Joe Rogan Experience #1824 - Lex Fridman

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. NANarrator0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out.

   2. The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      (instrumental music) Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. Hey, fella.

   4. LFLex Fridman0:13

      Hey, buddy. What's going on? (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:15

      (laughs) Good to see you.

   6. LFLex Fridman0:16

      It's been a while.

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:17

      It has been a while. You're, uh, you've been nose to the grindstone.

   8. LFLex Fridman0:21

      Yeah, I disappeared for a bit. I've been hiding from the world. Uh-

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:25

      Is this, um, because of Ukraine? Is it personals, like are you busy?

   10. LFLex Fridman0:30

       Well, no, actually it's because I proposed to Tim Dillon and he said yes.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:33

       Nice.

   12. LFLex Fridman0:34

       Uh, this happened in February, and, uh-

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       You wanna get in shape for the wedding?

   14. LFLex Fridman0:38

       Yeah, I wanna get in shape for the wedding, and I've been focusing on that.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       (laughs)

   16. LFLex Fridman0:42

       Also, I'm having second thoughts.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:43

       (laughs)

   18. LFLex Fridman0:45

       'Cause when you sign the paper, you realize this is a real commitment and you're gonna have to, uh, live with this man for the rest of your life, and then-

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:51

       Not only that, they're gonna write fake stories about you like they do about him.

   20. LFLex Fridman0:55

       Oh, they-

   21. JRJoe Rogan0:55

       The New York Post wrote a fake story about him today.

   22. LFLex Fridman0:57

       (laughs) What was it? What was it?

   23. JRJoe Rogan0:58

       About his real estate holdings.

   24. LFLex Fridman1:00

       Yeah?

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:01

       They're, they're inaccurate about the amount, and, uh, also even about the locations in which he owns homes.

   26. LFLex Fridman1:07

       In, uh, in the c- in cyberspace, right?

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       No.

   28. LFLex Fridman1:10

       No.

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:10

       No, real homes.

   30. LFLex Fridman1:10

       Actual, actual homes.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Do you give any…

   1. LFLex Fridman15:00

      popular in India, in China, and in Russia, and some small countries around former Soviet Union. What do you do with that? That's real, um, objective ... well, as far as we can tell, data from outside of Ru- taken from outside of ... polls taken from outside of Russia.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:18

      Do you give any credence to the, the rumors that he has cancer?

   3. LFLex Fridman15:24

      I ... (laughs) I- I'm not an investigative ... You know, because there, there's a lot of sort of rumors of this nature.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:30

      Oliver Stone even discussed it. He said-

   5. LFLex Fridman15:31

      Yeah, I-

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:32

      ... it was a case while he was there.

   7. LFLex Fridman15:33

      Yes. He said it very nonchalantly, and I thought that was a known fact, and then later I looked and it was, you know ... Uh, I'm not sure that was objectively, publicly known. But if Oliver said it, then perhaps there's some truth to it.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:48

      Well, he stayed there for quite a while when he was interviewing Putin.

   9. LFLex Fridman15:51

      Yeah, two years. No, he visited multiple times, and he-

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:54

       Yeah.

   11. LFLex Fridman15:54

       ... he spent time with him. Yeah, I ... But, uh, according to Oliver, he, uh, he beat it. He beat the cancer. But, you know, he's 69 years old, 7- he's gonna be 70-

   12. JRJoe Rogan16:05

       Yeah, but beating the cancer when Oliver was there versus what he has now.

   13. LFLex Fridman16:09

       Oh, what he has now?

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:09

       Yeah, because he looks, like, puffy. You know, which is oftentimes the ... You know. I, I had ... We were talking about this with the Chris Distefano podcast. Um, I had a friend who had gout, and they g- they gave him prednisone. Now, he had something else too. Um, sarcoidosis, and they gave him prednisone, and his like ... His face got big.

   15. LFLex Fridman16:34

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:34

       And it just like, "You look puffy."

   17. LFLex Fridman16:37

       Well-

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:37

       And he said it's just a side effect of the steroids. Yeah, his face is puffy, you know? Yeah, Oliver Stone says, "Vladimir P- Putin has struggled with cancer. During his time in which the filmmaker focused on his work wi- on the Russian president pictured above, Putin waved during the Victory Day Parade, Red Square, May 9th." Yeah.

   19. LFLex Fridman16:56

       Well, I'm much more ... I'm much less of concerned about the puffiness of his face. I'm more concerned about what's going on with, with his mind.

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:03

       That's what I'm saying too.

   21. LFLex Fridman17:03

       It seems like he's a different man now than he was even a year ago. Uh-

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:08

       In what w- in what way?

   23. LFLex Fridman17:09

       Um, so from ... This is what Oliver Stone commented on, and I agree. He's formed a much stricter information bubble around him, that there's, uh, that isolation that a lot of us have experienced with COVID. I honestly think it might have to do with just the isolation due to COVID.

   24. JRJoe Rogan17:28

       Mm.

   25. LFLex Fridman17:28

       You know, the, the basic distance you have to keep and all that kinda stuff as a, as a political leader, you had to have extra precautions, so-

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:35

       Especially a political li- leader that assassinates his enemies.

   27. LFLex Fridman17:39

       Yes. (laughs)

   28. JRJoe Rogan17:40

       (laughs)

   29. LFLex Fridman17:40

       I'd say that ... Well-

   30. JRJoe Rogan17:42

       Oh yeah, there's that too.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   We can have both.…

   1. JRJoe Rogan30:00

      ocean. And I'm like, "Why would we assume that those aren't just super fucking capable drones that we don't know exist yet?"

   2. LFLex Fridman30:09

      We can have both.

   3. JRJoe Rogan30:10

      Yeah.

   4. LFLex Fridman30:11

      We can have-

   5. JRJoe Rogan30:11

      We definitely can have both.

   6. LFLex Fridman30:12

      We can have both. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan30:13

      We definitely can have both. I think both is on the table.

   8. LFLex Fridman30:15

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan30:16

      But I think a lot of this shit that they're watching, like here's one. I've been thinking about this Commander David Fravor thing, this Tic Tac thing off of the coast of, uh, Saint... Why would it go there? Why, why would it go there? Well, that's where all the fucking military is. Why would it go there and be completely undetected and be operating in the middle of the ocean and be operating over what looks like something that's some sort of a submerged base or some sort of a submerged vehicle that interacts with this drone that operates at an insane rate of speed?... like, wouldn't you ... And it ha- it has active radar jamming, so it actively jams you. Why, why wouldn't we assume that that's ours?

   10. LFLex Fridman30:53

       Yeah, given how much secrecy there is in-

   11. JRJoe Rogan30:55

       Yeah.

   12. LFLex Fridman30:56

       ... in American government and-

   13. JRJoe Rogan30:57

       Not just that.

   14. LFLex Fridman30:57

       ... Chinese government.

   15. JRJoe Rogan30:58

       But how much fake transparency there is from the Pentagon and from Congress, where they're having meetings about UFOs. "We need to inform the general public," like they give a fuck about what we think, about anything. What benefit is there to inform the general public other than none?

   16. LFLex Fridman31:15

       Yeah, and I'm not sure how much politicians know. I feel like politicians is like the surface wave-

   17. JRJoe Rogan31:20

       Yeah.

   18. LFLex Fridman31:20

       ... of an ocean. I feel like most of the work is done, um, by people that are employed for their whole life and working, uh, in the DoD, Department of-

   19. JRJoe Rogan31:28

       Yeah.

   20. LFLex Fridman31:29

       ... Defense, and-

   21. JRJoe Rogan31:29

       Deep state.

   22. LFLex Fridman31:31

       Yeah, I mean, that term has been-

   23. JRJoe Rogan31:32

       But that s- that term is beat, beat up.

   24. LFLex Fridman31:34

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan31:34

       But it's a real term.

   26. LFLex Fridman31:35

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan31:36

       You know, I mean the, I mean whatever that is, the state. What is the state? What is the government? And what is the government that is not elected and doesn't get removed from office every four years? What does-

   28. LFLex Fridman31:45

       Well, I, I think ... Doesn't the deep state imply there's a deep, like, corruption and manipulation of the populous to sort of, uh, like con- like a conspiratorial, like, controlling the populous? The goal is to, like, uh, for the people that are really in control to get richer and more powerful and that kinda stuff.

   29. JRJoe Rogan32:04

       But doesn't that just come with the territory?

   30. LFLex Fridman32:06

       No, I don't think it does necessarily. I know, I-
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   "Was that real?" And…

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      where people have these interactions with them, and then they don't know what to do or what to say because it seems so bizarre and no one wants to believe it. Because we have an inability to really think rationally about something that we have no evidence of. Like, if someone has an experience, it's a completely unique experience. So like, if you walk outside of the studio and you, you get in your car and then all of a sudden something hovers over your car, all traffic stops around you. Time stands still. You, your car stops. You get outside the car and this thing hovers and these creatures come out and they communicate with you. And they communicate with you telepathically and tell you that this civilization, that life itself on earth is in grave danger and that you have to do your best to try to implement artificial intelligence in a way that's gonna subvert that, that's gonna save people, and this is imperative. And if you don't do that, there's a real possibility with the capabilities of weapons now that they're gonna miss something and something's gonna detonate it. It's gonna start a domino chain of events that's gonna be unstoppable and it's gonna wipe out life on earth. And then they go away, and then you're standing there in front of your car and then traffic starts moving again and you're just standing there and you're going, "What the fuck happened? Did- Yeah.

   2. LFLex Fridman46:18

      "Was that real?" And then you call me and-

   3. JRJoe Rogan46:21

      And you'll hate you what I believe.

   4. LFLex Fridman46:22

      ... me general- I'll believe you.

   5. JRJoe Rogan46:23

      All right.

   6. LFLex Fridman46:23

      I'm fucking crazy.

   7. JRJoe Rogan46:26

      (laughs)

   8. LFLex Fridman46:26

      I believe a lot of shit. See, see, but that, that, that's like, um, uh, so that's, that's a possibility, but that's like a physical manifestation. You know, I, I just, I just think there's so many other ways to influence humans. Like, what about where do ideas come from? What about the fe- seeding of ideas? What about consciousness itself?

   9. JRJoe Rogan46:42

      Oh, yeah.

   10. LFLex Fridman46:43

       It's just-

   11. JRJoe Rogan46:43

       I think ideas are aliens.

   12. LFLex Fridman46:44

       Yeah, they're like good... Tell me one scientist or artist that can tell you where their good ideas came from.

   13. JRJoe Rogan46:52

       Right.

   14. LFLex Fridman46:52

       They're all like, oh, just... I mean, it's never systematic. It's always like you're, you're, you're, like, channeling your receiver and antenna for something.

   15. JRJoe Rogan47:01

       Yeah.

   16. LFLex Fridman47:01

       Where is that coming from?

   17. JRJoe Rogan47:01

       That is creativity, right? Why-

   18. LFLex Fridman47:03

       Yeah. Where, where is that coming from?

   19. JRJoe Rogan47:04

       Where's it coming from?

   20. LFLex Fridman47:05

       (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan47:05

       The muse. I mean, Pressfield always talks openly about the muse and he treats it that way when he sits down to write. He treats it like it's a real object that's giving him information, and that he treats it with respect 'cause that's how the muse re- rewards him for his hard work.

   22. LFLex Fridman47:19

       Yeah. But also not just ideas, consciousness itself.

   23. JRJoe Rogan47:24

       Yeah.

   24. LFLex Fridman47:24

       Like, we take this for granted. It feels like something to be this-

   25. JRJoe Rogan47:28

       Yeah.

   26. LFLex Fridman47:29

       Like, what is that? Because, like, do other animals have this? Maybe this kind of consciousness that we have ability to richly experience the world in a really interesting complicated way, maybe that's, that's a gift from elsewhere for us to be able to understand ourselves and to create something that will save this place.

   27. JRJoe Rogan47:53

       Or maybe it's a function of the universe that constantly encourages innovation. If you look-

   28. LFLex Fridman47:58

       Yeah.

   29. JRJoe Rogan47:58

       I mean, I've said this ad nauseam, but I'll say it again because it fits into this conversation. If you were observing the earth from afar, if you had no, no context, if you, you didn't understand the human species at all, if you were completely alien from it, you're a being made of light and you're observing what, what these creatures do. Well, what's the predominant change-oriented creature on this planet? It's humans. And what do humans do? Well, it seems like they make better and better stuff. That's what they're always doing. And maybe that's what materialism is all about. Maybe our obsession with materialism is an insurance policy that fuels constant innovation. You know, like I have a phone, an iPhone, one of my other phones, that's three years old maybe. When I use it, I can't fucking tell. But when the new one comes out, I'm gonna be one of the first dorks to get it.

   30. LFLex Fridman48:53

       (laughs)
5. 1:00:00 – 1:15:00

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:00:00

      should not be encouraged-

   2. LFLex Fridman1:00:01

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:00:02

      ... but in fact, be squashed as much as possible. Humility should be encouraged at every turn. And what does that to me is marijuana. Marijuana is the perfect drug for me, 'cause marijuana calms me down, makes me sweeter, much more friendly, much more affectionate, much more kind, much more generous, and, uh, more creative. I think about things more. I have a, I have a ape mind. My mind is, uh, you know, you don't... I don't wanna encourage confidence. I have plenty of that.

   4. LFLex Fridman1:00:30

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:00:30

      I'm not looking to do that.

   6. LFLex Fridman1:00:31

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:00:31

      I'm looking, (laughs) I'm looking, I'm looking for the opposite.

   8. LFLex Fridman1:00:33

      Calm down and just a little bit of anxiety and paranoia to-

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

      Yeah, I like a little of that.

   10. LFLex Fridman1:00:36

       Just a little bit.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:00:37

       I like a little paranoia.

   12. LFLex Fridman1:00:37

       A little bit. Okay.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:00:38

       I like it.

   14. LFLex Fridman1:00:39

       And you're saying alcohol...

   15. JRJoe Rogan1:00:41

       Alcohol is just like a social lubricant for me.

   16. LFLex Fridman1:00:44

       Yeah.

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:00:44

       It makes me silly. Like, I'm not a mean drunk, I'm a happy drunk.

   18. LFLex Fridman1:00:46

       Yeah.

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:00:46

       I get happy.

   20. LFLex Fridman1:00:47

       Yeah, me too. Me too.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:00:48

       I talk a lot of shit. I laugh a lot. Uh, I want people to know I love 'em. It's like, I think that's good for me. But in j- moderation. Like, the drunkest I've ever, I ever get is really on the podcast, 'cause you're sitting here for hours and hours of just drinking and talking.

   22. LFLex Fridman1:01:02

       Just drinking and talking. Disappears. By the way, I regret, uh, that, the Vegas thing-

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:01:07

       (laughs)

   24. LFLex Fridman1:01:07

       ... where I got really drunk on an empty stomach.... I don't remember anything, and I feel like I embarrassed myself deeply.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:01:13

       No, you didn't.

   26. LFLex Fridman1:01:13

       And I, I have recently spoken a, a few times with, with David Goggins, just on, on the phone and stuff.

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:01:19

       (laughs)

   28. LFLex Fridman1:01:20

       And I just, you know, when, when you're like-

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:01:22

       Should we tell the whole story? (laughs)

   30. LFLex Fridman1:01:25

       Oh, God. Yeah.
6. 1:15:00 – 1:17:22

   Yeah. …

   1. JRJoe Rogan1:15:00

      top of being, like, this, uh, amazing just thinker. Like, he's, he's capable of this ... He was capable of putting that down in a way where the way he flavored these conversations was like the way a great chef would flavor a great meal. It's like there was-

   2. NANarrator1:15:19

      Yeah.

   3. JRJoe Rogan1:15:19

      ... something to it that was ... I, I really admired his, his appreciation of creativity and of rebellion and of art and someone who's really good. He was ... Like, he wrote in his Twitter bio, it just said, "Enthusiast." That's who what he was, you know? He was just like ... So, it took a while for me to hang with him, you know. But fortunately, I got to hang with him quite often, you know, and maybe not often enough. There was like ... Yeah, you know. I just get fucking sad about that one.

   4. NANarrator1:15:51

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan1:15:51

      That one's a hard one. That one's a hard one for me 'cause that's a waste. That's just so unnecessary. It's like you, you, you hit a low point and you pulled the chute. And the world suffered because of that, and his family suffered, and his daughter suffered. And it's like, "Fuck, man." I know that those feelings are there, but you can fight those off and there will be a better day. This too will pass, and your ... There'll be a better day. And the thing that helps you in those better days are friends. And I don't think I was quite, quite close enough to him for him to reach out. But if he did, I think I could've helped. 'Cause I've had a lot of experience with crazy women in my life. I've had a lot of experience with what he was going through. And sometimes you need a, a guide to go, "Hey, man, I'll tell you fucking exactly what's going on."

   6. NANarrator1:16:36

      Yeah.

   7. JRJoe Rogan1:16:37

      And there's a lot of these people out there in the world. And they'll get close to you, and then they'll try to damage you and they'll try to hurt you because they're hurt, 'cause they're, they're fucked up. And they're fucked up 'cause someone fucked them up. And they're ... You know, it's, it's, it's a fucking endless cycle. It's almost like a cycle of, you know, you hear about people that were molested and then they go on to molest other people. It's like that kind of a thing, you know?

   8. NANarrator1:16:57

      But I think it ... It's probably often difficult to reach out when you're in that state.

   9. JRJoe Rogan1:17:01

      It's almost impossible. You don't, you don't ... First of all, you don't think that when you're struggling and you're all fucked up, you, you feel pathetic and you feel weak.

   10. NANarrator1:17:10

       And you don't want to be a burden to others.

   11. JRJoe Rogan1:17:11

       Exactly.

   12. NANarrator1:17:12

       That's how you think about it.

   13. JRJoe Rogan1:17:13

       Yeah. Well, that's him anyway. He was very, very independent anyway. But we-

   14. NANarrator1:17:18

       Have you ever, uh ... Have you ever been to a dark place like that yourself?

Episode duration: 2:42:59