Throughout his career, Michael Jordan has drawn comparisons to a lot of people from a lot of backgrounds but Joe Rogan thinks he is akin to a ruthless army general and makes an earnest attempt to dissect his mentality.
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And while it is an attempt at best, given that MJ himself has talked at length about how his entire mentality is framed around winning, Joe might be on to something. Rogan’s podcast often always stirs up controversy or is the subject of discussion among thousands.
When he talks, the world is listening to it with intent but they carry on doing what they already were. Such is the nature of podcasts that you can simultaneously listen to stuff while going about your day-to-day life. Joe Rogan’s podcast is the most popular one in the world and he invites a slew of guests to discuss everything from politics to well, Michael Jordan.
And this time, it isn’t your regular “Greatest Of All Time” debate. Rogan believes that Jordan’s mindset is akin to that of a cold army general.
The reasoning behind Joe Rogan’s abstract parallels
As per MJ himself, his teammates didn’t like him. And it would be because he pushed them far too much. MJ wanted to win. The ember of victory burned deep inside him and there is nothing that can extinguish it.
He became intolerable towards his teammates and insufferable even, to an extent. His Airness was a winner through and through but this mentality is something you find in ruthless generals according to Rogan.
In conversation with comedian Andrew Schulz, they talk about why MJ was simply built differently. Joe Rogan says “I think there are psychological issues that these extreme winners have. You don’t get to where they are without them.” He is already on to something here, you have to think differently to win constantly.
He continues “It’s like where the illness becomes beneficial, right? If you’re not sadistic you don’t make a good serial killer. If you’re not narcissistic or an egomaniac, I wonder if you ever become a guy like Michael Jordan who’s just so dominant,”
Sadism and Narcissism might not be the right set of adjectives but there is a point to be made about how MJ was enamored with his abilities. He knew he would beat the other guy and that was down to him having full faith in himself.
Michael Jordan is compared to ruthless army generals
Joe Rogan says, “As far as like to be that kind of an achiever, you have to have a madness about you that’s probably intolerable for most people. Just the desire to win, (and) conquer. In (On) other days man, those were gladiators, in other days those were generals,”.
The desire to succeed is something common among all humans, nobody likes losing but to use it as an inexhaustible fuel is not natural. Army generals were obsessed with one thing, to win wars and conquer kingdoms. In a very abstract sense, MJ also wanted to do the same.
He wished to dominate the league and he did. So the parallels are not that far off. The manic nature of MJ was never more vivid than it was in The Last Dance.
And no matter what you think or say, the truth is Jordan was invincible during his time. So were generals like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Joe Rogan’s point is more than valid.
