There’s another Joe Rogan Experience #1309 and he was interviewing Naval Ravikant in 2019. He’s talking about the shift from sciences to social sciences in universities and how we’re losing out. How politicized everything is, and how you can’t have a conversation about anything. Especially when people talk past each other instead of to each other. Talking about two different things, where there’s no correct argument to be had. No side wins.
For example, the gun debate. One side is mentioning the second amendment which was written to protect the population from tyranny and the government. But the other side is talking about school shootings and protecting their homes and children. Two very different subjects. Both important.
He brings up a point about us running the biggest science experiment ever, by giving over 30 million people in this country SSRI’s (psychiatric meds) – of which we know a small percentage of people that take them become suicidal. So when we have all these mass shootings, and most of the shooters take these medications, it almost makes sense. 29.9 million could be happier (possibly) by taking them, but a fraction will commit suicide or detonate.
Politics don’t allow clear thinking
Naval also goes on to talk about politics and how there’s only two main parties. And if you don’t vote for one of the two parties, you throw away your vote. All of your beliefs have to neatly fit into one side or the other. And if you signal outside of those beliefs, you get attacked. So it makes you into an unclear thinker.
If all your beliefs line up into one political party, you’re not a clear thinker. If all your beliefs are the same as your neighbors and friends, you’re not a clear thinker. Your beliefs are socialized. They’re taken from other people.
If you want to be a clear thinker, you cannot pay attention to politics. It will destroy your ability to think clearly.
He also goes on to talk about another switch in society. Before, there was disease of scarcity (hunger, etc). Now they are diseases of abundance. We are overexposed to everything.
In order to survive, we need to retreat from society. There’s too much society everywhere you go (in your phones, tv’s, pockets, ears, etc).
The only solution is to turn it off
Peace is happiness at rest. Happiness is peace in motion. You can convert peace to happiness anytime you want.
And what is the meaning of life? There is no answer really. If there was an answer, we would be trapped. All competing like borg’s for the same thing. It’s the act of trying to find out the answer that can give us peace. And it’s different for everyone.
Retirement
Retirement is when you stop sacrificing today for some imaginary tomorrow. The goal shouldn’t be to stop working, sit at home and receive a check. It’s to live each day fully. The most common way is to have earned enough money that is more than your burn rate. But you can’t do that very easily by renting your time at some corporation for a paycheck. Another way to achieve retirement is by lowering your burn rate to nothing.. Become a monk.. The third way is to love what you do. To not do it for the money. You’re no longer a slave to the future.
When you’re on your death bed, the things that matter, the things that people remember, are usually the sacrifices they made, the struggles they overcame. It’s not the easy stuff. Anything given to us holds little value.
That podcast is 2 hours long but is really fantastic. I like the way he thinks.
