Joe Rogan Controversy

February 1, 2022

How much more COVID-19 talk can people endure? Most people in my life are either saying, “everyone get vaccinated so we can move on” or, “who cares, let’s move on.” I’m guessing most of us are over the constant back and forth debacle around the matter. Maybe not.

Earlier this week, I did something I don’t ever do—I opened Twitter. I was quickly reminded why I left. The whole platform is a shouting match of opinions. Part of me is glad I did though because I hopped on right as this deplatform Joe Rogan, unsubscribe from Spotify movement was getting started, thanks to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removing their music from the platform. To be honest, I have been very captured by the whole thing. Anyone who knows me knows how much I admire Rogan and most of his guests. They’re partly responsible for my drive to be a healthy and educated person.

Without getting into the meat and potatoes of the ordeal, my thoughts after reading a lot on the matter and talking to a couple friends have gone in a lot of directions. Let me elaborate on one aspect of why the world we live in right now is so fucked up.

The root of this controversy is COVID and spreading misinformation. I had a long conversation with a buddy yesterday about this. We went back and forth a little over the phone. He shared a very important quote:

“We judge ourselves for our intentions and others for their actions.” —Stephen M.R. Covey

“What the fuck does that mean, Kobe Bryant?” —Kanye West

Knowing someone’s intentions completely is impossible. We only know our own intentions. Intentions are the reason behind why one says or does something. Since we are not yet able to peer into another persons soul and comprehend the reason someone does or says something (hell, we can barely understand why we do things ourselves most of the time), we can only judge their behavior. We can contemplate why we do, say, or think something and make judgements based on that information, but we will never be able to judge others with the same understanding.

If you haven’t, go listen to my most recent podcast “Behave” which is a comprehensive view at why humans behave the way they do (a 27 hour audiobook broken down into under 2 hours will not do it justice admittedly).

Alright, fuck it, I’ll just spill all of the beans. Here’s a list of my thoughts:

• Why someone does or says something is more or less a mystery.

• You only understand your own intentions.

• You can only control your behavior.

• The best thing anyone can do for themselves, for their intimate, family, and friend relationships, and for their community, after being a good person in general, is to know how to make informed decisions. Making informed decisions includes:

  • Understanding your values.

  • Refining your critical thinking skills.

  • Absorbing information.

  • Acknowledging where you have biases.

  • Dissecting truth from falsehoods.

  • Acting in harmony with your values.

• Perhaps the most important skill every person should constantly be refining is their critical thinking competency:

  • “Critical thinking is 1) the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information 2) gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, 3) as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.” (Definition from critical thinking.org. List numbers and emphasis added by me, the author of the blog, Kaiden)

• Rogan (or any person for that matter) is not responsible for anyone’s decision making—the individuals who take his and his guests words at face value are.

• Let pro-vaccine people debate with pro-natural immunity people. Rogan shouldn’t be the face for any scientific position. He’s just a dude.

• Rather than censoring opinions you don’t agree with, prove them wrong. (See the Shermer quote below)

Out of the absurd amount of tweets that came in response to all of this controversy, one stood out the most, and in a positive light:

“The claim @joerogan & guests are “intentionally spreading misinformation” is wrong: they don’t think what they’re saying is misinformation—They think they have a valid point. They may be wrong but that’s different. Instead of accusing them of lying explain why facts say otherwise” —Micheal Shermer

So here’s the deal: Rogan should be held responsible for his own actions and words. The guests for their own. The listeners for their own.

I can hear the controversy, “He spreads misinformation! As do his guests! This persuades people not to get vaccinated and results in deaths!”

Everyone is responsible for their own decisions. Is McDonald’s to blame for the growing obesity rate? Or the people who buy Big Macs? Is Coca-Cola responsible for the rise of diabetes? Or the people who drink soda? Is Netflix responsible for everyone’s antisocial tendencies? Or the people who ignore social events?

Humans have shitty cravings. Companies exploit our tendencies for a profit. This sucks, but you can do something about it. I don’t mean burning down every McDonald’s you see, I mean taking control of your life.

The world is a markedly better place when people are free to act, think, and speak however we like. There are assholes who abuse these liberties to benefit at the expense of someone else. Censoring or silencing should be saved for this type of behavior; for criminals that exploit your human nature for their gain.

Take control of your life by constantly refining your critical thinking skills. Commit every decision you make to be an informed one. Hear what the controversy is and meet it with better data. Accept when you are wrong or your data is insufficient. Meet your adversary with better information. Remember that you can only control yourself. You only know your own intentions. Coercion is generally correlated with the criminals in the last block.

One final thought that did not get near enough attention: not everything is black and white. In fact, most “truth” is subjective. What brings one person peace may give someone else anxiety. There is cold hard evidence, and there is relative truths. What works for you may not work for someone else. The consequence of living with 7 billion other humans is that not everyone will agree on the grey areas of life. Should everyone exercise every day? Should everyone rip out their grass? Should everyone wear a mask for the rest of their days?

I’m struggling to wrap this up. What about the criminals? Should we sit back and be victims by the people that are intentionally out to harm others for their gain?

“Some people just want to watch the world burn.” —Alfred

What are you going to do in a world riddled with controversy, injustice, corruption? All I will say is there are always consequences to every decision you make, good or bad, for yourself and those around you. Observe people’s behaviors and speech. Contemplate the meaning. Compare it with what other people are saying. Are they telling the truth? Are they trying to manipulate you for their advantage? Do they have good intentions? How can you determine if someone has good intentions? Do their values align with mine? Do their values indicate a better world?

Above all, you should spend time every day considering the consequences to your thoughts, actions, and speech. Continually seek to improve yourself first. Be the best person you can be. Put effort into yourself. Spend time outside of your comfort zone. Practice virtues like patience, courage, temperance, and many more. You can create a positive world for yourself and those around you amidst the chaos you live in. You can have a positive impact on the people around you. Act responsibly. Be kind and compassionate. You are what you repeatedly think, say, and do.