Alex Ebert | Cognitive Harmonics, Spirituality and Individuality, Rites of Passage, Creativity, and more

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June 11, 2021

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“Once you allow confusion, you allow the mystical” – Alex Ebert

Alex Ebert is one of the most unique and brilliant artists I have ever met. He is perhaps know for his hit song ‘Home’ and his band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros; Alex has also won a Golden Globe for best original score for the 2013 film All is Lost.

Alex is not only an incredibly authentic musical artist, but he is also a philosopher, activist, and spiritual explorer. He produces videos on spirituality and social dilemmas on his Instagram

Our wide ranging conversation covers creativity, spirituality, racism, transgender, identity, death, rites of passage, and much more

What you’ll learn in this episode:

How Alex discovered the hole in American Society that led to his song “Home”
How to hold opposing views at the same time
The challenges of navigating our shared cultural reality
How his most successful bands were the opposite of professional
Why the extractive nature of our economy is leading us down a dead end
How to reorient your ego for self reflection

Quotes

“Knowledge is the enemy of wisdom”-Alex Ebert
“The key of boxing is relaxing while being pummeled”-Alex Ebert
“Reorient the ego to thrive on self analysis”-Alex Ebert
“One stage, we are not rock starts, we are children at show and tell”-Alex Ebert
“To include the final step is transcendence. Having a self realization at the top and then at the very top you have transcendence of self which is the reestablishment of a collective will.” -Alex Ebert
“One of the most generative things that we can experience on earth is struggle.” -Alex Ebert
“As a kid, I manufactured struggle for myself; I manufactured hardship. ” -Alex Ebert
“I used to tell people my un-professionalizing professionalism was my profession.” -Alex Ebert
“There’s more genetic differentiation within Africa amongst Africans than there is between the average African genome and the rest of the world.” -Alex Ebert
“And so race, being an abstract conservatism is going to seem to have a problem with trans, because the idea of trans is that we can declare ourselves any set. The idea of trans is actually that we can declare ourselves anything.” -Alex Ebert
“Racism exists; race really doesn’t.” -Alex Ebert
“What is technology doing? It is giving us more more capacity to create.” -Alex Ebert
“People ask me if I believe that God exists, I say not yet. ” -Alex Ebert
“We are addicted to overcorrection. ” -Alex Ebert
“We only have so much heroic energy to spend; we only have so much life to spend.” -Alex Ebert
“If I hadn’t had success I’d be out there probably hustling a lot harder and not talking as much shit” -Alex Ebert
“Individualism is an abstraction; it’s an augmented layer on top of reality.” -Alex Ebert
“When I wrote ‘Home’, I saw a giant gap in the fabric of society and that hole was earnestness.” -Alex Ebert