Mixed martial arts announcer and podcast king Joe Rogan took to social media early Monday morning to offer some thoughts about history, the comforts of modernity, and the collapse of postmodern civilization. In a simple Instagram post featuring a statue of Roman aristocrat Marcus Aurelius, Rogan dug into Aurelius’ musings of the mind first; then offered a few opinions of his own.
“I’m in the beginning of this audiobook right now,” Rogan’s post began. “And I’m just astonished at the wisdom and sheer intelligence of Marcus Aurielius [sic], a man who was born 1900 years ago. The things he’s saying would be brilliant if someone said it today, never mind the pondering from a guy born just a 121 years after Christ died.”
Rogan is referring specifically to Aurelius’ personal diaries, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius; an extended commentary on Stoic philosophy written in Greek. Aurelius accumulated the notes over the course of his time as Roman emperor (A.D. 161 – 180), and history preserved them as a 12-part series of guidance and self-improvement.
“’The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts,’” Rogan’s post also said, quoting the Meditations directly. Rogan then tried to synthesize the esoteric knowledge through a modern lens of admiration and wide-eyed disbelief.
“This dude was the head of the Roman empire back in an age when it was pretty common to chop men in half with swords. And he’s writing shit like this. It’s wild. I genuinely can’t imagine what it was like to live back then,” Rogan wrote.
Joe Rogan built his own empire on straightforward ideals, many of which the mainstream media outright reject
“I’m saying this because … I have lived my whole life in modern civilization. It’s all I’ve ever known. If you’re used to electric cars, cheeseburgers, and your google news feed, and [then] you were dropped off in a time machine to 121 A.D. with no way to return to the present, you would probably seriously consider taking your own life.”
Rogan’s no-nonsense philosophy regarding mindset, dedication, and an abandonment of deceptiveness — the types of esoteric knowledge found littered throughout man’s most fundamental writings — made him a superstar as of late; due in large part to a large, underserved portion of the country (and the world) craving authenticity and straight talk in a time of crumbling morals and apathetic discontent.
“Makes me wonder how future civilizations will look back at us,” Rogan then continued. “Still waging hot wars in far away lands; while at the same time sharing HD video through the air to millions around the world into a device you keep in your pocket.
“There have been drones launching missiles into innocent civilians, [while at the same time] an app on your phone that can access the entire internet for an answer to any question you might have; and it can do it almost instantaneously.”
Rogan then concluded his own musings on the Meditations by forecasting a downfall of this iteration of postmodern civilization.
“I think it’s hard to see because we’re in the middle of it; but I think history is going to study us carefully. And there’s going to be a lot of scholars stunned that our civilization fell apart so quickly.”
