Joe Rogan spent nearly three hours with YouTube historian Michael Button on The Joe Rogan Experience #2546 diving into ancient civilizations, lost timelines and archaeological mysteries. But one of the more revealing exchanges came when the conversation drifted toward technology’s effect on the human mind, and Rogan seemed to sound a genuine alarm about where things are headed.
The discussion started with Button explaining that human brain size has actually decreased since civilization began, a shift he tied to the invention of writing.
“Well, what’s really interesting is the human brain size has decreased since civilization began,” Button said. “Which is strange and it makes sense because if everything was oral before, you need more of your brain to hold all the information. But once you can kind of outsource it to physical objects, you don’t need so much brain size and space.”
Rogan picked up the thread, connecting it to modern habits like relying on phones instead of memorizing information.
“Well, weren’t like there was some ancient people that thought writing was a bad idea and that you should you should remember everything,” he said, “and that writing and writing things down was actually going to degrade your memory.”
Button agreed that offloading memory has consequences even as it benefits society collectively.
“Well, I think it certainly does because you don’t need that brain like part of your brain anymore if you’re not memorizing all the information you have. Like and it makes us smart as a whole as a civilization but,” he said, before Rogan interjected.
That’s when Rogan pushed the idea further into AI territory. “And the you extrapolate it like hard drives,” he said.
Button continued the comparison, saying, “Exactly. Well, it’s happening on an even bigger scale now with AI and stuff like that.”
Button noted how AI tools may already be reshaping cognition. “Exactly. So I mean maybe we’re regressing but I think as a civilization we’re we’re learning more,” Button said, prompting Rogan to note that we’re improving “collectively.”.
However, Button responded by saying, “But as an individual, maybe we’re regressing.”
Rogan added, “And our potential to learn and just remember things like, just from when I was a boy I knew everybody’s phone number.”
Rogan also stated that outsourcing thought to artificial intelligence could shrink the brain entirely. While discussing tools like ChatGPT, Rogan warned, “and we’re going to just go like a raisin,” after Button noted that “people have talked about ChatGPT decreasing people’s intelligence.”
That concern about AI doing the thinking for us is especially ironic coming from Rogan, who has increasingly seemed content to let other people do the informing for him on his own podcast.
Joe Rogan has become increasingly checked out from his own podcast, particularly when it comes to staying informed about subjects he routinely discusses. During a recent conversation, Rogan appeared genuinely surprised when Shane Gillis explained that Donald Trump’s Truth Social operation was offering wealthy subscribers early access to market-moving posts for as much as $100,000 a month, repeatedly asking whether it was real and how it could possibly be legal.
He also says he has barely been on Twitter for three months and deliberately prefers an Instagram feed he describes as “nice,” suggesting that he has intentionally insulated himself from information that might challenge his existing views. That disconnect becomes even more striking when Rogan confidently repeats the debunked claim that USAID funded rap artists to promote anti-government music, only for the discussion to turn into an on-air fact check that leaves Shane Gillis explaining the issue to him and reminding him, in effect, that Rogan himself is part of the media ecosystem.
The contrast is telling: Rogan can recall obscure claims from figures he considers credible while appearing unfamiliar with major political developments involving a president he has publicly supported. Rather than simply being uninformed, Rogan seems increasingly comfortable remaining uninformed, relying on guests, Jamie and whatever information happens to reach him instead of actively engaging with the subjects his enormous platform routinely covers.
And with Spotify’s reported $200 million deal keeping the show firmly at the center of the platform’s ambitions, there is no word yet on whether that massive paycheck comes with any obligation to actually keep up with what is happening outside the studio.
