enduring those, when you endure those, it makes enduring other things much easier. And it’s also an understanding of what’s happening. Like, you have to know, like, media. You have to understand, like, what the hot take, you know, YouTube, social media, podcast, ecosphere is doing. Like, if they’re talking about you know lex friedman said this and we have to comment on that and you know lex gets cancelled in all capital letters on a youtube clip and if you you watch That you’re crazy what are you doing absorbing all this negativity it’s not good for you you are you you know you and you know generally if you’ve made a mistake and you know generally If people are upset with you. Lex Fridman You posted this awesome video on your Instagram of a woman who was being interviewed in the late 1920s maybe. Yes, yeah. And (Time 0:21:51)
  • Are you going to listen to interviews of trump? Alex jones is a human being. He uns fucked up. He has demons in his head. But thereis some a wisdom to the perspective he takes on the world. Now even ela musk is asking, where’s the clientel list? Ye, we should probably see who’s been to that island. And there’s probably more of those kind of things out there that haven’t been exposed yet. Chris walstod no, calling out on somebody on there bullshed is easy when you’re just being adversarial but as a person who is genuinely and pathetically trying to understand ye, i think you’re really good at that. Transcript: Lex Fridman And now even Elon Musk is asking, where’s the clientele list? Yeah. Joe Rogan We should probably see who’s been to that island. Yeah, we should probably see who’s been to that island. Lex Fridman And there’s probably more of those kind of things out there that haven’t been exposed yeah but sort of uh to push back in you you had those conversations with alex jones wouldn’t you be Able to have the same kind of conversation with donald trump that’s the problem reveal no it’s not the problem you revealed that alex jones is a human being yeah he’s fucked up he has demons In his head. He’s obviously chaotic all over the place, but there’s some wisdom to the perspective he takes on the world, even though he is often full of shit. He’s able to predict certain things that very few people are willing to bring up. So isn’t Trump the same way? Fucked up person, egomaniac uh whatever personality things you can talk about isn’t it’s worthwhile to lay it out like who’s going to if you listen to interviews of trump who has the Balls to call him out on this bullshit chris wallace did uh no calling out somebody on their bullshit is easy when you’re just being adversarial but as a person who is genuinely empathetically Joe Rogan Trying to understand yeah i think you’re really good at that like you pull them in know if he would genuinely be there you know i’m saying like i think he would be putting on a performance And that’s you don’t think you can break through that in like 30 minutes i’d need more time than that and he doesn’t do any drugs that’s the thing about alex you can get alex high yeah get Him drunk and he’ll start talking about interdimensional child molesters yeah you know and then you you get the real alex or (Time 0:30:14)
  • Can You Trust Comics? If there’s a thousand professional comics on earth, i’d be stunned. The good ones, the really good ones, there’s not that many of us. So those people, like at the the levels of comedy where you, you know, you’ ben doind stand up for 20 years,. There’s a certain amount of honesty and an understanding of each other that we all have. That process of becoming a great comic is a cumbling in the way, like gitso is humbling, very similar. Transcript: Joe Rogan Friends? How do you know if you can trust? Well, most of my friends are old friends. Time. So time is the thing. Yeah. Like just going through shit together. Yeah. And also people that, you know, first of all, comics. You can trust comics? Yeah. Comics are pretty trustworthy. The good ones. The really good ones. There’s not that many of us. If there’s a thousand professional comics on earth, I’d be stunned. I’d be stunned. I don’t even think there’s a thousand. Like real professionals who you get booked all the time, headline weekends at clubs and theaters and arenas. And then there’s levels to that, right? There’s like the guys who are middle acts who kind of like barely scrape by. And then like, how many headliners are there? How many like really funny headliners that I would say, you know, if Lex, you tell me you’re going to be in Cincinnati, hey, this person’s playing at this club, should I go see them? I’d be like, ah, you know, like how many people would i give the recommendation to and then how many people sell out theaters how many people sell out arenas how many there’s not that fucking Many so those people like at the the levels of comedy where you do you know you’ve been doing stand-up for 20 years there’s a certain amount of honesty and a certain amount of understanding Of each other that we all have. Lex Fridman Oh, so that process of becoming a great comic is like humbling in the way like jujitsu is humbling. Very similar. Like you’ve eaten so much shit that somehow, even if you’re insane, even if you’re chaotic, even in the way, even if you’re full of shit, you lie a lot, all those kinds of things. Underneath it, a good human yeah you could be surface bullshitter but on important things you’re trustworthy hopefully i mean if you’re not then people shy away from you and there are Joe Rogan People like that too that are really successful but that are that are what i call islands um i’ve talked to other comics about that like you don’t want to be an island Because there’s these People that aren’t attached to the rest of the community. And they’re doing well on their own. And usually they have, like, one opening act they bring with them on the road. They’ve worked with forever. And they don’t have comedy friends. Lex Fridman And those people are miserable. Because they can’t relate. Sometimes (Time 0:49:47)
  • The Podcasts I Love The Most Are Protect Our Parks Sometimes fame in itself is isolating, very you have to actually do a lot of work and make sure you don’t it doesn’t isolate you. My favorite part of that is, like the non sequiter stuff marked normanand you guys get so trashed that you don’t even understand what the hell he’s talking about,. But it’s funny to the listener, ecause he’s still on point. He’s til good m hedburg quality. Why he’s such a, such a dedicated comic. You know, he loves comedy so much. And i have marshal art’s friends who are some of the also the thing about being humbled. They’re also, they know Transcript: Lex Fridman Fame in itself is isolating. So you have to actually do a lot of work and make sure you don’t. It doesn’t isolate you. Yes. Because if you become successful, people start wanting stuff from you. Yes. And then sometimes you want to push them away because of that as opposed to connect with them. Joe Rogan Yeah, I don’t enjoy it when people want things from me. It’s not fun. You just ignore it? Yeah, it’s fucking too heavy. They want too much. And it’s too much of a disproportionate relationship. You know, it’s too unbalanced. Because there are people where you could tell that they’re working towards something. They’re working towards an angle. And they want to be close to you because you will benefit them. And then there’s other people that are just, there’s not that many of us. And so we all want to hang out together. Like one of the podcasts I love the most is this podcast I do called Protect Our Parks. It’s a thing I do with Ari Shafir, Shane Gillis, and Mark Norman. That’s great. It’s so fun because we just get obliterated and we talk so much shit. Like there’s conversations after that podcast where I go, hey, man, we got to cut that part out. Because Shane will go too far, go too crazy, but we’re just making each other laugh and it’s just fun. Lex Fridman And it’s like that kind of camaraderie between real comics is very precious to me. My favorite part of that is like the non sequitur stuff from Mark Norman. And you guys get so trashed that you don’t even understand what the hell he’s talking about but it’s funny to the listener because he’s still on point that guy’s as sharp he’s got that Joe Rogan Major headberg quality yes well he’s such a such a dedicated comic you know he loves comedy so much that’s one of the things i love about him he’s like comedy! He gets excited. He loves it. It’s as does Shane and as does Ari. They really love it. So there’s that. I have friends in that way and I have martial arts friends who are some of the, also, the thing about being humbled, how things like jujitsu will humble you. Martial arts friends are, they’re also, they know, they know who’s been through it. You know, they know who’s, who really has gone through the gauntlet and emerged on the other end, a better person. Yeah. (Time 0:52:04)
  • Is There Still Dark Stuff in Your Unconscious? Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. I think the positive effect also was compounded by the fact that, en, my mother married my step dad, who’s a great guy. And so it made me much more of an independent thinker. If i hadn’t done the things that i got interested in, martial arts and the and then comedy, if i hadn’t got interested in those things, i would have beenFucked” “If i was with the wrong pa s, especially to day, i most certainly would have been medicated,” he adds. Transcript: Lex Fridman Carl jung talked about the shadow it’s the unconscious where you have dark stuff and oftentimes you project there’s stuff that you’re very self-critical about yourself but because It’s in your unconscious you use it to project onto others you see it as flaws in others and that’s a good way to like whatever um it gives a quote like everything that irritates us about Others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves so that’s that’s a nice way to investigate yourself like something that pisses you off you start asking questions of your own mind And that’s how you bring it to the surface but anyway from that those are formative years from that time is there still stuff in your unconscious you think you haven’t examined some dark Joe Rogan Shit i don’t think so i don’t i’m not aware if it is because i’ve looked you know like if someone get you know someone says uh you know, I left something over your house. Like, where’d you leave it? I don’t know. Like, I’ll go look. Yeah. I’ll get a real thorough look. But I’m pretty sure. Pretty sure it’s not there. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. I think I’ve looked. I mean, it certainly had an effect. Think the positive effect also was compounded by the fact that when my mother married my stepdad, who’s a great guy, who was a hippie, very different, we moved around a lot. And so the bad thing about that was I didn’t really develop long-term friends. Develop my own opinions about things. Instead of adopting an opinion of the neighborhood and the group about anything, I was forced to form my own thoughts and opinions about almost everything. And so it made me much more of an independent thinker. So that on top of the fact that, you know, losing, you know, my quote unquote hero very early on, and then having to form my own opinions about things. It left me with a very, very independent streak, you know, in terms of, and if I hadn’t done the things that I got interested in, martial arts, and then comedy, if I hadn’t gotten interested In those things, I would have been fucked because I was just too independent for normal jobs. I was too independent for school. I just didn’t want to listen to people. I was too feral. I just didn’t want to sit still. If I was with the wrong parents, especially today, I most certainly would have been medicated. (Time 1:16:51)
  • Is There Still Dark Stuff in Your Unconscious? Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. I think the positive effect also was compounded by the fact that, en, my mother married my step dad, who’s a great guy. And so it made me much more of an independent thinker. If i hadn’t done the things that i got interested in, martial arts and the and then comedy, if i hadn’t got interested in those things, i would have beenFucked” “If i was with the wrong pa s, especially to day, i most certainly would have been medicated,” he adds. Transcript: Lex Fridman Carl jung talked about the shadow it’s the unconscious where you have dark stuff and oftentimes you project there’s stuff that you’re very self-critical about yourself but because It’s in your unconscious you use it to project onto others you see it as flaws in others and that’s a good way to like whatever um it gives a quote like everything that irritates us about Others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves so that’s that’s a nice way to investigate yourself like something that pisses you off you start asking questions of your own mind And that’s how you bring it to the surface but anyway from that those are formative years from that time is there still stuff in your unconscious you think you haven’t examined some dark Joe Rogan Shit i don’t think so i don’t i’m not aware if it is because i’ve looked you know like if someone get you know someone says uh you know, I left something over your house. Like, where’d you leave it? I don’t know. Like, I’ll go look. Yeah. I’ll get a real thorough look. But I’m pretty sure. Pretty sure it’s not there. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know. I think I’ve looked. I mean, it certainly had an effect. Think the positive effect also was compounded by the fact that when my mother married my stepdad, who’s a great guy, who was a hippie, very different, we moved around a lot. And so the bad thing about that was I didn’t really develop long-term friends. Develop my own opinions about things. Instead of adopting an opinion of the neighborhood and the group about anything, I was forced to form my own thoughts and opinions about almost everything. And so it made me much more of an independent thinker. So that on top of the fact that, you know, losing, you know, my quote unquote hero very early on, and then having to form my own opinions about things. It left me with a very, very independent streak, you know, in terms of, and if I hadn’t done the things that I got interested in, martial arts, and then comedy, if I hadn’t gotten interested In those things, I would have been fucked because I was just too independent for normal jobs. I was too independent for school. I just didn’t want to listen to people. I was too feral. I just didn’t want to sit still. If I was with the wrong parents, especially today, I most certainly would have been medicated. (Time 1:16:51)
  • Is There Advice For Young People? Find a thing that you really enjoy. Try to find a thing your passion about, like an activity. For me early on, it was drawing. I wanted to be a comic book illustrator. And then it went from a comic book drawing and illustrations to a martial arts so but it was just another thing that i was very, very pas about. That was my vehicle out of my own anxiety and trama and my own issues and insecurities. Transcript: Lex Fridman Yeah, there’s so many possible trajectories you can imagine where you would have not been the person you are today. Oh, yeah. This is probably one of the best possible trajectories. You’re living, this particular storyline you’re living through was one of the better ones. Joe Rogan This timeline is as good as it gets for someone like me. Is there advice you can give to people, to young kids that are living through a shitty situation of any sort, a tough life? Find a thing you like. Try to find a thing that you really enjoy. Try to find a thing that you’re passionate about. Like an activity. Yes. For me, early on, it was drawing. It was illustrations. It was comic books. I wanted to be a comic book illustrator. And then it went from comic book drawing and illustrations to martial arts. But it was just another thing that I was very, very passionate about. And that was my vehicle out of my dilemma. That was my vehicle out of my own anxiety and trauma and my own issues and insecurities. Find something. Find a thing that you genuinely enjoy because getting good at things you genuinely enjoy is extremely beneficial for young people because it lets you know that everybody thinks they’re A loser every young person thinks they’re a loser at least a young person in the situation i was at like i didn’t know i wasn’t a loser until i started winning until i started doing martial Arts martial arts taught me that like i could get better at stuff that it wasn’t i wasn’t really a loser i just was someone who was like in a fucked up situation. But you could channel all that energy that you have as a young person into something and get better at it. And then all of a sudden people admired me. I was like, this is crazy. So I went from being someone who was incredibly insecure and basically a failure to someone who was really successful at this one thing that was very dangerous that other people were Scared of. And that gave me immense confidence and also a real understanding of the direct correlation between hard work and success. Lex Fridman And a kind of understanding that you’re not a loser. Right. That (Time 1:19:28)
  • The Greatest Thing About Being Challenged Physically The way, the great things about being challenged physically, it’s also mental. The people that don’t understand that have never really been challenged physically. And there’s a mental strength that you acquire from that that you can apply to intellectual pursuits. What matters most is how well you o the fires. You just keep starting fires for yourself to walk throughthey don’t necessarily have to be fires, right? Because fires are like kind of at o control, lukewarm tasks. Give yourself something an arduous, difficult task where you’re challenged, hallenged mentally and challenged physically. Transcript: Lex Fridman What matters most is how well you walk through the fires. You just keep starting fires for yourself to walk through. Joe Rogan Well, they don’t necessarily have to be fires, right? Because fires are kind of out of control. Lex Fridman Lukewarm. Tasks. The surfaces. Tasks. Joe Rogan Give yourself something an arduous difficult task where you’re challenged challenged mentally and challenged physically one of the great things about being challenged physically Is it’s also mental the people that don’t understand that have never really been challenged physically people that think that physical challenges are just like. It’s just brute grunt work. It’s not. It’s emotional intelligence. It’s understanding your desire to quit and conquering your inner bitch. All that stuff is mental. It’s playing out inside your head. And there’s a mental strength that you acquire from that that you can apply to intellectual pursuits. And the people that don’t think that are the people that haven’t attempted them. And there’s an arrogance to people that only pursue intellectual exercises, only pursue intellectual things, and don’t pursue anything physical, that the physical stuff is base, It’s grunt work, it’s primal, it’s not necessary. I don’t think that’s accurate. I don’t think that they’re… I mean, obviously, there’s people like Stephen Hawking who have no opportunity to do anything physical, right? His physical dilemma is keeping his… Or keeping his heart beating. But for most people, I think you can really benefit from physical struggle, and you benefit from it in a mental way. And (Time 1:25:34)
  • Is There a Physical Challenge That’s Good For You? There’s something about the physical challenge that’s really good for you, specially if you academi especially if you do intellectual types. Togh, there’s this great raboticis that i mightsee, russ tedrick. He runs barefoot to and from amit every day? Love it. A like seven, seven to ten miles each way, barefoot, barefoot. Where he is a, he studies legged locomotion, legged robots. For him, it’s also interesting how the human body moves. He sees the beauty and all in all movement. What do his feet look like? You know, callous, destroyed rit no, just callous. Transcript: Joe Rogan I think that is overlooked. That’s unfortunately overlooked by academics and intellectuals who, they make excuses for why they’re fat and lazy or scrawny. Lex Fridman Well, they don’t need to be, it’s not even about the fat or all of that. It’s like literally there’s something about the physical challenge that’s really good for you, especially if you’re academic, especially if you do intellectual type stuff. There’s this great roboticist at MIT, Russ Tedrick. He runs barefoot to and from MIT every day. I love it. Like seven to 10 miles each way. Barefoot? Barefoot. Well, he studies legged locomotion, legged robots. For him, it’s also interesting how the human body moves. He sees the beauty in all movement. Joe Rogan What do his feet look like? Lex Fridman You know, calloused. Destroyed, right? No, just calloused. They’re nice. They form a nice… It’s not like I gave him a foot massage. But I mean, they look… And I don’t have a foot fetish, so I don’t… I’m not able to correctly evaluate another man’s feet. I apologize for this. But they don’t look fucked up. Does he run on concrete? Yeah, he runs all surfaces. Joe Rogan And he does everything completely barefoot? Lex Fridman The running part at work. So one of the things he has to do is fit into society, which means he has to change clothes and appear normal. Joe Rogan Right. So does he wear like zero shoes? You know, those barefoot type shoes? Lex Fridman No, because that’s like very hippie wokey type of thing no like he doesn’t he’s barefoot when he’s running and then he wears like normal looking stuff like dress shoes how did he work Joe Rogan His way up to running barefoot uh so (Time 1:27:17)