It’s been a busy week, and I’ve been meaning to write, but haven’t found the time. I’ve been spending a lot of time with my son and our new hobby of lego art. But something’s been going on lately that has been driving me crazy. And you know me. When something is driving me nuts, and nobody is talking about it, I get to a point where I need to write about it. So, let’s discuss naive realism and how it’s blocking any sort of mature discourse.
If you’re like me, you’re tired of the Joe Rogan controversy. I’ve written about it extensively and just had an awesome podcast episode with Matt Browne from the Decoding Gurus podcast where we discuss it a bit. But even I have been tired of the story and like many others, I just want to put it behind us. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop, and the amount of hypocrisy and self-deception going on is mind-blowing. So, here’s (hopefully) one last piece for you.
Before sitting down to write this, I tweeted this out:
Now, why did I say this? Because I’ve seen it everywhere over the last couple of weeks throughout this entire controversy. I love talking with people and having discussions. I love seeing how people think and enjoy seeing what I might be missing. But instead of decent discourse, people live in a reality where you’re just wrong because you disagree. No reasons are needed. Since you disagree, you’re wrong.
What’s wild is that these are the same people who criticize the fact that certain conversations get shut down without debate, like in the realm of race, gender, and other social issues. But that’s a hypocrisy for a different piece entirely.
My main issues with Joe Rogan are his denial of his own biases and the way he brands himself. And later, we’ll discuss how we can try to measure biases. But for now, I want to tell you how my conversations have been going.
When Joe Rogan released his “apology” video, which I see more as just as him addressing the situation rather than an apology, he says he’s just a guy trying to have conversations. That’s his brand. He’s the everyman who just has questions and wants answers. No agenda. Just questions.
This is false. I don’t really care if he has biases because we all do. But when I’ve pointed out that he has a clear bias and presents the evidence for it, a common response from Joe Rogan fans is, “No. You’re biased and you just think you aren’t.”
Earlier today, I made a comment about how independent media has become just as biased as mainstream media in a response to Krystal Ball’s 500th time defending Joe Rogan. In response, a Krystal Ball fan told me, “She’s not biased. She’s accurate. You’re biased.”
Do you see the pattern here?
It’s like being back in 3rd grade. “I’m not stupid. You’re stupid.” And then my eyes roll to the back of my head.
The issue here is what social psychologists call “naive realism”, but I like to call it the “bias stalemate”. When this happens, the game is over. There’s no more conversation to be had. If the person you’re talking to has no regard for evidence or facts, and they just believe you’re biased, all you can do is say, “Well, shit.”
So, what is naive realism?
In social psychology, naïve realism is the human tendency to believe that we see the world around us objectively, and that people who disagree with us must be uninformed, irrational, or biased
This is the world we live in where everyone constructs their own reality. This is normal to an extent, but the issue is that it’s completely blocking any type of conversation. In a liberal society, we discuss and debate our ideas and opinions. But how can you persuade anyone when everything is heard through the filter of the other person being biased or uninformed.
And I’ve been thinking about this a lot. How do I prove to someone the amount of research I’ve done before crafting my opinion? How do I show the laundry list of my own personal biases I’ve gone through before I state my opinion? I can’t. It’s impossible. This is 1000% based on trust.
While I can’t prove to someone the time I’ve spent thinking on a topic, I can objectively prove the bias of someone who I’ve spent dozens of hours listening to.
Joe Rogan’s bias is objectively true, and you don’t have to take my word for it, either. You can do this experiment yourself, and I’ve mentioned it many times.
The Experiment
First, we need a definition of what it means to be biased. So, let’s do that annoying thing where we turn to the dictionary definition.
Now, we need a sort of measurement based on our hypothesis. For this, the hypothesis is, “My theory is Joe Rogan biased towards the belief that vaccines are dangerous and against the belief that they’re mostly safe.”
An easy way to measure this is to review his episodes with guests who align with the hypothesis. We can all agree that Dr. Malone and Dr. McCullough believe that vaccines are dangerous. We can all agree that Sanjay Gupta and Josh Szepps believe vaccines are mostly safe.
So, let’s take these four episodes and see how many times Joe Rogan fact checks people who align with our hypothesis.
If our hypothesis were incorrect, he would fact-check all four guests equally, right?
Well, that’s not the case. And since you most likely don’t want to spend 12 hours listening or re-listening to these episodes, just go check out the first 30 minutes of the Josh Szepps episode vs the first 30 minutes of Malone or McCullough.
You don’t need to be an Ivy League researcher to do this experiment. But if you deny this, you just don’t care about evidence, facts, or reality. And if you don’t care about the truth, just admit it and stop lying to yourself or at least remove yourself from discourse.
I’m a Simple Guy
I’m simple. I just want people to be honest and to at least try to be honest with themselves. The two main issues I have with Joe Rogan and just about anyone with a platform is branding and deception. Whether it’s independent or mainstream, it’s a manipulation of the public, and it might be unintentional.
The branding of Joe Rogan is, “I’m the everyman in the center of everything just asking questions. I’m open to all ideas and change my opinions based on evidence.” Krystal and Saagar from Breaking Points have created the brand of “Screw mainstream media! We’re better and different.” And mainstream media wants you to believe that they’re you’re trusted news source.
Well, all of them are bullshitting you. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, so maybe they’re just not self-aware.
Joe Rogan might honestly believe that he’s doing his best and not pushing any specific ideas or narratives. Breaking Points might honestly believe they’re different from mainstream media and are providing the fairest coverage possible and somehow they’re immune from their bias due to their relationship with Joe Rogan. As for mainstream media, who knows.
Aside from branding, I’m simple in the fact that I look for personal growth.
You have to realize that I’ve spent many years working with drug addicts. I work with people who not only destroy their lives, but they hurt the people around them. In fact, I used to be one of them. Do you have any idea how many times we drug addicts tell people we’re working on ourselves and are going to change but don’t? Too often.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen come back to rehab saying, “This time is different,” but they don’t change a single behavior. They don’t take their medications, go to therapy, or go to 12-step meetings.
Talk is cheap.
How many times are people going to hear Joe Rogan or others get called out and say their going to change things but don’t?
I’m a father, and if my son kept getting bad grades, promised he’d do better, and then changed nothing, I’d be pretty pissed. And then, at what point am I enabling that behavior?
But, at the end of the day, who really cares? Most of the time, I feel like I’m just screaming into the void. Writing is my refuge, and maybe a few people reading my stuff will have a slight change in perspective, and that’s cool. If nothing else, it’s helpful to get these thoughts out of my head so I can get back to enjoying life.
None of us are ever going to be immune to biases, but that’s not an excuse to just run around oblivious to the world. If I can leave you with one piece of advice, be critical and skeptical of everyone without letting it ruin your life. Although I may come off pretty pessimistic in some of my writings, I’m happy as hell and live an amazing life.
And I’ll leave you with a couple great books I’ve recently read about the bright side of nihilism:
The Sunny Nihilist: A Declaration of the Pleasure of Pointlessness
Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism
I’m currently writing a book about how we’re manipulated by the news, social media, technology, advertisers, and each other. It dives into the psychological history of manipulation, our biases, tribalism, and more.
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