What does “It’s Not That Deep” even mean?

Since I started my Podcast in June of this year, I’ve been getting this question from many well-intentioned people. Some people think it’s a play on my name, some people think it’s a meme, some people think it’s me claiming ‘I’m not that Deepak,’ as in...not Deepak Chopra (LOL).  Some people take it literally and others read too deep into it (I had to). Until now, I haven't really been able to give anybody a straight up answer, but by the end of this mini-article, hopefully you can form your own opinion.  

So what does ‘It’s Not That Deep’ mean to me in the context of this podcast? I’m not going to sit here and tell you some bullshit story about how It’s Not That Deep has some extremely significant meaning to me dating back to my childhood. Nope, none of that. Oddly enough, it actually DID start out as a meme that made the rounds on the internet.

 

I have no idea where this meme originated but I always cracked up at how simple, yet ultra-effective it was in destroying someone’s opinion online. It was hilarious and it applied in so many different contexts.  

• Someone getting overly heated over the weather? It’s not that deep fam.
• 2 people arguing over who’s the better rapper, Cardi B or Nicki Minaj? It’s not that deep fam.
• Someone performing a deep dive analysis on one of Donald Trump’s latest tweets? LOOK FAM, It’s Not That Deep.

In all seriousness, this meme leaked into real life when I found myself jokingly diffusing whole arguments with the simple phrase… “It’s not that deep...”. How could these 4 words have enough power to essentially dismantle anybody’s will to continue on with their point? How would one even come back from that?

The more I think about it, It’s Not That Deep is probably the most ironic name I could have come up for a podcast, because often times, my guests and I DO go deep on certain issues and begin to peel back many layers through conversation. 

Anyways - I’m getting off track. Back to why I chose this as the name of my podcast. Well, the most obvious, surface level reason is because my name is Deepak. And ‘It’s Not That Deep’ is clearly a play on that. But when I decided I wanted to start a podcast (that’s a whole different story for another day), I really thought that the name had to have some kind of significance to it, the same way someone who’s planning on getting a tattoo plans to attach some sort of meaning to their ink. 

I’m going to be completely honest - I went ahead and got the metaphorical tattoo before I even knew what It’s Not That Deep meant to me, but after over 4 months of producing the podcast and having time to really think about what it means to ME. Here is what I truly believe from the bottom of my heart:

I think that all humans are the same. There it is. Apart from the scientific fact that homo sapiens share 99.9% of the same DNA, what I really mean by this is that: no matter our differences, which society loves to focus SO MUCH on, whether it be through categorizing and defining different cultures, races, religions, genders, sexualities, economic and political preferences, and abilities - man we all really just want the same things! 

Through my experiences meeting people around the world who look different than me, subscribe to different faiths, have different sexual preferences, or any number of different subtle differences - I believe that if you just peel back 1 layer, most, if not all humans fundamentally share the same core desires. We all seek health, wealth, happiness, and freedom for ourselves and our families. We all want to avoid suffering and seek to connect with each other at some level.  

It’s obvious that these desires manifest in different ways - an elderly woman in Uganda will pursue this truth in a different manner than a young boy in Russia might, but at the core I really do think if you sit down any person and try to connect with them, you would be able to do so by tapping into this idea. At first, this might sound a little crazy because from a young age, we’ve all been conditioned to focus on our differences. Even to this day, a lot of mainstream media loves to latch on to this idea that, “we have never been so divided,” which I believe to be straight up false.

With that being said, one of my goals with the ‘It’s Not That Deep Podcast’ is to connect as many communities as I can through conversation, and I’m hoping that this belief of mine can be a common thread for me to explore that. I’m not telling you you have to agree with me or even subscribe to this idea. It’s just a way for me to sew together my own interactions with the amazing people I get to interact with in my lifetime. 

At the end of the day, that’s all this is - just an idea. And I’m hoping to build on this idea and evolve with it as I do. Who knows, maybe if we started viewing all humans as the same, we can start to actually appreciate our differences. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. New Podcast dropping every Sunday! If you enjoyed this article and want more people to check it out, please share with your friends on social media and in real life too :)

Just remember, It’s Not That Deep!