Recap/Discussion: JRE #2157 Duncan Trussell
Duncan Trussell is back with his 47th appearance on the show. It’s quite the feat considering Trussell’s first guest spot was on episode #49 of The Joe Rogan Experience. I know this because last year, for episode #2000, I went on the foolish endeavor of finding all of Duncan’s episodes and even linking them. The list is here if you’re interested. The list doesn’t account for #2009.
Not only is Duncan a great conversationalist, but he’s also a very mindful individual who happens to be a great and long-time friend of Joe. They have a remarkable rapport with one another and it’s part of what makes Duncan’s episodes so enjoyable. They always agree on themed costumes to don during each episode. This episode’s theme is humanity’s assimilation to AI.
Joe and Duncan begin with jokes about how a human would assimilate into an AI-controlled world and how they’re already ahead of the curve. At 5:19, they discuss asteroid mining and its associated implications. Since Joe and Duncan’s conversations are so free-flowing and high-energy, they typically don’t spend too much time on one subject. At 11:49, they discuss war proportionality and humanity’s bizarre determination on what is allowed and what isn’t. This includes the Chinese robots that have recently been fitted with machine guns.
At 24:05, they discuss the recently circulating video that suggests the curation of social media comment sections. This proposed curation that was observed on Instagram sparks a dialogue surrounding the nature of the average person (28:31). This also leads to Duncan expressing his passionate distaste for the execution of the movie Civil War.
The succeeding half-hour sees Joe and Duncan discuss being anti-guns (34:40), living in Texas (43:05), and being optimistic about humanity’s trajectory (52:37).
“The gates of Hell are locked from the inside” — C.S. Lewis
At 55:55, Rogan wonders if people would be less susceptible to enact violence if they were exposed to psychedelic mushrooms.
At 1:08:28, Duncan asks Joe where the Devil comes from.
At 1:21:24, Duncan relates the story of Dune to the conversation and reveals his fandom of the first book, as well as all the movies it inspired so far. He also mentions the influence of psilocybin on the creation of the story. This was spoken about in greater detail with Paul Stamets on JRE #2134.
Eventually, Duncan raises an interesting theory that the youngest generation today may grow up rejecting cell phones and certain aspects of technology as an act of rebellion or seeing the damage that device usage does to their parents (1:34:36). A recent survey is cited, showing that teenagers report preferring time without their phones. At 1:41:23, Duncan proposes what a path to evil behavior likely consists of.
In another flurry of topics, they discuss Lojong Mind Training (1:56:57), OpenAI’s announcement — working toward AGI (2:09:56), and Dunca’s first-hand accounts of Satanists (2:13:42).
The last half-hour of the show is marked by a conversation about psychedelics, their history, and what they can do to the human mind — good or bad (2:27:40). This exchange leads to the concept of control, where Joe asserts authoritarianism as the result of fear (2:43:21).
Religion was invented when the first con man met the first fool. — Mark Twain
At 2:48:30, the episode winds down with Joe and Duncan speculating on the historical accuracy of the Gospel narratives.
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