The Joe Rogan Experience

Joe Rogan Experience #1313 - Duncan Trussell

Duncan Trussell is a stand-up comedian, and host of his own podcast “The Duncan Trussell Family Hour”.

Joe RoganhostDuncan TrussellguestJamie Vernonguest

Jun 18, 20192h 54mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Rogan and Trussell Deconstruct Reality, Religion, Tech, and Human Madness

Joe Rogan and Duncan Trussell spend a long, freewheeling conversation unpacking superstition, religion, and the human need for stories—from Jesus and Mormonism to UFOs and simulation theory.
They dive into the nature of the self, how ideas might function like living entities, and how psychedelics and Buddhism challenge our default sense of reality and identity.
The discussion repeatedly returns to modern life’s distortions: social media addiction, junk information diets, deepfakes, centralized power, and our denial of ecological and existential threats.
Along the way, they use wildlife, gut biome science, cannibalistic tech trends, and darkly comic hypotheticals to explore how easily humans deceive themselves and how difficult genuine self-knowledge and compassion actually are.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Question inherited narratives—even when they organize society.

From religious doctrines (resurrection, Mormon origin stories) to hotel floors without a 13th, they argue that unexamined beliefs shape policy, identity, and behavior long after they’ve stopped making sense.

The “self” is less solid than we think, and that matters.

Drawing on Buddhism, they describe mind as layered consciousness, where identity is a shifting process influenced by subconscious material and a possible “collective mind”—not a fixed, independent entity.

Psychedelics and contemplative practices expose alternate “settings” of reality.

High-dose experiences and meditation can temporarily dissolve the everyday sense of self, revealing other modes of perception and suggesting our normal state is just one configuration among many.

Your “information diet” affects your psyche like junk food affects your body.

Endless doom-scrolling, clickbait, and outrage cycles act like cognitive Twinkies—creating numbness, anxiety, and distorted views of the world while consuming the mental bandwidth needed for real work or insight.

Biology, especially the gut microbiome, has deep influence on mood and behavior.

They discuss emerging research linking maternal microbiomes to neurodevelopment (including autism risk) and anecdotes of gut-focused treatment resolving autoimmune and skin issues, arguing we’re “keepers of a realm” of microbes, not lone individuals.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We’re 51-year-old 16-year-olds… we thought we’d grow up and fix it, but that time never comes.

— Joe Rogan

The self that most people believe in is like Bigfoot—there are signs of it, but they’ve never really seen it.

— Duncan Trussell

You’re not just ‘you.’ You’re the keeper of a realm—an ecosystem of things living inside your body—and you’re feeding it Twinkies.

— Joe Rogan

Whatever you do, you give the planet permission to do.

— Duncan Trussell

How can you relax if you’re constantly creating an imaginary barrier between you and infinity called yourself?

— Duncan Trussell

Superstition, religion, and cultural narratives (Christianity, Mormonism, Tibetan Buddhism, numerology)Nature of the self, consciousness, and Buddhist models of mindPsychedelics, mystical experience, and the idea of thoughts/ideas as living thingsTechnology’s psychological impact: smartphones, junk information, social media, and deepfakesBiology and behavior: gut microbiome, autism links, immune issues, and mental healthViolence, nature, and ethics: hunting, predators, diet, and the illusion of “bloodless” foodPower, aggression, and human civilization: war, leadership, selfishness, and collective denial

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