Ah, the Joe Rogan thing... I've been trying to figure out why I disliked his whole bag in the first place and then... Neil Young woke me up! Thanks, Neil. Neil wanted his music off Spotify once he realized that Rogan, as a matter of course in the world of Joe Rogan, was pushing anti-vax talking points. Joni Mitchell and a few other have followed suit. What it made clear is, that you can say no to the supposedly "indispensable service" for very good reasons: ethical ones.
My own issue with Rogan, and many others who either are, or are on board with, the "intellectual dark web" has always been a question of judgement. If you postulate that the beginning of the intellectual journey begins with the idea that there is no idea that cannot be discussed and dissected - an idea as old as Thales of Miletus - you're off to a good start. This is Rogan's starting point and it's a good one - in a time of political correctness and people telling you there are all sorts of things that cannot be discussed - Rogan says, "Let's talk about all of it!" Again, that's a great start.
But.... that's all it is. It's not the end of the intellectual journey... it's a necessary starting point. Guess what? Once all the ideas are out there... there's more to do! Not all ideas are created equal - some are better than others. Some need to get rigorously tested, because by doing so... they frequently fall apart. There's a great deal more to do and there is, luckily for us, an enormous body of knowledge out there... we already know the answer to many of the easier things!
"But Dave, shouldn't those ideas be scrutinized... too???"
Sure, if you feel you need the exercise, but the truth is basic arithmetic, gravity, whether the Earth is round... I mean, these things shouldn't take too long.
Rogan's issue... is a deep paranoia. Joe sees himself as a "regular guy" and thinks that, for the most part... he's been lied to his whole life. The body of knowledge and the people who recognize that there is such a thing... are immediately suspect to Joe Rogan. It leads to thinking that all ideas are equal and an inability to be able to tell the truly awful from something actually valuable and enlightening. Joe sees the logic in everybody's program - he's as likely to agree with out and out fascists as Martin Luther King - they're all just guys with ideas to him. That's where he blows it and disqualifies himself. In the days of gatekeepers, Joe Rogan probably wouldn't have had a gig because that sort of thinking... that all ideas are somehow equivalent, would have been recognized as being simply bad for the public good and the sort of thing that would have lowered the conversation to a dark place. But today? Hey, if it'll make a buck, it must be a good idea, right? I mean, all that really matters is the money, right?
The issue is a lot of people identify with Rogan - they see the world the same way, and when somebody like that gets a platform... it normalizes the views. This only compounds the issue - now plenty of people are thinking that the craziest idea is the same as 2+2. It's a problem.
What's gotten Rogan into trouble with Neil Young is his pushing of the anti-vax stuff, which... when you think about it... is rather incredible. Smallpox... Polio... we could go on and on. Most of us have been vaccinated our whole lives... cow heads are not suddenly growing out of our shoulders. If you just are so sure that any mainstream idea is wrong... because it's a mainstream idea... this is where you end up: buying into conspiracy theories. It means you have lost your tether - that you have no judgement. This is Joe Rogan-land. And think of it.... it took Neil Young... not what you would consider the sanest guy on the block to start with... to say, in essence, "Have you noticed what a nut Rogan is????" And Neil... is right! Neil... a man whose biography was entitled "Shaky", is the only clear thinking human among us.
Why does the Rogan paranoia have cultural cache? For a little over thirty years now, mainstream media and news in particular have been losing their credibility. News is simply something to get people riled up - virtually every story is an exercise in sensationalism. And that takes a tole. Nobody believes much of what most media has to say... Journalism, which once held incredible cultural power, now has... none. What's a shame is that because the water has been poisoned nobody is willing to drink from the well, which would seem reasonable, but... sometimes the news you get is accurate... but nobody can tell the difference any more.
Still... people remain curious... people still want to know.... but you can't go to the news... so you head to Joe Rogan. Rogan's thing works only in an environment where fact and fiction are indistinguishable.
So, what should the good citizen to do that wants to be informed? Work for it and demand it by simply not buying the sensationalist stories. There are news sources that will simply... state the facts. Try the Associated Press. Try Reuters. Try the BBC. Read the New York Times (leftist and getting it wrong) and the Wall Street Journal (Right wing and getting it wrong) and see where they're telling the same story! Compare notes! If they agree... you may have actually stumbled upon some facts! The bottom line it's on all of us to be informed... because those selling the news.... are just selling.