On a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan sat down with actor Scott Eastwood for a conversation that eventually landed on an observation about modern life: the pursuit of ease and entertainment may be making people mentally unwell.
The topic emerged naturally as the two discussed what separates older generations from today’s. Rogan argued that many people have become too focused on comfort, saying the lack of challenge in everyday life comes at a psychological cost.
“We’re in a society where people just want relaxation. They want comfort. They want entertainment and they just want to be sedentary,” Rogan said.
He argued that this lifestyle is taking a toll on people’s well-being, adding, “That is terrible for our mental health. Coincidentally, we’re in a mental health crisis where a giant percentage of people who act that way, who are sedentary and overweight and not taking care of themselves, are mentally ill.”
Rogan connected this directly to what he sees as a lack of adversity. Previous generations, he argued, faced constant hardship that forced them to develop resilience. Without those kinds of tests, modern life has left many people struggling with anxiety, depression, and a lack of purpose.
“We don’t have these life or death moments like our ancestors had all the time,” he said. According to Rogan, the absence of genuine challenges means people never discover whether they can actually handle intense pressure or adversity.
Eastwood then shared a personal experience that reinforced the discussion. After spending two decades working almost nonstop in the film industry, he decided to take a year off around his fortieth birthday, expecting the break to help him reset.
Instead, the opposite happened.
“I actually got more depressed,” Eastwood admitted. “I was like, wait, what is going on?”
The exchange shifted toward the importance of purpose, with both men agreeing that meaningful work is often overlooked as a key component of good mental health.
Rogan also criticized the education system, arguing that it prepares young people to become workers rather than teaching them how to think independently or pursue fulfilling lives.
“We’re spending way too much time giving them information and not teaching them how to think correctly,” he said.
He went on to describe what he sees as an all-too-common pattern: people end up in careers they dislike, spend their evenings escaping into television, social media, or video games, and eventually realize they’ve reached their mid-thirties without any real sense of purpose.
