#1889 - Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil McGraw (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan (0:12)

What do you got there? You got detailed notes?

Dr. Phil McGraw (0:19)

Well, I got some statistics I might talk about, I don't know, maybe I will, maybe I won't.

Joe Rogan (0:23)

You're a voice of reason. How do we fix this world? We're in a mess.

This is a weird time to be alive, isn't it?

Dr. Phil McGraw (0:31)

Yeah, it's getting weirder, too. I mean, it is getting weirder, don't you think?

Joe Rogan (0:36)

It is, certainly. Well, it's highlighted on your show. You know, you've kind of exposed a lot of it to America.

Dr. Phil McGraw (0:45)

You know, every year in the summer, we kind of work to reinvent ourselves about how we can tell our stories better and all that sort of thing, and we really focus on what our viewers are asking about.

And I have to tell you, this year, the questions really changed. You know, we still deal with human functioning, you know, marriage and family and all that. But in addition to that, the questions we got over the summer this year started really changing, like, are we going to make it? Are we going to survive? Are we safe? Are our kids safe?

Are they safe in school? What are they being taught in school? Should we be going down there and seeing what they're teaching them? Are we...

What's happening as far as values in this country? I mean, people started asking different questions, and so I changed everything. You know, I used to have that studio audience out in the bleachers out there. I moved everybody on stage, and we're just having a focus group every day. There are like 110 people up there in a focus group, and letting them talk and ask questions because they're really concerned. And I just said, I can't take it anymore. I'm going to start talking about the social issues along with everything else because if you...

If you even took psychology in high school or you took Psych 101, one of the first fundamental principles you learned was you don't reward bad behavior, right? You don't reward bad behavior. I mean, the world is a meritocracy. And we've somehow lost that. All of a sudden, we're paying people not to work more than they get if they work.

And then we say, what happened to the supply chain? Well, you paid everybody not to work. That's what happened to the supply chain. And I'm stunned that we're running this country in so many areas where we're just violating the most fundamental psychological principles that you could ever imagine. And I'm watching that happen, and I say, I just can't be silent about this anymore. So I'm talking about it.

Joe Rogan (3:12)

What do you think is the root cause of this shift?

Dr. Phil McGraw (3:17)

I think it's been happening gradually, but like everything, you know, it's like if you start rolling a rock downhill, it starts getting faster and faster and faster. And I think it's happened for a lot of reasons. But I think we've got a whole generation of kids that are really smart, by the way. These kids are smart. But I think they've started living on their devices. It's kind of like along about 2007 or 2008 It seems like airplanes flew over the country and just started dropping smartphones.

And everybody's head went from here to here. I mean, think about it. When you look, go anywhere. Go to the mall, go just anywhere there's a group. And what do you see in their hands? You see a device. We didn't grow up with devices.

When I started Dr. Phil 21 years ago, the first text hadn't been sent. There were no social media platforms. None of that stuff was going on. Technology is great. I'm not, listen, I love technology.

But we've got generations that started living virtually. They're watching people live their lives instead of living their own lives. And that changed the metrics on everything. Think about that. TikTok, Instagram, all of this.

You're watching other people live their lives instead of living your own. And that changed everything.

Joe Rogan (4:54)

That seems like one factor, but that wouldn't explain this abandonment of meritocracy.

Dr. Phil McGraw (5:01)

Well, that is just one factor. You're exactly right. But there's something else that I think has come along with it, and we've got a generation of what I call concierge parents that are running interference for their kids. And look, the way you learn about yourself, the way you make attributions to yourself about yourself is the same way you make attributions about other people. You have people that you have opinions of, right? You know, you have people, friends or staff, that you watch what they do and you say, he or she is a go-to person. I know what they do. I can count on them. They're going to be there every time. They're going to show up on time. They're going to get everything ready. They're going to be buttoned up. They're like clockwork, right? And you attribute that to them because you watch what they do. If they're problem solvers, you know, hey, go get Becky in here. Go get Jeff in here. They are problem solvers. You know that because you've watched them do it and you make that attribution to them. That's the same way we learn about ourselves. You watch ourselves master certain tasks, overcome certain things.