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by hnreport 970 days ago
why would you even watch this peron videos analysing Ukraine war?

So I do this, a lot. Rogan is a good example I struggle with. I regularly go I wonder what Joe Rogan thinks about this, on subjects I know he doesn’t know shit about or is just plain wrong about. It isn’t relegated to just Rogan.

Musk was another awful one when you first get into him.

This has to be a form of non-sexual attraction I think. I’m not gay, but how is this not gay? Like, what the fuck, am I in love with these people?

I almost have to shake my head and snap out of it.

Edit:

I’ll add that I’ve gotten extremely good at filtering his guests but still weak to filtering him (it’s kinda like still having feelings for your first). Anytime he puts on a comedian I always go “yeah whatever, who cares what some random comedian thinks about ______”, but I wasn’t able to do that with Rogan. No sir, I listen with both ears as he describes like … nuclear fusion.

6 comments

I think the term "para-social relationship" might help you.
Yes, this is a textbook parasocial relationship. No judgment—me too. I've been listening to the "New Heights" podcast a lot recently, so my most recent parasocial relationship is feeling like Jason and Travis Kelce are my friends. Of course I know they're not, it's just how these things work. Parasocial relationships are ubiquitous in the modern day.

My favorite analogy is that parasocial relationships are the Doritos of socialization: appealing. delicious, addictive, can temporarily keep hunger at bay—but fundamentally not satiating, lacking in essential nutrients, and unhealthy when they displace their original natural & more nutritious alternatives.

Genuinely I think a lot of these people would be better off if they got into k-pop or something rather than geopolitics.
Bro, so what u saying, u saying millions of us are effectively Rogan simps in a parasocial relationship?

These relationships are on both sides (e.g AOC on the left).

Yes, and yes?

It's kind of inescapable in modern politics, because it's effective at getting people elected and/or making money. It's not the worst way to get elected; certainly better than relying on narrow donor class money. Just .. recognize the limitations of it.

I’m inclined to agree. The problem is, unlike High School where the kids just grow the fuck out of all the stupid teenage bullshit, adults seem to not have that kinda structure going on.

So instead of being a Rogan stan for those weird years in High School, you are grown ass 30 year year old Stan who’s been stanning for 5 years now minimum.

Adults today don’t know how to snap out of the high school shit they easily snapped out of after high school. It’s like we’re in a high school that never ends.

I know a lot of leftists. Not one has ever sent me a link to an AOC podcast. Does she even have a podcast?

Until I dropped social media, I was getting Rogan links all the time.

Somewhat weird comment...I thought it was obvious, I and others are occasionally interested in what e.g. Joe Rogan has to say because it's entertaining.

I didn't think this was in any way confusing or surprising, and never thought this had anything to do with love.

Isn't this the position of most people?

> never thought this had anything to do with love

Plenty of couples started with "oh he's so cute and funny" / "I love listening to her jokes", and few years later found themselves retelling those stories to a wide audience, at their wedding.

A guy standing up every week declaming with moral authority? The word you are looking for is preacher.

And that's what these people are. They provide a comforting sense of moral certainty and judgement; they define enemies, usually a nebulous Them; they're satisfying to listen to; and they publish on a schedule to reinforce the little ritual of listening to them. You've heard the adhan and you are called.

> This has to be a form of non-sexual attraction I think. I’m not gay, but how is this not gay? Like, what the fuck, am I in love with these people?

People have somehow lost all the words for communicating relationships between people that aren't sexual. Although the "fan" relationship can get pretty weird at times. It's interesting to hear from someone who's liminal enough to realize that they're inside the experience but also knows what's wrong with it. Thank you for this post.

> I wonder what Joe Rogan thinks about this, on subjects I know he doesn’t know shit about or is just plain wrong about

See also "Gell-Mann amnesia" https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gell-Mann_Amnesia_effect

Maybe an "appeal to authority" type situation which is guiding an anxious brain? e.g. Rogan has a massive following, therefore you wonder: "why does this person have such a massive following? It must be because they have important things to say. I had better listen too."
This might be enlightening for you on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9K3WnyuyFo
I think as men we have a deep seated need to have a strong leader we respect. If we went into the woods and made a tribe I’d for sure want Joe Rogan or Elon Musk making the decisions. Joe Rogan gives even the village idiot a fair shake to make their point on his podcast. It’s like watching a wise king preside over court. There’s not some big gay mystery here, it’s hardwired “if we go hunting a mammoth, I want Joe Rogan leading the hunt and presiding over the feast!”.
I keep hearing this meme repeated lately (most recently by the My Pillow guy), and I guess my brain is wired differently, but oh boy, would I hate that society.
"Great person" ideology never works. Nobody is right about most things, and nobody is an expert on more than a few things, it simply isn't feasible.

I don't understand asking non-experts their opinion on basically anything.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170131155837/http://www.nybook...

"I had also learned that freedom of speech means freedom from rhetoric."

(if you've never read the whole thing, it's worth it, far beyond the list)

Really, you can't think of a better conceivable leader than Joe Rogan or Elon Musk, even in a fantasy scenario you've invented?