‘Empathy Has Been Weaponized to Destroy Western Civilization’ [WATCH]

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and podcast host Joe Rogan discussed what they described as the dangers of “weaponized empathy” during a recent exchange, arguing that excessive or misdirected empathy is being used to manipulate societies and weaken Western civilization.

The conversation centered on the idea that empathy, while traditionally viewed as a virtue, can become destructive when it is exploited or applied without limits. Musk referenced the work of evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad to frame the discussion.

“There’s a guy who posted next who’s great Gad Saad, Gad Saad,” Musk said.

“And he talks about, you know, basically suicidal empathy. Like, if there’s like, there’s so much empathy that you actually suicide yourself.”

Joe Rogan responded simply, “Yeah.”

Musk expanded on the concept, arguing that what he sees happening in Western societies goes beyond individual behavior and rises to the level of a civilizational threat.

“So that we’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on,” Musk said, “and it’s like, I believe in empathy, like I think you should care about other people, but you need to have empathy for for civilization as a whole, and not commit to a civilizational suicide.”

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Rogan agreed that empathy can be misused, particularly when it is leveraged to exert control over institutions or governments.

“Also, don’t let someone use your empathy against you so they can completely control your state and then do it insanely bad job of managing it and never get removed,” Rogan said.

Musk then described what he sees as a core vulnerability in Western civilization, suggesting that empathy itself has become an exploitable weakness.

“There’s the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy,” Musk said.

“The Empathy exploit, it’s they’re exploiting a bug in western civilization, which is the empathy response.”

Musk clarified that he was not rejecting empathy outright, but warning against what he views as uncritical or automatic responses that lack broader consideration.

“I think empathy is good,” Musk said, “but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot.”

Rogan added that recognizing how empathy is being used is essential.

“Understand when empathy has been actually used as a tool,” Rogan said.

Musk agreed, concluding that the problem lies not with empathy itself, but with how it has been repurposed.

“Yes, weaponized empathy is the issue,” Musk said.

Rogan responded, “Yeah.”

WATCH:

Empathy has been weaponized to destroy Western civilization https://t.co/cCq6jN5gPM

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 15, 2025