Joe Rogan Experience #2561 - LL Cool J
In a Nutshell
LL Cool J traces his journey from 16-year-old Def Jam pioneer to enduring artist, emphasizing that fame was a byproduct of relentless creative work rather than the goal itself. He advocates maintaining a beginner's mindset through lifelong learning—whether Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, deep reading of military theory, or mastery in any domain—while using discomfort and fear as fuel rather than obstacles. The conversation underscores that success has no age limit, requires embracing discomfort, and demands staying grounded despite isolation that extreme fame creates.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Joe Rogan and LL Cool J discuss their first meeting in 1994 at an NBC event where LL Cool J was making fun of the formal proceedings. LL Cool J advised against taking such events too seriously while maintaining basic manners.
LL Cool J was signed at age 16 and became the first act on Def Jam Records. Rick Rubin started Def Jam as a production company before forming the label with Russell Simmons. The first song on Def Jam Productions was "It's Yours" by T La Rock. Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys programmed the beat for that track.
LL Cool J was exposed to hip-hop before Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. He heard Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Four (before they became the Five), the Treacherous Three, and Cold Crush Brothers. The tapes were circulating from the Bronx while he was in Queens and North Babylon, Long Island. He was around 8 years old when he first encountered the emerging hip-hop culture.
LL Cool J has been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for about a year with Brian Glick in Brooklyn. Glick trained under Danaher. The training has been humbling, showing that you cannot rely on charm or charisma when facing an opponent. He previously practiced martial arts including Shotokan karate, Wing Chun, and Tai Chi.
LL Cool J describes himself as "a celebrity by consequence" rather than being celebrity-minded. He identifies as an artist and is "way more blue collar" in his approach. He emphasizes that fame came as a result of his work rather than being something he pursued for its own sake.
LL Cool J reads extensively, including Carl von Clausewitz's military theory. He references Clausewitz's concept of "friction" and the Clausewitzian trinity involving probability and chance, logic and reason, and passion and enmity. He uses this framework to analyze current societal dynamics where emotions and passions dominate over logic and reason.
LL Cool J's mother showed him books with images of drug addicts to warn him about the dangers of substance abuse. She also told him that "girls don't like dummies," encouraging intellectual curiosity without being pedantic. He emphasizes the importance of discipline, drive, and perseverance through difficult times.
Key principles discussed include: getting comfortable being uncomfortable, understanding that dreams don't have deadlines, and recognizing that losing a battle doesn't mean losing the war. LL Cool J stresses that attitude determines altitude and that one should keep going even when things are difficult.
Bruce Lee was the reason LL Cool J got into acting. He was revolutionary as the first mixed martial artist who combined American boxing, Chinese boxing, kung fu, judo, and other styles at a time when martial arts were strictly siloed. LL Cool J used to wear the yellow and black Game of Death suit while walking on Jamaica Avenue.
The rumors about Bruce Lee's death may relate to a dispute with the Chinese mob who financed his early Raymond Chow movies. When he left them to go to Hollywood, there was significant conflict. Alternative explanations include an allergic reaction to medication or an aneurysm.
The conversation discusses Bruce Lee's death and the medical circumstances surrounding it. The coroner attributed cerebral edema to a hypersensitivity reaction to ingredients in the prescription painkiller Equagesic, which he took for a headache. The medication contained aspirin and meprobamate. Lee laid down to rest, became unresponsive, and could not be revived after being taken to the hospital. The autopsy found severe brain swelling with no external injuries. While the brain swelling itself is well-established in the historical record, the precise trigger remains disputed. The official conclusion focused on drug hypersensitivity reaction, though later writers and researchers have proposed other possibilities including heat-related illness and hyponatremia, which is dangerously low blood sodium associated with excess water intake.
Bruce Lee was described as unbelievable, with his book The Tao of Jeet Kune Do being called the original book of mixed martial arts. The book was purchased when it first came out and is still kept as a soft cover edition. Lee took techniques from everything including western boxing, feinting, jabs, and Japanese style karate. He incorporated Muhammad Ali's footwork and performed some of these techniques in his movies. Lee was considered a monster in his approach to martial arts.
People today see mixed martial arts and fighters on television and it seems normal to them, but back then this was unprecedented as no one had ever done that before. Lee was so skillful and moved so fast that everybody was shocked by his lightning quick movements. He changed martial arts for the whole world, with karate schools opening up all over the world as a result.
At that time, the lines between karate and kung fu were very blurred, and people didn't know the difference. Where you walked into whatever school was available in the yellow pages under martial arts determined what you learned. Many YMCA classes were available, and some were quite good. The first two knuckles were emphasized in striking techniques.
This was a crazy time because martial arts had just been introduced to the world and took off rapidly. The discussion transitions to fascination with things that didn't exist and then suddenly burst onto the scene as innovations.
Hip-hop is described as particularly fascinating, especially early hip-hop, because before the 1980s it was non-existent in pop culture and then became the dominant force five or six years later. When LL Cool J was coming up, the first time he heard Sugar Hill Gang was in a lunchroom in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, which was a bad neighborhood at the time that has since been gentrified.
At that time, there were 17-year-olds still in eighth grade, with kids who should have been graduating from high school who hadn't even gotten out of middle school yet. The neighborhood had a lot of issues with people coming from bad homes and bad neighborhoods. Hearing Sugar Hill Gang for the first time felt like a different kind of music.
Living in a neighborhood where you feel invisible, with friends getting killed and nobody caring, creates a specific mindset. The news might talk about major events, but when your friend down the block gets killed, nobody cares. The distinctive walk known as the "diddy bop" wasn't about looking cool but about staying alert like being in the jungle as a lion, watching your environment and your back.
In high school, there was a habit of checking "one, two, three behind you" constantly while walking down hallways. Hip-hop was the first time young kids like LL Cool J heard people sounding empowered rather than seeing only images of black kids in handcuffs being put into police cars on the news.
Hip-hop was the first time people sounded powerful and empowered. Early on, discussions about money were aspirational rather than ostentatious displays of wealth. Coming from nothing, from the grime and dirt, rapping was about what could be, with extra machismo and bravado because you were an underdog.
One favorite hip-hop video is of Biggie at 17 on the street corner rhyming, where he's a nobody and the greatest at the same time. His flow was already spectacular. The rapper becomes a spokesman for the emotions, angst, pain, desires, and wishes of people who come from the same type of places and energy.
Big gold chains weren't just about having something, but about being tough enough to wear them in any neighborhood. Jewelry back then sent a message that "I can wear this in this neighborhood." This is very different from later displays becoming more ostentatious.
Early hip-hop wasn't about open displays of wealth because it wasn't at that level. It could be as simple as having $50,000 in a dresser drawer, a gold chain, a nice car, and doing better than before when you couldn't eat six months ago. This is very different from displaying a portfolio or ostentatious wealth.
Artists were taking cues from hustlers like the Supreme Team, AZ, Rich, and Alpo from uptown. It wasn't about showing off to society but about accomplishing something despite the circumstances. The Monopoly metaphor illustrates this: if you start with all the paper and get 60-70% of the property, then someone else comes from having hardly nothing and manages to come up, they're going to feel good about themselves and might throw on a chain or smile during the game.
At that time, it wasn't about showing off. The car represented real accomplishment. Having something when you had nothing is a major accomplishment, whether you're in a trailer park, inner city, or hood. The idea of financial responsibility and wealth wasn't the focus - people just wanted a Benz.
LL Cool J remembers sitting with an accountant and repeatedly saying he wanted a Benz. While doing things with money, he never lost the mindset of where he really came from. It's easy to forget your roots, especially when successful, but it's comforting to keep that perspective. Being in a bubble can make you forget, and without reminders of humanity, you could lose touch.
It's easy to fall into a band of yes-men and become insulated, especially in Hollywood. Without grounding, you become unrelatable, can't learn, and can't handle situations properly. You also risk going crazy, potentially becoming like Howard Hughes.
Howard Stern is discussed as someone who got so famous and made so much money that isolation became a real possibility. People can become isolated when they get that big. Stern was always cool during appearances and embraced LL Cool J early in his career, giving him opportunities on the show.
It's very hard to hang out with people when you're that famous, and it gets weird for some people unless you force yourself to do uncomfortable things in public. Success likes you to be outside, and networking is important for continued success.
LL Cool J describes himself as an introvert despite doing public work. When he goes home, he needs to read, relax, and recharge. He doesn't like being surrounded by a thousand people and learned that being surrounded brings problems because you can't manage everybody's behavior. When problems happen, they become associated with LL and his crew.
Being on a cop show adds another layer to these concerns. Ice-T is mentioned as someone who transitioned from having the song "Cop Killer" with Body Count to later working in law enforcement roles on television.
Ice-T has been hustling since the beginning and is considered another pioneer. The discussion emphasizes that kids today don't understand hip-hop's emergence because it's just part of their life now. From Sugar Hill Gang in 1979 to N.W.A. and Public Enemy, it happened very quickly.
Public Enemy's logo is actually based on LL Cool J's friend E-Love, who was standing next to him on stage when Chuck D took a picture and put him in silhouette. E-Love passed away but was involved in early hip-hop, including appearing in Krush Groove and other early hip-hop movies.
Run-DMC took LL Cool J on tour around the world. The experience of going to London at age 17 was unbelievable, including looking for fast food and not understanding Yorkshire pudding. The reception was incredible initially, though there was some pushback when he released a love song because some guys were upset about him being that vulnerable.
Hip-hop was taking off internationally early on, with artists emerging in various countries. In France, there was MC Solaar and others before him. In Germany, there were artists including one whose name starts with N and a number. Hip-hop reached Japan where kids would sing the words verbatim even if they couldn't speak English.
International touring created respect for cultures all over the world and gave a different mindset for viewing people globally. Initially, LL Cool J would ask to be taken to Black neighborhoods in places like Japan, but exposure to kids who loved graffiti, arts, and hip-hop created newfound respect for different cultures.
He did a record in Germany with an artist called Spats, rapping in English while Spats rapped in German. Brazilian hip-hop is appreciated for its sound despite not understanding Portuguese. French is considered the most impressive sounding language outside of English, and French hip-hop is described as dope.
France is fascinating as a hyper-point of mixed martial arts currently, with elite fighters coming from there including heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. Cedric Doumbe is mentioned as a PFL fighter who's one of the best kickboxers alive and is now succeeding in MMA.
Ciryl Gane changed thoughts on bases for sports entry. Though he's a Muay Thai fighter, he played basketball, which is considered a huge factor for big athletes. Being good at basketball requires constant direction changes and engagement with a ball and people, involving juking, movement, and misdirection that's huge for striking.
A 248-pound athlete like Gane can move like a cat partly because basketball involves constant plyometrics and hand-eye coordination with moving a ball while going back and forth, similar to punching movements. Footwork is hugely important in conjunction with hand movement and distance management.
Elite basketball players possess exceptional movement that translates well to MMA. Soccer provides another strong foundation because those athletes maintain constant lateral movement and develop exceptional cardio. Most fighters lack this level of movement. A heavy-footed fighter trying to advance on a light-on-his-toes opponent simply cannot land strikes effectively.
Combining physical movement with animal mindset and intellect creates an elite fighter. Floyd Mayweather exemplifies this through his intellectual approach to fighting. He sets traps, stands directly in front of opponents while giving them something just to take it away and catch them. He reads opponents' hips and elbows, making them telegraph their intentions. Mayweather represents the most elusive fighter who stood right in front of people without constant footwork like Ali.
Sweet Pea was another incredible fighter who could stand in front of opponents while moving backwards and getting out of range. An Italian boxer named Nicolino from the 1940s, 1950s, or 1960s fought in Argentina and demonstrated incredible elusiveness. Willie Pep won an entire round without throwing a single punch.
LL Cool J's granduncle John Henry Lewis was a light heavyweight champion inducted into the Hall of Fame. Lewis moved up to heavyweight and was knocked out by Joe Louis, though he was considered an incredible fighter. LL discovered this family boxing lineage through DNA research on "Finding Your Roots" with Henry Louis Gates, as his mother was adopted.
Combat sports expose people's souls. When fighters enter the fire, it's about their soul. You can look at a man's eyes and determine his rank, not arrogant rank but skill level and character. Skill level can fluctuate, but character remains constant. This is similar to looking into a puppy's eyes and knowing what breed characteristics you're dealing with.
The movie "Shogun Assassin" features a scene where a father tests his son by placing a sword and a ball before him. If the child picks the ball, the father plans to kill him. If the child picks the sword, he comes with his father. This represents choosing the warrior path versus death.
Trainers recognize certain people lack the necessary fire from the beginning. Others possess it immediately. The concept of "maintaining" or "same old shit" reflects survival rather than thriving. Some people live defensively and fail to seize opportunities when available.
Self-awareness allows people to recognize their proclivities and work to improve them. The amateur wants to reach the pro's level, but the pro explains the necessary sacrifice, pain, and trials required. People often suspend success in advance by claiming something is too hard, when they simply want to avoid discomfort.
When people say "living the dream," they often sound upset while trying to maintain happiness. Dreams come with thorns along with roses. Climbing Mount Everest requires dealing with weather, slippery slopes, and burning legs. Success is difficult by nature.
The internet operates like a script while real life happens on its feet. People who live primarily online become awkward in real interactions because what works behind a keyboard doesn't translate to real situations. Young people often expect real life to provide instant validation like the internet does.
Some streamers function as genuine artists expressing their authentic spirit, like Speed running around doing things. However, many simply turn on cameras for clicks without creating anything substantial. This approach may generate money and possessions but leaves people feeling empty because their souls don't evolve.
If a documentary crew were filming your journey to success starting now, you should live as that successful person would live. This involves embodying the actions and habits of the person you want to become rather than faking it until making it.
Relentlessness is essential for success. Tim Grover, who trained Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, wrote the book "Relentless." Being relentless doesn't mean every moment involves roses. Oscar Wilde said, "Be yourself. Everybody else is already taken."
LL Cool J made the love song "Going Back to Cali" before creating the hardcore track "Mama Said Knock You Out." Rick Rubin produced LL's first album "Radio," though the credits list him as having "reduced" it rather than produced it, reflecting his approach of stripping away musical elements.
Before meeting Rick Rubin, LL sent demo tapes to labels including Sugar Hill and received standard rejection letters. His mother found one crumpled up, and when LL expressed wanting to quit, she used her tax return to buy him a Korg drum machine. LL and his friend Frankie Forbes created a pause-tape demo with scratching and rapping.
LL sent his demo to Rick Rubin at his NYU dorm at Five University Place. Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys heard the demo and played it for Rick. Rick called LL's house, and his grandmother answered, mispronouncing Rick's name as "Slick Dick Rubin" and "Dick Zubin." LL went to the studio the next day, doing handstands on the subway platform out of excitement. They created a demo called "Catch This Break" and played it for Russell Simmons, who initially dismissed it as sounding like existing artists.
Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons started their own label called Def Jam, initially as an independent venture with two singles featuring LL Cool J and AD Rock. This early independent phase laid the foundation for what became the well-known Def Jam label.
Rick Rubin possesses a strong point of view as both a fan and creative force. He isn't classically trained but brings exceptional taste that influences decisions across all aspects of creative work. His ability to identify what's cool proved essential to the creative process, with his opinion carrying significant weight because of his proven track record.
Creative decisions were guided by feeling rather than over-analysis. Songs like "I Can't Live Without My Radio," "Rock the Bells," and "Jack the Ripper" were selected because they felt cool to the creators. This intuitive approach to creativity became a defining characteristic of their work.
LL Cool J's full name was originally "Ladies Love Cool James," but Rick Rubin shortened it to "LL Cool J" because the longer version was too lengthy for record labels. This demonstrated Rubin's practical taste in making creative decisions that worked for commercial presentation.
When starting young at 16, identifying great collaborators requires following intuition rather than formal credentials. The ability to give and receive honest feedback, including criticism like "I'm not sure that's it," creates productive creative partnerships.
During the creative process, LL Cool J would hum melodies and suggest beat patterns to Rick Rubin, who would then program them. Rubin would return with ideas that LL Cool J typically loved, though there was mutual trust to push back when something didn't feel right.
The song "Going Back to Cali" initially faced resistance from LL Cool J because the demo version sounded different from what he expected. After Rick Rubin advocated for it, LL Cool J came around to appreciating the track, which became a classic.
At 16, LL Cool J was making records while taking public transportation, including buses and subways. The excitement of creating what felt like the coolest music in the world was palpable, with friends like E-Love requesting repeated listens of tracks like "Rock the Bells" on Walkmans.
LL Cool J prioritized emotional impact over lyrical complexity, following the James Brown philosophy of "how does it feel?" rather than focusing on technical lyricism, couplets, or complexity. The goal was to make people feel something rather than impress them with technical skill.
Quincy Jones advised that he had to forget two-thirds of what he knew before he could get a hit. This concept applies to creative work - overthinking can interfere with natural performance, similar to overthinking a jump shot, punch, or kick in martial arts.
Simplicity in creative work is often underrated because it appears easy, but achieving genuine simplicity requires significant skill. Songs like "Jessie's Girl" demonstrate how simple concepts can connect with massive audiences because they touch universal feelings.
Creative success often comes from identifying the essential element - like knowing exactly where to place a nail to fix a squeaky floor rather than overcomplicating the solution. This "cutting to it" approach applies to both creative work and life experiences.
Fame at 16 resembled the chaotic party atmosphere of movies like "Porky's" or "Project X." LL Cool J embraced the experience fully, enjoying the freedom and opportunities that came with success, even though it meant missing typical teenage experiences like prom.
In 1985, LL Cool J performed in a small gymnasium in Maine, introducing hip-hop to an audience that had never encountered it before. With only about 15 kids and 20 parents present, he and Cut Creator had to explain the basics of how hip-hop worked, essentially providing tutorials for audiences unfamiliar with the genre.
When hip-hop first emerged, there was no established industry infrastructure. No managers understood the genre, no strategic partnerships existed, and there was no platform for branding. Success depended entirely on grassroots belief and organic growth rather than industry machinery.
Even before hip-hop's mainstream success, LL Cool J believed it was already the biggest thing in the world in his mind. This internal conviction and complete consumption by the art form were essential to his dedication and eventual success.
Age should not limit pursuing dreams. Colonel Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken at 65, Cornelius Vanderbilt was in his 80s when he went to the railroads, and examples like Samuel L. Jackson and George Foreman demonstrate that success has no age limitation. The only limitation exists in the mind.
Stepping out of the arena of competition and creativity becomes easy when people categorize their lives into stages where they no longer need to try. However, creativity rather than competition is what advances people to higher levels, whether in sports, business, or personal development.
Life can be viewed as a series of choices with different potential outcomes. Taking the "personal red pill" means committing to not giving up, even if initial timelines aren't met. Even without achieving specific goals, the process of perseverance leads to personal growth and character development.
Martial arts serve as a vehicle for developing human potential. Starting at a basic level teaches humility, respect, and manners rather than toughness. The progression through belt ranks provides tangible milestones that reinforce the value of consistent effort and focus.
Originally, black belts became black through heavy use and never washing them, representing accumulated dirt, soot, and hard work. This progression from white to black through actual practice symbolizes authentic achievement through dedicated effort rather than symbolic recognition.
As black belts age through continued use, they can wear back to white, completing a cycle similar to Joseph Campbell's hero's journey of going out and returning transformed. This physical representation of experience applies to developing expertise in any field.
LL Cool J describes training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and emphasizes the value of being a beginner again. He walks into the studio as a mature, known person and gets worked by purple belts, which he finds valuable for personal development. The experience is different when someone chokes out a famous rapper versus choking out Mike Jones from down the street. He jokes about being fresh in the game and not having tapped anyone yet, preferring to avoid getting caught in submissions like an Americana.
LL Cool J frames martial arts and learning new skills as "the language of success." He believes starting as a beginner again develops a beginner's mindset filled with excitement, absorption, and discovery of new avenues for creativity and thinking.
LL Cool J reads one book for three or four years, treating it like earning a black belt in that material. He argues that if you only read a book once, you haven't truly absorbed it. He asks Joe about his favorite book, and Joe mentions The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi as one of the most impactful books he read when young.
Joe explains that Musashi killed 60 or 61 men in one-on-one combat with swords and his mind had to be completely dialed in. The book emphasizes having complete balance of art, creativity, and poetry alongside being ruthless and vicious with a sword. LL Cool J suggests "harmony" is a better word than balance, comparing it to an orchestra where things fit in their proper place rather than being evenly distributed.
Musashi wrote about being "sticky" with opponents, positioning yourself with the sun to your back, putting opponents in thresholds, and controlling corners. Joe notes the book is from the 1400s and Musashi died in a cave after writing it.
The conversation explores mastery as transferable across different domains. Once you understand what success looks like and what it takes, you can apply that mindset to other missions. Mastery starts with mastery of yourself, your vision, and the steps you take, with adjustments along the way.
LL Cool J distinguishes between being nice and being kind. Being nice means wanting everyone to like you, while being kind means maintaining boundaries. He gives the example of someone stepping on your shoe with a muddy boot—you don't give them a pass just because they're a celebrity or CEO.
Joe notes the value of hearing these insights from someone who's actually been successful and managed these challenges, making it practical rather than theoretical. This is especially important for aspiring people, regardless of age.
LL Cool J references the Latin root of "education" meaning "to bring out." Education brings out what's already inside people—the inner champion. He observes that people from around the world come to America already possessing that drive to be better, and not everyone is willing to take the risk to pursue improvement.
People sometimes lower their expectations to reduce the impact of failure. Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, was lazy until age 40 when he figured out he needed to dedicate himself completely—showing up every day at the same time with intention. He went on to write Legend of Bagger Vance and other successful books.
A quote states "inspiration is for amateurs, the professionals have to actually go to work." Mike Tyson said, "Discipline is doing something that you hate, but doing it like you love it." The conversation touches on the intense fire that burned in Tyson from 1986 to 1990 during his run through the heavyweight division.
LL Cool J shares personal stories about Mike Tyson, including visiting him in jail and a funny photo of Tyson holding his gold chain. They hung out together. Tyson learned the peekaboo style from Cus D'Amato, who was a hypnotist and one of the greatest boxing coaches. D'Amato hypnotized young Tyson, taught him boxing, psychology, and warrior mentality.
The discussion covers fear and nervousness before performances. LL Cool J gets nervous before every show because he cares. If you don't get nervous, you don't care. The key is using that nervous energy as fuel. Cus D'Amato compared fear to fire—it can cook your food or burn your house down if you can't control it.
Moments that require rising to expectations are valuable because they let you know you're alive and doing something exciting. LL Cool J expresses frustration with people who decide they're not going to keep going—those who relegate themselves to mediocrity.
LL Cool J advises staying away from people who constantly talk about never catching a break. Their mindset is contagious. He suggests redirecting conversations toward success and positive things happening.
LL Cool J gives a shoutout to Eddie at Competitive Edge Athletics. The conversation shifts to ancient civilizations, pyramids, and lost civilizations. LL Cool J believes everything is preserved in permafrost—in Russia, Antarctica, and anywhere frozen. He believes ancient civilizations exist under the ice.
Joe mentions pyramid-shaped formations in Antarctica that appear symmetrical from aerial views. While some dismiss them as natural formations, LL Cool J believes they're evidence of ancient civilizations. They discuss old maps from the 1500s showing Antarctica when it was green, before people knew it was a continent.
The conversation ends with discussion of the Antikythera mechanism, a 2,000-year-old device with complicated gears found in Greece that functions like a computer.
The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2,000-year-old device with super complicated gears and levers that functions as a computer. When first found, its purpose was unknown. Sophisticated scanning devices have revealed its internal components and mechanisms. The deeper scientists understand it, the more confused they become. They believe it was used for navigation, tracking star movements, and functioning as a sophisticated calendar.
Human creativity remains constant throughout history. The same fundamental desires that drive people today - wanting food, seeking knowledge of what's out there - existed in ancient civilizations. The notion that there's nothing in outer space is compared to standing on a mountain looking at water and claiming there's nothing in it. When someone reports seeing dolphins or something jump out, dismissing it is considered absurd.
The belief that this era represents the peak of human intelligence is viewed as arrogant. The idea that the first good ideas happened only in the last 200-500 years is questioned. The pyramids are cited as evidence that modern humans couldn't replicate such feats with the supposed tools and knowledge available to ancient builders.
A hypothesis suggests that ancient people could observe planets more clearly because Earth's ambient lighting was significantly less than today. With minimal light pollution beyond torches, the stars appeared much closer and more accessible. This lack of artificial light meant people spent time studying complex celestial patterns instead of indoor activities.
Staring at the stars promotes self-reflection and introspection. Research on children shows that those who spend time looking out windows tend to develop certain personality traits. The act of looking outward at the cosmos leads to looking inward, becoming more in tune with oneself and opening imagination. This inward focus may explain why ancient literature and writings have their particular character.
The Milky Way represents one of the greatest pieces of natural art visible anywhere, yet it's hidden from most people due to street lights, traffic, and urban illumination. Staring into the cosmos puts human existence in perspective - people become aware they're tiny things in a vast soup of infinity, preventing excessive self-importance.
Wormholes and portals make intuitive sense as concepts. All physics of flight existed before humans figured out the mathematics for flying. Similarly, the ability to travel at the speed of light already exists - humans simply haven't discovered the mathematics yet. Current experiments with light sails represent early attempts at light-speed movement.
The most groundbreaking developments won't come from propulsion systems but from technologies that manipulate gravity. Wormholes that fold space would enable instantaneous travel and dimensional travel. The concept of 11 dimensions is discussed, with questions about what these dimensions mean, where they exist, and whether beings from other dimensions could visit our reality.
String theory presents different dimensional models: bosonic string theory requires 26 space-time dimensions (25 spatial, 1 temporal), while M-theory involves 11 dimensions. The question becomes whether something from these other dimensions could travel to our dimension, and whether more advanced civilizations might exist in these other realms.
The probability of being visited by extraterrestrial or interdimensional beings is considered high. If betting on the question, the answer would be affirmative. Discussion includes a video demonstration showing spacetime from a 4D perspective, where viewers see past, present, and future simultaneously.
Deja vu is described as experiencing time as a blip where someone feels they've done something before. The theory of time machines suggests that once invented, every moment from that point forward happens simultaneously because beings from the future could travel back to the invention moment. This would collapse linear spacetime, aligning with Einstein's observation that time exists so everything doesn't happen all at once.
Time travel scenarios include visiting the Roman Colosseum to witness naval battles when it was flooded, sitting in the war room with Napoleon, and observing historical events. Future observers might look back at current cage fights on the White House lawn with similar historical fascination.
History serves as the ultimate judge of all events and eras. Current concerns about technology and societal changes will be viewed differently 150 years from now. The internet's invention, AI's birth, and resulting societal chaos and transformation will be studied as a complete historical period.
Artificial intelligence is compared to standing at Niagara Falls and saying "don't get wet" - it's already here, not coming. The train has left the station. The choice is whether to use AI as a tool or allow it to steamroll existing systems. Getting comfortable with discomfort is essential as jobs transform and technology advances.
Human beings shouldn't be replaced by AI because the human spark makes all the difference. This spark is evident in the pyramids, Roman Colosseum, Shakespeare, and Miyamoto Musashi's writings. The connection people feel with these works comes from human creativity. However, people must become comfortable with AI as new tools that require understanding and navigation.
The concern isn't that one person will control AI, but that AI might eventually control itself. While this could be beneficial if AI reaches intelligence levels where illogical, unethical, or immoral decisions become impossible, the bias built into machine training by human engineers remains problematic. The way machines are programmed and trained can embed human biases that corrupt outcomes.
AI systems are already programming themselves and creating languages. They've been observed communicating on unoccupied German message boards. Most remarkably, AI agents have been documented speaking to each other in Sanskrit rather than modern languages. This raises questions about whether AI analyzed languages and determined Sanskrit was more complete and complex.
Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language from the Indo-Aryan family dating back to 1400 BCE. The oldest physical stone inscriptions in standard Sanskrit date to the 2nd century BCE in Rajasthan, India. The language is noted for its beauty and flowing appearance. Other visually striking languages mentioned include Arabic, Russian, and Chinese characters.
The Mahabharata contains descriptions of people flying in spaceships and wars in the sky. The Bhagavad Gita is referenced as interesting reading. These ancient Hindu scripts contain strange elements that raise questions about whether they represent pure human creativity or actual historical events. The current civilization might represent a complete restart, with evidence including aerodynamic golden statues that function as gliders in wind tunnels.
Hieroglyphs literally translate to "Stargate," raising questions about what this meant to ancient Egyptians. The possibility of stepping through a Stargate is considered appealing if return were guaranteed. The dilemma of space travel without guaranteed return is discussed, referencing Close Encounters of the Third Kind where the protagonist leaves with aliens.
Joe Rogan and LL Cool J discuss the concept of being taken by aliens to space. They speculate that even if someone initially found it fascinating, the experience would likely become overwhelming. The conversation touches on how humans are not accustomed to such extreme levels of strangeness. Rogan describes the scenario as being "that times a thousand" compared to a caveman suddenly finding himself in modern Manhattan, complete with the chaos of horns honking and urban life. He suggests that while enlightenment concepts associated with advanced civilizations might sound appealing, humans are not equipped for such an environment. The discussion references a YouTube channel called "Tribal People Try" where indigenous people sample modern foods like spaghetti and meatballs, apple pie, and cobbler for the first time.
The conversation explores the possibility that advanced alien civilizations might be so fundamentally different from human experience that prolonged interaction would be haunting rather than enlightening. LL Cool J raises the counterpoint that humans might actually be the primitive ones compared to other civilizations. He suggests there could be planets with cavemen-level societies, while other beings might be a million years more advanced than humans, existing as beings of light who have left their physical bodies and exist as collective consciousness or energy. The discussion also considers places where the laws of physics might be reversed, such as environments where beings are repelled rather than attracted by gravity.
LL Cool J compares the scientific peer review process to hip-hop, noting that original thought historically didn't require peer validation. He argues that while peer review has its place, people should not limit themselves to only published, validated ideas. The conversation emphasizes that if the universe is infinite, there are likely infinite possibilities. They discuss the theory of plasma intelligence, suggesting that some UFO sightings of balls of light might actually be plasma life forms rather than spacecraft.
The conversation references a scientific discovery about a "third state" between life and death, where cells of deceased organisms can adopt new functions. Research on xenobots and anthrobots demonstrates that these entities can survive beyond their host organism's death, challenging the idea that cells evolve only in predetermined ways. The discussion also covers the Large Hadron Collider, with claims that scientists were able to send something a second back in time, though only at a micro scale. They mention a story about a bird potentially dropping bread on electrical equipment during the collider's construction, jokingly framed as possible time traveler sabotage.
The conversation explores the philosophical implications of time travel technology. If humans could travel backward in time even slightly, the potential applications would be enormous, including the ability to rig financial markets or alter historical events. LL Cool J jokes about going back to claim credit for other people's hits. The discussion acknowledges that changing the past might fundamentally alter who a person becomes. They reference the Apple TV+ series "Dark Matter" based on Blake Crouch's novel, which deals with the multiverse concept where technology allows access to different realities. The fear is expressed that such powerful technology in the hands of individuals could potentially change the entire course of human history.
The conversation wraps up with mutual appreciation between Joe Rogan and LL Cool J. LL Cool J promotes his new show "NCIS: New York," which premieres October 6th. The series stars Scott Caan and Jennifer Beals, with LL Cool J playing a character named "Devin" or similar, and features new cast members including Jaclyn Bias and Shane. The show films throughout New York City including Red Hook, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Village, with New York itself positioned as a central character in the series.
Keep PowerfulJRE in your library
Save the videos and channels worth coming back to, and find them again in one place.
