Joe Rogan: Fear, Love, Chaos, and the Joe Rogan Experience | Lex Fridman Podcast #127

1. 0:00 – 1:17

   Introduction

   1. LFLex Fridman0:00

      The following is a conversation with Joe Rogan that we recorded after my recent appearance on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Joe has been a inspiration to me and, I think, to millions of people for just being somebody who puts love out there in the world and being genuinely curious about wild ideas from chimps and psychedelics to quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence. Like many of you, I've been a fan of his podcast for over a decade and now, somehow, miraculously, am, uh, humbled to be able to call him a friend. If you enjoy this thing, subscribe on YouTube, review it with five stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, support on Patreon, or connect with me on Twitter, @lexfriedman. Today's sponsors are Neuro, Eight Sleep, Dollar Shave Club, and Olive Garden, home of the unlimited breadsticks and Brian

   2. JRJoe Rogan0:58

      (laughs)

   3. LFLex Fridman0:58

      Redband's favorite restaurant. Check out the first three of the sponsors in the description to get a discount and to support this podcast. I usually do full ad reads here and never ads in the middle, but this time, let's go straight to the conversation with a bit of guitar first.

2. 1:17 – 1:54

   JRE theme on guitar

   1. LFLex Fridman1:17

      (electric guitar music)

3. 1:54 – 3:24

   Fear of mortality

   1. LFLex Fridman1:54

      Do you ponder your mortality? Are you afraid of death?

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:58

      I, I do think about it sometimes. I mean, it does pop into my head sometimes. Just the fact that, uh... I mean, I'm 53, so if everything goes great, I have less than 50 years left. You know, if everything goes great, like no car accidents, no injuries. Yeah.

   3. LFLex Fridman2:15

      But it could happen today. This could be your last day on this Earth.

   4. JRJoe Rogan2:18

      Could be.

   5. LFLex Fridman2:19

      That's kind of a Stoic thing to meditate on death. There's a, there's a bunch of philosophers, Ernest Becker and, uh, Sheldon Solomon, they believe that death is the, at the core of everything. Wrote this book, Warm at the Core. So, does that come into play in the way you see the world?

   6. JRJoe Rogan2:37

      I think having a sense of urgency is very beneficial. And understanding that your time is limited can aid you greatly. I think, uh, knowing that this is a temporary time, that we, we have finite life spans, I, I, I think there's a, a, there's great power in that because it, it motivates you, it gets you going. I think being an immortal, living forever, would be one of the most depressing things, particularly if everybody else was dying around you. And I think one of the things that makes life so interesting and fascinating is that it doesn't last, you know, that you, you really get a brief amount of time here. And really by the time you're just starting to kind of figure yourself out, who you are and how not to screw things up so bad, like, time's up. (laughs)

   7. LFLex Fridman3:23

      The ride's over.

4. 3:24 – 7:08

   Chaos of 2020 and beyond

   1. LFLex Fridman3:24

      What about from your, like, from your daughter's perspective, do you, do you, uh, think about the world we're in now and what kind of world you're gonna leave them?

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:35

      I do.

   3. LFLex Fridman3:35

      And do you worry about it?

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:37

      I do. Yeah, I do. I do when I see these, uh, protests and riots and chaos and so much, (sighs) so much, uh, anger in the world today. And then particularly today, I think, because of the, the pandemic and the fact that so many folks are out of work and through no fault of their own and can't make ends meet and just people feel so helpless and angry, it's, uh, a particularly divisive time. It's a particularly turmoil-filled time. And, uh, it just doesn't seem like the world of a year ago even. It feels very chaotic and dangerous. And this, and it's a small thing, like in terms of the, like the possibilities of things that could happen to the world, like a pandemic like the one we've experienced that really just doubles the amount of deaths on a bad flu year. So it, relatively speaking, is a small thing comparison to super volcano eruptions, asteroid impact, uh, a real horrific pandemic or one that, you know, really wipes out millions and millions of people. It's, um, it's stunning how fragile civility is. It's stunning how fragile our, uh, our, our society really is that something like this can come along, some unprecedented thing, unprecedented thing can come along and all of a sudden everybody's out of work for six months and then everybody's at each other's throats. And then politically everyone's at each other's throats and, and then with the advent of social media and, uh, the images that you can see, you know, the videos of police abuse and just racial tensions are at an all-time high to a point where like if you asked me just five or six years ago like, uh, are, have racial problems in this country largely been alleviated? I'd probably say, "Yeah, it's way better than it's ever been before." But now you could argue that it's not. Now you could argue it's no, it's way worse in, in just a small amount of time. It's way worse than it's ever been during my lifetime. You co- while, my, while I'm aware of it, you know, obviously when I was a, a young boy in the '60s, they were still going through the civil rights movement, but now, uh, it just seems very fever pitched. And I think a lot of that is because of the pandemic and is because of all the, the heightened, uh, just tension. The way... What I liken it to is...... um, pe- road rage. 'Cause, you know, people have road rage not just because they're in their car and no one can get to them, but also because you're at a heightened state because you're driving fast and you know you're driving fast. You know you have to make split-second movements. And so anybody doing something, you're like, "What the f-" People go crazy because they're, they're already at an eight because they're in their car and they're moving very quickly. That's what it feels like with today, with the pandemic. It feels like everybody is already at an eight, so anything that comes along, it's like, "Light it all on fire!" You know, "Burn it down!" Like, that's part of what I think is part of the reason for s- a lot of the looting and the riots and all the chaos. It's not just the people out of work, but it's also that everyone feels so tense already and everyone feels so helpless. And it's like, you know, doing something like that makes people, uh, it just... It gives people a, a, a whole new motivation for chaos, a whole new motivation for, for doing destructive things that I'm, I've never experienced in my life.

   5. LFLex Fridman7:07

      On your better

5. 7:08 – 16:07

   Are we going to be okay?

   1. LFLex Fridman7:08

      days when you see a positive future, what, what do you think is the way out of this, uh, chaos of 2020? Like, if you visualize a 2025 that's a better world than today, what does that... How do we get there and what does that look like?

   2. JRJoe Rogan7:22

      That's a good question. (sighs) I d- I, I can s- sc- honestly say I don't know, and, uh, I wouldn't have said I don't know a year ago. A year ago, I would've said, "We're gonna be okay. As much as people hate Trump, the epon- economy's doing great. I think we're gonna be fine." That's not how I feel today. Today, uh, I don't think there's a, a clear solution politically 'cause I think if Trump wins, people are gonna be furious, and I think if Biden wins, people are gonna be furious. Um, particularly, like, if things get more woke. You know, if people, uh, continue to enforce this, uh, forced compliance and, and make people behave a certain way and act a certain way, which seems to be a part of what this whole woke thing is that... Is... The most disturbing for me is that I, I see what's going on. I see there's a lot of losers that have hopped on this and they, they shove it in people's faces and it doesn't have to make sense. Like, there was a Black Lives Matter protest that stopped this woman at a restaurant. Uh, they were, uh, surrounding her outside a restaurant and they were forcing her to raise her fist in compliance. This is a woman who's marched for black lives multiple times, b- Black Lives Matter multiple times, and the people all around her doing this were all white.

   3. LFLex Fridman8:35

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan8:36

      It's all, it's all weird. My friend Coach T, he's a, a wrestling coach who's also, uh, on a podcast, my friend Brian Moses, hi- his take on it is that black... And he's a Black guy, and he says, "Black Lives Matter is a white cult." (laughs)

   5. LFLex Fridman8:47

      (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan8:47

      And I'm like, when you see that picture, it's hard to argue that he's got a point. I mean, it's clearly not all about that, but there's a lot of people that have jumped onboard that are very much like cult members. Because the thing about Black Lives Matter or any movement is you can't control who joins. There's no entrance, uh, examination, so you don't go, "Okay, how do you feel about this? What's your perceptions on that?" Like, what are you... How... You know, like the, the man who shot the Trump supporter in Portland, you know that guy who, uh, murdered the Trump supporter-

   7. LFLex Fridman9:20

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan9:20

      ... then the cop shot him? That guy was walking around with his hand on his gun looking for Trump supporters.

   9. LFLex Fridman9:27

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan9:27

       Just wa- I mean, he's a, uh, known violent guy who was walking around looking for Trump supporters, found one and shot one. That has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter. He's a white guy, he shot another white guy. It's just, it's just madness, you know? And th- that kind of madness is, uh, it's disturbing to see it ramp up so quickly. I mean, there's been, there's been riots in Portland every night... Oh, excuse me, demonstrations, for 101 days now. 101 days in a row of them lighting things on fire, breaking into federal buildings. It's like, uh, whoever saw that coming? Nobody saw that coming. So I don't know what the solution is and I don't know what it looks in five years. So 2025, to answer your question, like, it could be anything. I mean, we, we could be looking at Mad Max. We could be looking at the, the apocalypse. We could, we could also be looking at an invasion from another country. We could be looking at a war, like a real hot war.

   11. LFLex Fridman10:25

       To put a little bit of responsibility on you, like, for me, I've listened to you since the red band Olive Garden days, that's f- the very beginning, and, uh, there was something in the way you communicated about the world, maybe there was others but you were the one I was aware of, is you were open-minded and, uh, like, loving towards the world, especially as the podcast developed. Like, you just demonstrated and lived this kind of, just, kindness or maybe even, like, lack of jealousy. In your own little profession of comedy, it's, it was clear that you didn't... You, you didn't succumb to the weaker aspects of human nature and thereby inspire, like, people like me, who I was... I was naturally, pro- probably especially in like the 20s, uh, early 20s, kind of jealous on the success of others and you're really the primary person that taught me to, um, truly celebrate the success of others. And so (laughs) by way of question, you kinda have a role in this, of making a better 2025. You have such a big megaphone. Is there something you think you can do on this podcast with the words, the way you talk, the, the things you discuss, that could create a better 2025?

   12. JRJoe Rogan11:39

       I think if anything I could help in leading by example, but, uh, you know, that's only gonna help the people that are listening. I don't know, uh, what else I can do in terms of, like, make the world a better place other than express my hopes and wishes for that and just try to be as nice as I can to people-

   13. LFLex Fridman12:02

       Yeah.

   14. JRJoe Rogan12:02

       ... as, as often as I can. But I also think that I've fallen into this weird category, particularly with the Spotify deal...... where, um, you know, I'm one of them now. I'm not a regular person anymore. Now I'm, like, some famous rich guy.

   15. LFLex Fridman12:18

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan12:18

       So you go from being a regular person to a famous rich guy that's out of touch, you know, and, uh, that- that's a real issue whenever you're talking about the economy, about just real-life problems.

   17. LFLex Fridman12:31

       It's- i- it's interesting, it kind of hurts my heart to hear people say about Elon Musk, "He's just a billionaire."

   18. JRJoe Rogan12:35

       Yeah.

   19. LFLex Fridman12:36

       It's an interesting statement. But I think if you just continue being you and he continued being him, people- peop- I think people are just voicing their worry that you've become some rich guy.

   20. JRJoe Rogan12:49

       I don't even know if they're doing that. I think they're just finding w- the way he describes it, an attack vector.

   21. LFLex Fridman12:56

       Right.

   22. JRJoe Rogan12:56

       Yeah, and I think he's right. I think they just, uh, they can dismiss you by just saying, "Oh, you're- you're just a that." You know, you're a, you know, you're easily, um, definable.

   23. LFLex Fridman13:08

       Right. But there- I mean, there's truth to that. Y- you- i- if you're not careful, you can become out of touch.

   24. JRJoe Rogan13:13

       (sighs)

   25. LFLex Fridman13:14

       But you- that- that's an interesting thing, like, how- why haven't you become out of touch? Like, as a human off the podcast, you s- you don't act like a- like you- you talk to somebody like me. You don't talk like a famous person or you- you don't- you don't act rich.

   26. JRJoe Rogan13:31

       (laughs)

   27. LFLex Fridman13:32

       Like you're better than others. There's a certain- listen, I've talked to quite a few- you have too, but I've talked to a specially kind of group of people that are, like, Nobel Prize winners, let's say.

   28. JRJoe Rogan13:42

       Mm-hmm.

   29. LFLex Fridman13:43

       They have- sometimes have an air to them that's-

   30. JRJoe Rogan13:46

       An arrogance, yeah.
6. 16:07 – 23:22

   Violence, competition, and Sober October

   1. JRJoe Rogan16:07

   2. LFLex Fridman16:07

      Well, eh, the first time I talked to you on GRV, uh, you were doing Octo- um...

   3. JRJoe Rogan16:13

      Sober October.

   4. LFLex Fridman16:14

      ... Sober October, and there was something in your eyes, um, like I think you've talked about that you- y- you know, you exorcize the demons out essentially, so you exorcize to get whatever, the parts of you that you don't like, out. Uh, there was a dark (laughs) there was a darkness in you there, like the f- (laughs) the competitiveness and the focus of that person.

   5. JRJoe Rogan16:34

      That was a scary time in a lot of ways, that Sober October thing, 'cause, uh, m- my friends, we were all talking shit, right? 'Cause we were competing against each other in these fitness challenges, and you had, uh, one point per- like you got a certain amount of points per each minute that you went at 80% of your max heart rate. And one day, I got 1,100 points, so I did seven hours on an elliptical machine watching the bathhouse scene from John Wick where he murders all those people in the bathhouse. I watched it probably 50 times in a row. (laughs)

   6. LFLex Fridman17:07

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan17:07

      I went crazy. I went crazy, but I went crazy in a- a weird way where it- it brought me back to my, um, my fighting days. It was like the same- that person came out again. It was like, "Oh, I didn't even know he was in there." It's like they're- like- like- like an assassin, like a killer. Like I felt- I felt like- I felt like a- like a different person.

   8. LFLex Fridman17:31

      Is it echoes of, like, what Mike Tyson talked about essentially, like the-

   9. JRJoe Rogan17:35

      Maybe, but no orgasmic-

   10. LFLex Fridman17:36

       No (laughs)

   11. JRJoe Rogan17:37

       ... notions. (laughs) All the crazy shit that he was saying.

   12. LFLex Fridman17:40

       But is- is there-

   13. JRJoe Rogan17:41

       Oh my god.

   14. LFLex Fridman17:41

       ... is there that vi- is there a violent person in there?

   15. JRJoe Rogan17:44

       Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's a- a lot of- there's a lot of violence in me for sure. I don't know if it's genetic or learned or... It's because during my formative years from the time I was 15 till I was 22, all I did was fight. That was all I did. That was all I did. All I did was train and compete. That's all I did. That was my whole life.

   16. LFLex Fridman18:03

       Is it connected to, um... so you, uh, your- your mom and dad broke up early on. Is it connected to the dad at all?

   17. JRJoe Rogan18:10

       I- I'm- I'm sure it's connected to him also be- 'cause he was violent and it made me feel very scared to be around him, but I also think, um, it's connected in who he was as a human is transferred into my DNA. You know, I think there's a- a certain amount of- I mean, i-... I mean, to be prejudiced against myself, I look like a violent person. You know, if I didn't know me, I'm just ... Even the way I'm built, not even just the working out part, just the size of my hands and, (inhales deeply) like, there's the- the width of my shoulders. Like, there's, uh, most likely a lot of violence in my history, in my past, in my ancestry. And I think, um, I- I think we minimize that with people. Like, so much of your behavior ... Like, I ... When I see my daughter ... I have a- a ... one daughter that's obsessive in terms of, like, she wants to get really good at things. Like ...

   18. LFLex Fridman19:01

       (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan19:01

       ... and she, and she'll practice things all day long and, and it's, uh, 100% my personality. Like, she's me in female form.

   20. LFLex Fridman19:09

       Yeah.

   21. JRJoe Rogan19:09

       But without the anger as much and without the, um, fear. Like, she has, you know, a loving household and everything like that. But she has this intense obsession-

   22. LFLex Fridman19:20

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan19:20

       ... with doing things and doing things really well, and getting better, uh, with- to the point where you have to tell her to stop. Like, "Stop doing handsprings in the house. Stop. Stop. Come on. Just sit down. Have dinner." Like, "One more, one more." Like, she's just like ... She's like ...

   24. LFLex Fridman19:31

       Yeah.

   25. JRJoe Rogan19:31

       She's psycho.

   26. LFLex Fridman19:32

       Yeah.

   27. JRJoe Rogan19:33

       Um, and I think there's a lot of behavior (inhales deeply) and personality and, uh, a lot of these things are passed down through genetics. We don't really know, right? We don't know how much of w- who you are genetically is bec- learned behavior, you know, nature or nurture. We don't know if it's learned behavior or whether or not it's something that's intrinsically a part of you because of, you know, who your parents were. I think there's f- ... There's c- certainly some genetic violence in me. There's cert-

   28. LFLex Fridman20:06

       And so you channeled it.

   29. JRJoe Rogan20:08

       Yeah, I channeled it.

   30. LFLex Fridman20:08

       You figured out is basically your life is a productive exploration of how to channel that.
7. 23:22 – 24:25

   Mike Tyson

   1. LFLex Fridman23:22

      That's why it's so interesting to see Mike Tyson s- make the switch.

   2. JRJoe Rogan23:25

      (exhales)

   3. LFLex Fridman23:25

      It's clear that, like, whatever that is, however that fight goes, he made a s- ... There's a switch of a diff- ... He stepped into a different dimension. Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan23:32

      Roy Jones Jr.'s coming on my podcast soon, and, uh, you know, Roy's gonna be on, uh, before the fight. I'm- I'm ju- ... I'm so curious to see how it goes down, but genuinely concerned, 'cause Mike Tyson is a heavyweight, and Roy Jones at his best was 168 pounds, and um-

   5. LFLex Fridman23:50

      But I don't know if Roy has that room in his house, mental house of where Mike Tyson goes. (laughs)

   6. JRJoe Rogan23:57

      I don't know. I don't know if he has that room. Mike's- Mike doesn't have a room. He's- he's got an empire in there.

   7. LFLex Fridman24:01

      (laughs) With his- with his tigers.

   8. JRJoe Rogan24:01

      He opens up the door. (laughs) He's- he opens up the door, there's- there's a whole empire in his head, and he's- he's in that firmly. You know, when he got out of the weed and- and- and started training again, (inhales deeply) like you could see it in him ... And by the way, physically, in- in person, he looks spectacular. He looks like a fucking Adonis. I mean, he looks ready to go.

   9. LFLex Fridman24:21

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan24:22

       It's crazy.

   11. LFLex Fridman24:23

       Yeah. I watched videos of him. What about

8. 24:25 – 26:49

   Managing obsession

   1. LFLex Fridman24:25

      you, uh ... Have you ever considered competing in jujitsu?

   2. JRJoe Rogan24:28

      No, for that very reason. I don't want to get obsessed.... that's my, my number one concern. I had to quit video games.

   3. LFLex Fridman24:35

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan24:35

      When we were playing video games at the studio, I had to quit because I was playing five hours a day, like out of nowhere. All of a sudden, I was playing five hours a day. I was coming home late for dinner.

   5. LFLex Fridman24:43

      Yeah.

   6. JRJoe Rogan24:43

      I was e- ending podcasts early and jumping on the video games and playing. I get obsessed with things and I have to recognize what that is. And these competitive things, like competitive... especially like really exciting competitive things like video games, they're very dangerous for me. The ultimate competitive video game is like jujitsu. And, um, if I was young, I most certainly would have done it. If I didn't have like a very clear career path, it was something that I enjoyed, my concern would be that I would become a professional jujitsu fighter-

   7. LFLex Fridman25:13

      Right.

   8. JRJoe Rogan25:13

      ... when I was young. And then I would not have the energy to do standup and do all the other things that I wound up doing as a career. When I was, um, 21, I quit my job teaching. I was teaching at Boston University. I was teaching Taekwondo there. And I, I knew... and I also had my own school in Revere. I knew I couldn't do it right and also be doing standup comedy. I knew I couldn't do both of those things.

   9. LFLex Fridman25:40

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan25:40

       There was no way.

   11. LFLex Fridman25:41

       You have to be cognizant of, uh, that obsessive force within you to make sure, uh-

   12. JRJoe Rogan25:45

       Yes. I, I'd have to know how to manage my mental illness.

   13. LFLex Fridman25:49

       Right.

   14. JRJoe Rogan25:49

       That's, that's a very particular mental illness. And I think that mental illness... again, my formative years, from 15 till I was, you know, 21-ish, 22, those, those years were spent constantly obsessed with martial arts. That was my whole day. I mean, I trained almost every day. The only time I would not train is if I was either injured or, uh, if I was exhausted, if I needed a day off. But I was obsessed. And so that part of my personality that I haven't nurtured is always gonna be there under the surface. And when you... it gets reignited by something, it's very weird. It's a weird feeling. And it can get reignited with a video game. It can get reignited with an- anything. That, that obsessive, that... you know, whatever it is. That competitive demon.

   15. LFLex Fridman26:38

       Yeah. The way you talk about guitar, I know you would love... fall in love with playing guitar, but I think you're very wise to not touch that thing.

   16. JRJoe Rogan26:44

       That's why I won't golf. I have friends who wanna golf.

   17. LFLex Fridman26:47

       Th-

   18. JRJoe Rogan26:47

       I'm like, "Mm-mm. I ain't fucking with

9. 26:49 – 32:31

   Jiu jitsu game

   1. JRJoe Rogan26:49

      that thing."

   2. LFLex Fridman26:49

      So a lot of people ask me abo- uh, like what's, uh, Joe Rogan's jujitsu game like? Like, like, like assuming that I, I somehow spend, uh, hours rolling with you before and after (laughs) we train.

   3. JRJoe Rogan27:02

      Mm-hmm.

   4. LFLex Fridman27:02

      I mean, what's a good, uh... we... you should, at some point, show a technique or something. That'll be fun.

   5. JRJoe Rogan27:07

      Sure. I mean, I've got-

   6. LFLex Fridman27:08

      What's your game like? What's your A ga-

   7. JRJoe Rogan27:10

      ... these techniques online.

   8. LFLex Fridman27:10

      Oh, there... I saw, I saw you doing a, uh, I think head and arm, uh, something online? That was a fun video.

   9. JRJoe Rogan27:15

      Yeah. I did a... that was... I fucked my neck up doing head and arm chokes. I did them so much that I, I... you know, because you use your neck so much with head and arm chokes.

   10. LFLex Fridman27:24

       Yeah.

   11. JRJoe Rogan27:24

       I developed like a real kink in my neck, and, uh, it turned out I had a bulging disc.

   12. LFLex Fridman27:29

       Wow.

   13. JRJoe Rogan27:30

       And, uh, you know.

   14. LFLex Fridman27:31

       So you do it on that, just one side? On-

   15. JRJoe Rogan27:33

       Well, it was, uh... no, I could do it on the left side, but I definitely am better on the right side. The right side was my best side.

   16. LFLex Fridman27:39

       What's... so if you were to compete, let's say, like what's your A game? What would you go... from standing up, how would you go to submission? Would you pull guard? Would you take down? What... how would you pa- uh, pass guard? What's-

   17. JRJoe Rogan27:51

       I don't have good take downs. I'm not... I was not a good wrestler. So I would most likely either pull guard or I would pull half guard.

   18. LFLex Fridman27:59

       Do you have a good guard?

   19. JRJoe Rogan28:00

       Yes.

   20. LFLex Fridman28:00

       Are, are you comfortable being on your-

   21. JRJoe Rogan28:01

       Yes.

   22. LFLex Fridman28:02

       ... on your butt and your back?

   23. JRJoe Rogan28:02

       Yes. I've... I'm very flexible, so I have good... my rubber guard is pretty-

   24. LFLex Fridman28:07

       You got a rubber guard?

   25. JRJoe Rogan28:07

       ... pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. I have good arm bars and good triangles off my back but, um, I also have a very good half guard. But my top game is my best. I've... I have a very strong top game

   26. NANarrator28:18

       That's true.

   27. LFLex Fridman28:18

       Do you have a half guard? Do you have, do you have a preference of like what kind of guard and how to pass that guard and... uh, like yeah. Like is there a specific game plan? Like you... do you-

   28. JRJoe Rogan28:29

       Double underhooks from half guard is the game plan for me. If I can get double underhooks from half guard, I could sweep a lot of people.

   29. LFLex Fridman28:36

       Uh, underhooks of what? Sorry. The arms or the legs?

   30. JRJoe Rogan28:39

       So half guard, lock down, right?
10. 32:31 – 36:06

    Best martial art for self defense

    1. JRJoe Rogan32:31

    2. LFLex Fridman32:31

       Let me ask the ridiculous question. What do you think-

    3. JRJoe Rogan32:33

       Okay.

    4. LFLex Fridman32:33

       We're talking about cops, but what do you think, uh, is the best martial arts for self-defense?

    5. JRJoe Rogan32:38

       For sure, jujitsu. Yeah, for sure.

    6. LFLex Fridman32:40

       Wrestling?

    7. JRJoe Rogan32:41

       I, I think grappling, I should say. But judo as well, and especially in a cold climate. If you get someone who's got like a heavy winter jacket on, my God, like judo is an incredible martial art there.

    8. LFLex Fridman32:50

       Test concrete.

    9. JRJoe Rogan32:53

       That's the worst place to be with a heavy winter jacket, with a judo specialist, and you're standing up with them. Oh my God. Um, but I think, um, grappling, because in most self-defense situations, it usually winds up with grappling. You're definitely better off though knowing some striking 'cause there's nothing more terrifying than when you go to take someone down, they actually have takedown skills, but they can fight. And so they have takedown defense, and they know how to fight, and then you don't know how to stand up. Like, the, the worst thing in the world is seeing someone like reaching who doesn't know how to do striking and someone cracks you. I think-

    10. LFLex Fridman33:25

        What about all that Krav Maga talk, which is like, you know, the whole line of argument that says that jujitsu and wrestling and all of these sports, they fundamentally take you away from the nature of violence. So they're just teaching you how to play, versus the reality of, of, um, violence that is involved in like a self-defense situation that is, is the... a, a totally different set of skills would be needed.

    11. JRJoe Rogan33:52

        In general, the people that say that jujitsu or other martial arts don't... They, that it's more of a sport and they don't really understand vio- and vi- uh, they don't really understand violence, in general, the people that say that suck. (laughs)

    12. LFLex Fridman34:07

        Yeah. That's-

    13. JRJoe Rogan34:08

        Anybody who thinks like s- someone's like, "You know, hey man, I'll just bite you." I'm like, "Are you gonna bite me?"

    14. LFLex Fridman34:13

        (laughs)

    15. JRJoe Rogan34:13

        "Okay. You think I'm gonna bite you too? What do you think of that? What if I punch you in your fucking face? You think you're still gonna bite me-"

    16. LFLex Fridman34:19

        Yeah.

    17. JRJoe Rogan34:19

        "... when you can't even see?"

    18. LFLex Fridman34:21

        Yeah.

    19. JRJoe Rogan34:21

        "When you, you're, you, you barely even know you're alive and I choke you unconscious?" If someone's really good at jujitsu, good luck stabbing them with your keys. You know, you, you don't have a chance. You don't have a chance. If someone's much better than you and they trip you and get you on your back, and then they fucking elbow you in your face and get a head and arm choke on you, all that Krav Maga shit's out the window, son. You, you're way better off learning what works on trained killers. Like this whole idea that you're gonna poke someone in the eye and then you're gonna kick him in the nuts and the... Like you're, you're going through these drills that, yeah, it's good to know what to do if you run into someone who doesn't know how to fight. It's way better to know what to do to someone who knows how to fight. That's the best thing. Learn how to fight against people who know how to fight. Like all that practice self-defense, "And they're gonna, he's gonna come at you with a knife. You're going to grab the wrist and do that." Look, it's good to know self-defense, but it's much more important to understand martial arts comprehensively. When you understand martial arts comprehensively, like there's no Krav... Uh, I shouldn't say there's no Krav Maga guys, but it's v-... It would be shocking if a Krav Maga guy and a mixed martial arts guy had a fight, and the mixed martial arts guy who's a, a trained killer all around didn't fuck that guy up. That's, that's what I would expect would happen. I would, I would, I would not think that some guy who has a little bit of this and a little bit of that and prepares for the streets is gonna be able to handle a person who trains with killers on a day-to-day basis, who rolls with jujitsu black belts, who trains with Muay Thai champions. Like you're... It's... The best martial arts are the martial arts that work on martial artists, not the martial arts that work on untrained people.

11. 36:06 – 40:35

    Second amendment

    1. JRJoe Rogan36:06

    2. LFLex Fridman36:06

       What about... We're in Texas now. What about guns? So-

    3. JRJoe Rogan36:09

       Well, that's the best martial art. (laughs)

    4. LFLex Fridman36:10

       No, but would you like, uh, in this crazy time, should people carry guns?

    5. JRJoe Rogan36:17

       It's not a bad idea to have a gun, because if you need a gun, you have a gun. And if you don't need a gun-... if you're a person with self-control, you're not gonna use it. You're not gonna just randomly use it. But you have something to protect you. This is the whole idea of the Second Amendment. The whole idea of the Second Amendment gets distorted by mass shootings or by terrible people who murder people and do terrible things. But it's, that, all those things are real, but they don't take away from the fundamental efficacy of having a firearm and defending your family or defending your life. And there are real live situations where people have had firearms and it's protected them or their loved ones, or they've stopped shooters. They've, there, there's many of these stories. But people don't like those stories because then it, it tends to lead to this gun culture argument as pro-gun culture argument that people find very uncomfortable. It's, it's human beings are messy and we're messy in so many different ways, right? We're messy, uh, emotionally, we're messy, messy physically, but we're also messy in what's good or bad. What's, we want things to be binary. We want things to be right or wrong, you know, one or zero, and they're not. But, but there is crime in the world and there is violence in the world, and you're better off knowing how to fight and you're betting, better off knowing how to defend yourself and you're better off having a gun.

    6. LFLex Fridman37:39

       I mean, I, I generally think that guns, I do like the idea that guns, uh, Second Amendment helps protect the First Amendment. There's a kinda sense that makes, puts me at ease knowing that so many people in this country have guns that, uh, I mean, Alex Jones, I just listened to one episode of InfoWars for the first time.

    7. JRJoe Rogan38:00

       (laughs)

    8. LFLex Fridman38:00

       Boy, is he, he reminds me like when I drank some tequila, I felt like I'm going to some dark places today. That's how I feel like listening to him. But y- uh, he talks about, like, that it's, he worries about martial law. So basically government overreach by which happened throughout history. Like, there's, there's something to worry about there, but it's, it puts me at ease knowing that so much of the population has guns that people, government would think twice before, uh, instituting martial law in cities. But I actually was asking al- almost like on the individual level, I maybe shouldn't say this, but I don't yet own a gun. And I felt that if I carry a gun, statistically just for me as a human, knowing my psychology, I feel like I'm more likely to die. Like, I feel like I would put myself in situations that I shouldn't. Like, the way I, I will see the world will change because-

    9. JRJoe Rogan38:58

       Really?

    10. LFLex Fridman38:58

        ... my natural feeling is like when somebody, when I was in Philly and I knew late at night, in West Philly, when some guy looks at you and you can immediately calculate that this is a dangerous human being. There, it starts with a monkey look at first. Like, I'm a bigger monkey than you. And that's where I found, like, for example, I'll do the beta thing of just looking down and turning away and, and just getting out of trouble, like very politely and basically that kind of approach. Because if you have a, in terms of getting out of serious violent situations, like serious something where you could die versus if I had a gun, I feel like I would want to be, that that would be that cowboy monkey thing where I would want to put myself in situations-

    11. JRJoe Rogan39:45

        Mm-hmm.

    12. LFLex Fridman39:45

        ... where I'm a little bit of a savior even over myself and almost create danger which can no longer c- like the escalation of which I can no longer control.

    13. JRJoe Rogan39:57

        Well, you're talking about taking a gun somewhere versus having a gun in your home.

    14. LFLex Fridman40:00

        Yes, yes. I mean, carry on me.

    15. JRJoe Rogan40:02

        Yeah. That's a different situation and much harder, uh, to get a warrant for or a license for that, you know, control, uh, concealed carry licenses, the, especially in Massachusetts, they don't come easy.

    16. LFLex Fridman40:12

        Well, Mass- yeah, that's a whole nother thing. Yeah.

    17. JRJoe Rogan40:14

        Yeah. Whole nother thing.

    18. LFLex Fridman40:14

        You're saying gun in the home makes sense.

    19. JRJoe Rogan40:16

        Yeah. Gun in the home. Having a gun, having, knowing how to use a gun. Like I know how to use a gun. I've trained m- you know, many hours learning how to shoot a gun at, at tactical places, you know. There's a bunch of videos of me doing it on, uh, Instagram.

    20. LFLex Fridman40:30

        Those are awesome. (laughs)

    21. JRJoe Rogan40:31

        I, I practice and I think it's good to, to understand how to be

12. 40:35 – 46:08

    Memorable JRE moments

    1. JRJoe Rogan40:35

       accurate.

    2. LFLex Fridman40:36

       So I've been a fan of your podcast for a long time. You don't often talk about it 'cause you're always kind of looking forward. But if you look at the old studio that you just left, is there some epic memories that stand out to you that you, like you almost look back, "I can't believe this happened."

    3. JRJoe Rogan40:53

       Oh, yeah. Almost too many of them to count.

    4. LFLex Fridman40:57

       Is there something-

    5. JRJoe Rogan40:57

       Yeah.

    6. LFLex Fridman40:57

       ... that pops into mind that-

    7. JRJoe Rogan40:58

       All of them. Elon Musk blowing that flamethrower in the middle of the hallway (laughs) . I got a video of that. Have you ever seen the video of it?

    8. LFLex Fridman41:05

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you posted on Instagram.

    9. JRJoe Rogan41:06

       Yeah. I think I did too. Yeah. He's a madman. Um, having Bernie Sanders in there, uh, you know, just, uh, all the fun fight companions we did and all the crazy podcasts with Joey Diaz and Duncan Trussell and the, there were so many, there were so many moments, you know. It's, um, podcasts is a, they're, this is a weird art form and it almost seems like it sounds silly, but it almost seems like something that chose me rather than I chose it. I think of that all the time in some strange way. It's like I'm, I'm, I'm showing up as like a, an antenna and I just plug in and twist, twist on and then I, I take in the thing and I put it together and I, I'm like a passenger of this weird ride.

    10. LFLex Fridman41:49

        Yeah. I th- you, you've talked about this before. I really like this idea, uh, of that human beings are just carriers of these ideas.

    11. JRJoe Rogan41:57

        Yeah.

    12. LFLex Fridman41:57

        Like, ideas are the ones who are breeding.

    13. JRJoe Rogan41:59

        Yeah.

    14. LFLex Fridman41:59

        So in a sense, like the idea found you as a useful brain to use to spread itself through the podcasting medium.

    15. JRJoe Rogan42:06

        Yeah.

    16. LFLex Fridman42:06

        Like something th- that's a, on the, but d- g- 'cause when I think about your podcast, I think about Joey Diaz, I think about all those comedians you've had. I mean, I think you've had Joey on, I mean, maybe close to, I don't know, 50 times, 60.

    17. JRJoe Rogan42:21

        Sure. Probably.

    18. LFLex Fridman42:21

        Some, some crazy number. Is there, I mean, he is over the top offensive. Just that's who he is to the core. Is there some sense where...... you, you wondered like whether it's right to have (laughs) the Spotify episode number one with Duncan Trussell (laughs) for five hours?

    19. JRJoe Rogan42:45

        No.

    20. LFLex Fridman42:45

        What, what-

    21. JRJoe Rogan42:46

        No, I wanted to do it that way. That's why we wore NASA suits and we got high as fuck. It's like, that's the whole idea behind it.

    22. LFLex Fridman42:53

        I mean, can you introspect that a little bit? Like can you think, like what is that? 'Cause that's rare. That's, it's such a rare thing to do because the, there, the, you're not supposed to talk to Duncan Trussell with the huge platform that you have for five hours. (laughs)

    23. JRJoe Rogan43:08

        Why not?

    24. LFLex Fridman43:09

        Because Donald Trump w- apparently watches your podcast.

    25. JRJoe Rogan43:12

        (laughs)

    26. LFLex Fridman43:14

        So, (laughs) so just the idea that there's these... I mean, that's what I think about, you know, these CEOs write to me that they listen to the podcast that, that I, that I do. And I have somebody like a David Fravor.

    27. JRJoe Rogan43:26

        Mm-hmm.

    28. LFLex Fridman43:26

        And I was nervous about it. I was nervous to have a conversation. For me, David Fravor is a Duncan Trussell, which is like-

    29. JRJoe Rogan43:33

        Just because of his, uh, experiences with, uh, UFOs?

    30. LFLex Fridman43:36

        Yeah.
13. 46:08 – 52:44

    Ideas breed in brains of humans

    1. JRJoe Rogan46:08

    2. LFLex Fridman46:08

       (laughs)

    3. JRJoe Rogan46:08

       Because the, the l- life form idea, life form idea is mine that I've, I've real- I th- really think about a lot.

    4. LFLex Fridman46:14

       I think about it on a technical side, by the way.

    5. JRJoe Rogan46:16

       Yeah.

    6. LFLex Fridman46:16

       Like I, I, when I heard you say that, 'cause I've been thinking of it, I was like, "W- uh, whoa, that's interesting that there's two-"

    7. JRJoe Rogan46:21

       It might be, they might be alive.

    8. LFLex Fridman46:23

       Huh.

    9. JRJoe Rogan46:23

       Because they, I don't know what the fuck they are, but when someone ha- has an idea for a, you know, whatever, an invention, a toaster, and then they think about this, "All it'd need is like these heating elements and a spring, and then it pops when it's done so I have a timer," and then they build this thing, now all of a sudden it's alive. It's like you manifested it in a physical form. A toaster's not the best example, but a car, a airplane. You're thinking about a thing, like an idea comes into your head. And you can say, "Oh, well, it's just creativity. It's a part of being a person. It's how we invented tools and how, you know, uh, we became better hunters." All those things are true. It's, uh, I'm not, I'm not saying that there's some magic to what I'm saying. But there's also a possibility that we're simplifying something by saying that it's just creativity, that it's just a natural human inclination to invent things. But why? Is it possible that ideas, like creativity... Like, we are the only animal other than a, there's a few species that create things, like bees make beehives and, but it's very, they're very uniform. You know, uh, some animals use tools. You know, like, eh, you know, chimps will use like sticks to get termites and things like that. But there's something about what we do that's, it makes you wonder. 'Cause when you look at this s- just look at this room that we're in. Look at all these electronics. Look at all this crazy shit that human beings have invented and then built upon others' inventions, improved and innovated. These all came out of ideas. Like, the i- the idea, they, it, it germinates in someone's head, it bounces around, they write it down, they share it with others, the other people who have similar ideas or ideas that are complementary, they work together, and they, they, they change the world.

    10. LFLex Fridman48:12

        And the new thing in that is the idea is not the people. It's like we think we found the ideas, but it's more like the ideas-

    11. JRJoe Rogan48:18

        The ideas-

    12. LFLex Fridman48:19

        ... find us.

    13. JRJoe Rogan48:19

        ... find you, yeah. They're-

    14. LFLex Fridman48:20

        It's interesting.

    15. JRJoe Rogan48:20

        ... literally in the, in the air.

    16. LFLex Fridman48:22

        Yeah. Uh-huh.

    17. JRJoe Rogan48:23

        They, they come to you. I always felt like that with bits. Like, when I come up with a bit, that's why, um, I'm, I'm always telling people about the Steven Pressfield book, The War of Art-

    18. LFLex Fridman48:32

        Yeah.

    19. JRJoe Rogan48:32

        ... because he talks about, uh, respecting the muse and the idea that-... your ideas come when you sit down and you do the work or you sit down like a professional and you, you talk to the muse, like, "Come, tell, tell me what to do." Like, if the muse was a real thing, as if a muse was like a, some mystical creature that comes and delivers you ideas. Even if that's not real, that's how it works.

    20. LFLex Fridman48:56

        Yeah.

    21. JRJoe Rogan48:56

        It does work like that. If you do treat it like it's a muse and you treat it with the respect and you, you treat it like a professional, the ideas do come to you.

    22. LFLex Fridman49:05

        I never thought about what he's doing is just sitting there waiting for the idea that's trying to breed to find him.

    23. JRJoe Rogan49:11

        Yeah. There's-

    24. LFLex Fridman49:11

        That's, that's a, that's a trippy thing. (laughs)

    25. JRJoe Rogan49:13

        If you show up-

    26. LFLex Fridman49:14

        That's trippy.

    27. JRJoe Rogan49:14

        If you show up and put in the time and focus your energy on that, the, the ideas, they will arrive. They will arrive. And that's the same with writing comedy. Like, there's been many, many times where I'll come home from The Comedy Store and I just sit down and I start writing and I just, I've, uh, I got nothing, there's nothing there, I'm just writing, it's all bullshit. It's nothing's good, it's just like, "Hmm, huh," and then all of a sudden, bam, there's the idea.

    28. LFLex Fridman49:42

        You mean-

    29. JRJoe Rogan49:42

        And then all of a sudden, I can't stop. And then, you know-

    30. LFLex Fridman49:44

        Just goes.
14. 52:44 – 1:02:45

    Advice for Lex

    1. JRJoe Rogan52:44

    2. LFLex Fridman52:44

       You mentioned fuck you money. I, I feel like I have fuck you money now. A year ago, I was at zero. I have fuck you money now because probably my standards, my, I don't need, I don't need much in this world. But because also, probably because of you, uh, but it's 300 to 400,000 people listen to every episode I do. And it-

    3. JRJoe Rogan53:04

       That's a lot.

    4. LFLex Fridman53:05

       And that resu- it's weird. It's, it's definitely-

    5. JRJoe Rogan53:07

       That's a successful television show on cable.

    6. LFLex Fridman53:09

       Yeah, it's crazy.

    7. JRJoe Rogan53:10

       (laughs) And it's all you.

    8. LFLex Fridman53:11

       It's, yeah, it's hilarious.

    9. JRJoe Rogan53:12

       That's amazing.

    10. LFLex Fridman53:13

        But at this point, that also resulted in FU money in a sense that I don't, um, you know, I don't need anything else in this world. But so by way of asking, I've looked up, uh, you've inspired me for a long time. Do you have advice? You've done this th- on the podcast side of life. Do you have advice for somebody like, for me and somebody like me s- going on this journey? Eric Weinstein is going on this journey. Um, is there advice, both small and big, that you have for somebody like me?

    11. JRJoe Rogan53:50

        The advice is to keep doing what feels right to you and do what you're doing. Obviously it's resonating with people if you're getting that big of an audience. And I've listened to your podcast, you're very good at it. So, just keep doing it the way you're doing it. Um, don't let anybody else get involved.

    12. LFLex Fridman54:06

        What about, um, you've connected, I think you met Jamie at The Comedy Store.

    13. JRJoe Rogan54:11

        I met him at The Icehouse.

    14. LFLex Fridman54:12

        At The Icehouse?

    15. JRJoe Rogan54:13

        Icehouse. Well, I think I met him at The Comedy Store, but then, uh, we talked at The Icehouse.

    16. LFLex Fridman54:17

        I mean, what-

    17. JRJoe Rogan54:17

        You'd have to ask him.

    18. LFLex Fridman54:18

        Yeah, did you think deeply about... 'Cause like, you know, you basically have nobody on your team and, and so it almost feels like a marriage where d- is it, were you selective about, like, a J- too, somebody to bring into your little circle?

    19. JRJoe Rogan54:34

        Well, Jamie's exceptional.

    20. LFLex Fridman54:35

        He is. He tru- he's a m- (laughs) he's a special... I mean, he might have grown... I don't remember how he was in the early days, maybe you could say, but he's grown into something special.

    21. JRJoe Rogan54:42

        He was def- he's definitely better at it, but he, right away, he's exceptional. He's, uh, got very little ego.

    22. LFLex Fridman54:48

        Yes.

    23. JRJoe Rogan54:48

        He's, he's not a guy who needs a lot of attention. He's not a guy who, um, uh, overestimates...... uh, anything like in terms of like negative or positive. Like his, uh, like his, uh, interpretation of whether it's, uh, good things that happen to the show or bad things that happen in the show, he just takes it all like flat. He's chill. He's just cool as fuck, and he's so smart, (clears throat) and he's so good as an audio engineer and as a podcast producer. He's the best.

    24. LFLex Fridman55:19

        But he's basically one of the only people on your- on this whole team, so...

    25. JRJoe Rogan55:23

        Yeah.

    26. LFLex Fridman55:23

        How do you find, I mean, when you let people in... (sighs) I mean, I'm sure other people wanted to get involved. Like why don't you have a co-host that could... you basically kind of, well-

    27. JRJoe Rogan55:34

        You, well, here's the problem with a co-host. Like when you and I are talking, when we're talking, I'm tuned into you and I'm waiting to hear what you're saying, and I'm listening and I'm interpreting it, and then I'm calculating whether or not I have anything to say, whether to let you keep talking, whe- whether I maybe have a question that lets you expand further, or whether I have a, a disagreement or like there's a dance that's going on. Now when there's another person there (Lex claps hands) chiming in too, it fucks the dance up. It's like dancing, like if you're doing an, uh, a dance with someone, you know, like if you're slow dancing with someone and then a third person's there stepping on-

    28. LFLex Fridman56:13

        It's gonna be weird.

    29. JRJoe Rogan56:14

        ... everybody's feet. Sometimes it's fun.

    30. LFLex Fridman56:16

        Yeah.
15. 1:02:45 – 1:09:05

    Long-form conversation

    1. JRJoe Rogan1:02:45

       It's a weird dance, you know?

    2. LFLex Fridman1:02:47

       Yeah.

    3. JRJoe Rogan1:02:47

       The, the, the conversations that you're doing on a podcast are, are... they're, they're a strange dance. And you wanna, you know, you wanna not step on your own feet and you wanna make sure that you do it in a way, do the podcast in a way that's entertaining for people. And it's, it's a w- conversations or learning how to talk to people, it's a weird skill.

    4. LFLex Fridman1:03:08

       Yeah.

    5. JRJoe Rogan1:03:09

       It's a weird skill that took a long time for me to get good at. And I didn't know it was a skill until I started doing it. And then I, I, I just thought you were just talking. Like, I was just, I know how to talk, we'll just talk to people. And then along the way, I realized like, oh. And then when you talk to people that are bad at it, you realize that it's a skill. Like, particularly one of the things about my people, about comedians is a lot of 'em tend to want to talk but don't wanna listen.

    6. LFLex Fridman1:03:34

       Right. Yeah.

    7. JRJoe Rogan1:03:35

       So they're, they're waiting for you to stop talking so they can talk. But they're not necessarily thinking about what you're saying, you know? And they're just, they're just waiting for their opportunity or they talk over you or they... And I try real hard not to do that and sometimes I fail. But my, when I'm at my best, I'm, I'm dancing.

    8. LFLex Fridman1:03:55

       Yeah. Ultimately, the skill conversation is just really listening.

    9. JRJoe Rogan1:03:59

       Mm-hmm.

    10. LFLex Fridman1:03:59

        Like, really, and listening and thinking-

    11. JRJoe Rogan1:04:02

        Listening and thinking.

    12. LFLex Fridman1:04:03

        ... about, about what they say.

    13. JRJoe Rogan1:04:03

        ... and being, like, genuinely curious-

    14. LFLex Fridman1:04:05

        Yeah.

    15. JRJoe Rogan1:04:05

        ... and, and really having, um, uh, you know, a, a take on what they're saying and, and a, and a, and a maybe a follow-up question or maybe... And you just gotta, it's gotta be real. It's gotta be authentic. And when it is authentic and it's real, it resonates with people. Like, they're listening and they go, "Oh, like, I'm locked in with the way you're thinking." Like, you two guys are in a conversation and I'm locked in, you know? When she talks and you listen, I f- I'm listening too, you know? When he says something to her or when she says something to, to him, like, the- there- there's a thing that happens during conversations where you're there, like, you're listening to a... I, I... And it's with me when I listen to a good podcast, I feel like I'm in the room. I feel like I'm in the room and I'm like, like I'm, I'm like the friend that got to sit down and listen. Like, "Oh yeah, that's a great conversation."

    16. LFLex Fridman1:04:54

        Yeah.

    17. JRJoe Rogan1:04:54

        You know?

    18. LFLex Fridman1:04:55

        Yep.

    19. JRJoe Rogan1:04:55

        I love conversations. So I, I love listening to them and I love putting them together. And the fact that this podcast has gotten so fucking big, it, it, it's stunning to me. It blows me away. No, I never anticipated it. Never thought for a second that that stupid thing that I used to do on my couch in my, uh, my office was the biggest thing I've ever done in my life by far. Like, people used to make fun of it. Like, there's a Comedy Store documentary that's coming out (clears throat) and one of the parts of the documentary is my friend Tom Segura, when he first started doing my podcast, he would, he would be leaving and he would talk to Redman. He's like, "What the fuck is he doing?"

    20. LFLex Fridman1:05:32

        Yeah.

    21. JRJoe Rogan1:05:32

        Like, "Why is he doing this?"

    22. LFLex Fridman1:05:33

        Yeah.

    23. JRJoe Rogan1:05:33

        Like, "Who, who's listening?" He's like, "Oh, some people like it."

    24. LFLex Fridman1:05:36

        Yeah.

    25. JRJoe Rogan1:05:36

        And he is like, "Fucking nonsense. Waste of time." And like, in the, the documentary shows, like, 2,000 views, like, one of the early USTREAM episodes.

    26. LFLex Fridman1:05:45

        It's hilarious. And they don't just like it, really, they, uh, they form a friendship with you. It's like, uh, even me, when people come up to me, like, the love in their eyes is kind of beautiful. Uh-

    27. JRJoe Rogan1:05:56

        It's weird, right?

    28. LFLex Fridman1:05:57

        Yeah. It's like, uh-

    29. JRJoe Rogan1:05:58

        You're part of their life.

    30. LFLex Fridman1:05:59

        Yeah. And it, I don't know. It's al- it's also heartbreaking 'cause, uh, you realize you'll never really get to know them back. Like, 'cause they, they clearly are friends with you.
16. 1:09:05 – 1:14:21

    Meaning of life

    1. LFLex Fridman1:09:05

       Last question. I sometimes ask this just for it to, uh, what is it? To challenge, to make people roll their eyes. To make legitimate scientists roll their eyes.

    2. JRJoe Rogan1:09:17

       (laughs)

    3. LFLex Fridman1:09:17

       I ask, uh, uh, what is the meaning of life?

    4. JRJoe Rogan1:09:21

       Mm-hmm.

    5. LFLex Fridman1:09:21

       According to Joe Rogan.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:09:22

       I do not think there is a meaning. I think there's many, many meanings of life. I think there's a way to navigate life that's enjoyable. I think it requires many things. It requires, first of all, it requires love. You have to have loved ones, you have to have family, you have to have friends, you have to have people that care about you, and you have to care about them. I think that is primary. Then it also requires interests. There has to be things that stimulate you. Now, it could be just a subsistence lifestyle. There's many people that believe and practice this, uh, lifestyle of just living off the land and hunting and fishing and living in the woods, and they seem incredibly happy.

    7. LFLex Fridman1:10:03

       Yeah.

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:10:03

       And there's, there's something to be said for that. That is an interest, right? There's something, and there's a, there's a, a direct connection between their actions and their sustenance. They, they get their food that way. They're connected to nature, and the... And it's very satisfying for them. If you don't have that, uh, I think you need something that is interesting to you, pa- something that's, you're passionate about. And there's far too many people that get sucked into living a life where you're just doing a job, you're just showing up and putting in your time and then going home, but you don't have a passion for what you're doing. And I think that is... That's a recipe for a boring and very unfulfilling life.

    9. LFLex Fridman1:10:43

       You mentioned love-

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:10:45

        Yeah.

    11. LFLex Fridman1:10:45

        ... if we could just backtrack. What, uh... We, we talked about the demons and the violence in there somewhere. What's the role of love in this... in your own life?

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:10:55

        It's very important, man. And it, it... That's one of the reasons why I'm so, uh, I'm so interested in helping people. I, I'm very interested in people feeling good. I like them to feel good. I want to help them. I like, I like doing things that make them feel like, "Oh, you care about me." Like, yeah, I care about you.

    13. LFLex Fridman1:11:14

        Yeah.

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:11:14

        I really do.

    15. LFLex Fridman1:11:15

        Yeah.

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:11:15

        Like, I want people to feel good. I want my family to feel good. I want my friends to feel good. I want guests to feel good about the podcast experience. You know, I, I am, uh, I'm a big believer in as much as I can just spread positive energy and joy and happiness, and, and relay all the good advice that I've ever gotten. All the things that I've learned, and if they can benefit people, then I find that those things benefit people, and then actually improve the quality of their life or improve their success or improve their relationships or... I'm very happy to do that. Uh, that, that means a lot to me. The, the way we interact with each other is, is so important. It's one of the reasons why like when someone gets canceled or you get publicly shamed, it's so devastating, 'cause there's all these people that negative.

    17. LFLex Fridman1:12:02

        Yeah.

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:12:02

        All this negative energy coming your way, and you feel it. As much as you like to pretend that you, you're immune to that kind of stuff, and some people do like to pretend that, you feel it. There's a, there's a tangible force when people are upset at you. And that's the same with loved ones or family, or anytime someone's upset at you, whether it's a-

    19. LFLex Fridman1:12:20

        You feel it.

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:12:20

        ... giant group of people or there's a small amount of people. That has an impact on you and your psyche and your physical being. So the more you can spread love and the more love comes back to you, you also create this butterfly effect, right? Becau- where other people start recognizing like, "Oh, you know, when he is nice to me, I feel better, and then I'm gonna be nicer to people. And when I'm nicer to people, they feel better, and I feel better." And then, and it spreads outward.

    21. LFLex Fridman1:12:48

        Mm-hmm.

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:12:48

        And that's one thing that I've done through this podcast, I think, is I've, I've imparted my personal philosophy on, uh, in, in kindness and generosity to other people. And I've-

    23. LFLex Fridman1:12:57

        Yeah, but I mean, uh, to correct you, you didn't do it. The ideas that are breeding themselves through your brain have figured out-

    24. JRJoe Rogan1:13:03

        Yes (laughs) . The ideas-

    25. LFLex Fridman1:13:04

        (laughs)

    26. JRJoe Rogan1:13:04

        ... that are alive in the air have-

    27. LFLex Fridman1:13:06

        Exactly.

    28. JRJoe Rogan1:13:06

        ... made their way into my head.

    29. LFLex Fridman1:13:07

        Love is a more efficient mechanism of spreading ideas, they figured out-

    30. JRJoe Rogan1:13:11

        Yes (laughs) .

Episode duration: 1:16:03