Alan Levinovitz

Date: 2020-07-08 | Duration: 3h 24m

Episode Overview

Alan Levinovitz, religion scholar and author of "Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science," joins Joe for a sweeping 3.5-hour conversation about the dangers of naturalistic thinking. Levinovitz argues that appeals to 'what is natural' function as a quasi-religious belief system that distorts diet fads, legal judgments, environmental policy, and medical decisions. They probe social media outrage culture and why the internet amplifies tribal virtue signaling, discuss prosthetic limb technology and whether athletes with artificial limbs have unfair advantages, and dive into the fraught history of chiropractic medicine. The conversation also explores Dave Chappelle's cultural significance, the tension between honesty and cruelty in comedy, and the complexity of holding nuanced positions in a polarized media environment. Levinovitz brings rigorous academic thinking with genuine warmth.

About Alan Levinovitz

Dr. Alan Levinovitz is an accomplished author and Associate Professor of Religion at James Madison University, where he explores the intricate relationship between faith, culture, and science. His latest book, *Natural: How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science*, critically examines the cultural obsession with "natural" solutions and their societal implications. Known for his thought-provoking insights, Levinovitz also hosts the podcast *SHIFT*, where he delves into the complexities of human belief systems and their impact on contemporary issues. With a unique blend of academic rigor and accessible storytelling, he challenges listeners to rethink their assumptions about nature and well-being.

Key Moments

– Naturalistic Fallacy and Health Fads
– Outrage Culture and Social Media Tribalism
– Prosthetics and Athletic Fairness
– Chiropractic Medicine History
– Dave Chappelle and Comedy Culture
0:00:00 – Alan Levinovitz on 'Natural' and the religion of nature
0:23:29 – Virtue signaling and feeding people in humanitarian crises
1:10:43 – Keeping a 'junk folder' to guard against blind spots
1:53:05 – Prosthetic limbs and athletic fairness debates
2:38:10 – Dave Chappelle and nuanced takes in polarized culture
3:19:20 – Embracing complexity and navigating life's potholes

Transcript Excerpt

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, Alan. Hello, Joe. Good to see you. First of all, thank you for this, this piece of pyrite that's embedded into stone. And we just started talking. I said, just don't say another word. Let's start talking about this on the podcast because this, it kind of, it's interesting. I started your book, which I very rarely read books. Starting point is 00:00:22 I mostly do audio books, but I was forced to read yours. But one of the things that I found interesting is the concept of what is natural. And I've gone over this many times myself. I'm like, poison's natural. Like, everything's natural. Computers are natural, really, because they come from the ground. They're made by people. They're essentially like a human's version of Anything like a bird would create right birds create Starting point is 00:00:47 Birds nests are those natural but this pyrite this is pyrite right yep, which is fool's gold right fool's gold But it's naturally in these cubes in these this this square form this perfect These perfect angles which you would never believe. You would think somebody left this shit there. I didn't believe it. It looks like, it looks like aliens left them. Yeah. And they're even in like what that's called is it's in the matrix. Starting point is 00:01:13 Oh wow. So sometimes you can just get the cubes. They're just the cube, but they call the rock that it's in the matrix, which I think is kind of appropriate. That is going to have a permanent spot on this desk with all this other craziness here. Thank you so much. That was really cool. I did not know that it came like that. I found pyrite when I was a kid in rocks, you know, when they call it fool's gold. Starting point is 00:01:32 Jamie's going to bring that up to you there. Perfect. Fool's gold, but it's usually like specks and flecks and stuff. There's another one called, I forget, they're called like Illinois miners dollars or something. This is another form that Pyrite takes. I'm kind of...

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Frequently asked about this episode

Who was the guest on Joe Rogan Experience #1504?

Alan Levinovitz was the guest on JRE #1504. This page includes the episode overview, topics discussed, and related resources.

What topics were discussed on JRE #1504?

On Joe Rogan Experience #1504 with Alan Levinovitz, topics include Naturalistic Fallacy and Health Fads, Outrage Culture and Social Media Tribalism, Prosthetics and Athletic Fairness, and Chiropractic Medicine History.

Where can I read the transcript for JRE #1504?

The full searchable transcript for Joe Rogan Experience #1504 with Alan Levinovitz is available on this page, along with key topics and timestamps.