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"In life, understanding is the booby prize." -- Werner Erhard
Werner Erhard founded est [Erhard Seminar Training] in 1971 and billed it basically as a self-help program. To psychologists, such a program is known as "Large Group Self-Awareness Training." est lasted for almost 15 years before Erhard repackaged it as the Landmark Forum. It has been estimated that over one million people have taken Erhard's training.* He has been accused by Scientologists of stealing the heart of his program from their founder L. Ron Hubbard. In return, Erhard and his supporters accuse Scientology of being behind various attempts to discredit Erhard, including hounding by the IRS and accusations of incest by his children. (Erhard won a lawsuit against the IRS and the incest accusations have fizzled.)
Actually, est is much more than Scientology. est is a hodgepodge of philosophical bits and pieces culled from the carcasses of existential philosophy, motivational psychology, Maxwell Maltz's Psycho-cybernetics, Zen Buddhism, Alan Watts, Freud, Abraham Maslow, L. Ron Hubbard, Hinduism, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, P.T. Barnum, and anything else that Erhard's intuition told him would work in the burgeoning Human Potential market.What did Erhard promise those who would shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars for his programs? He promised he would "blow their minds" and raise them to a new level of consciousness. In short, he would make them special. He would first tell them that their problem was that they needed to have their consciousness "rewired" and his program would do the rewiring. Once they got their consciousness on straight, life would be good or at least different. They would be powerful, confident, successful because they would be independent and in control. They would learn to see things in radically different ways. Nothing would change and yet everything would change. Nothing could stand in their way and deprive them of all those opportunities in life they had heretofore been denied because of bad programming or wiring. Through est they would be set free and born again! All problems and limitations are in the mind. Just rewire the mind, i.e., deconstruct personality, exorcise all negativity, quit blaming others, learn to accept things, and find your true self.
Where did Erhard get his training? Mostly, he is self-taught. His study was undirected and accidental. In 1960 he was John Rosenberg, a 25-year-old, married with children. Apparently dissatisfied with his life but with no Large Group Self-Awareness Training available to him, he did what many unhappy men have always done: he abandoned his family. He left Philadelphia and went to St. Louis, changed his name and sold cars. Some might find it interesting that a Christianized Jew (his parents had him baptized in the Episcopal church) would come to identify himself with a German. Of more interest to his transformation, however, are the books he read and was influenced by. David Shaw (relying on Werner Erhard by W. W. Bartley, III) tells us that Erhard was "profoundly dissatisfied with the competitive and meaningless status quo" but was deeply affected by Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.
Hill's three basic principles are: every achievement begins with an idea; plans call for their implementation and; what you think is what you do. Think positive, you will do positive deeds.
Hill also advised visualizing objectives and selecting similar-minded friends. Hill gives good advice, but it is not very systematic and it doesn't offer much to people who haven't got a clue what their objectives are or should be.
Another significant influence was Maxwell Maltz's Psycho-cybernetics. As a young man, Erhard apparently had a lot of negatives in his self-image and was deeply affected by Maltz who emphasized, among other things, self-hypnosis. Erhard put his new ideas and new self to work as a traveling salesman for a correspondence school. His interest in hypnotism had been stimulated by Maltz, but Erhard's focus would be on "programming" and "reprogramming." The idea is not without merit, though the language is unnecessarily cumbersome. The basic idea he came to espouse is that bad habits are programmed into us: we have been "hypnotized" during normal consciousness and that's where our problems arise. Unconsciously, we've developed debilitating habits and beliefs. The point is to get rid of them by replacing them with positive and life-enhancing beliefs and habits.
By the time Erhard arrived in San Francisco, he'd had jobs selling and managing salespersons for Great Books and Parent's magazine. He became part of the self-help movement after hiring Robert Hardgrove, who introduced Erhard to the work of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslow and Rogers were unique in psychology at the time, for they emphasized not the disturbed or ill person, but the healthy, happy, satisfied, accomplishing person. The Human Potential Movement was just getting started and Erhard would be in on the ground floor. This was in the early sixties when another movement was also beginning to emerge: the eastern religion movement. Erhard was deeply influenced by Alan Watts, attended seminars on Watts' houseboat, and incorporated parts of Watts' version of Zen into est. Erhard would teach people to "Get It."
In his pursuit of "It", Erhard joined Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard became a significant influence. Scientologists to this day accuse Erhard of having stolen his main ideas for est from Hubbard. We do know that when Erhard set up est, he considered making it a church, as Hubbard had done with dianetics and the Church of Scientology. But Erhard decided to incorporate as an educational firm for profit in a broad market. "The first est seminar was held in October, 1971 at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco with nearly 1,000 in attendance" [Shaw]. est continued for about fifteen years and has been superceded by Landmark Forum.
The Landmark Forum is Werner Erhard's est, modified by others, with his brother Harry Rosenberg as titular leader. His holdings were transferred to a corporation called Landmark, which offers seminars and classes similar to those offered by est. Erhard, however, is apparently no longer involved in the operation of the Forum. One significant change from est seems to be the method of instruction. In est, the method was often abusive, profane, demeaning, and authoritarian. The Forum is apparently just as authoritarian but not as profane or abusive. Extraordinary bladder control is apparently no longer taken as a sign that a participant is getting "It". Landmark may become even more successful than est. In 1997, Landmark had 42 offices in 11 countries, and revenues of $48 million.*
Landmark Forum aims to help people transform their lives by teaching them specific communication and life skills along with some heavy philosophical training. The advertised goals of Landmark Forum seem very grand and very vague. The programs are hailed as "original, innovative and effective." They "allow participants to produce extraordinary and even miraculous results, and provide a useful, practical new freedom which brings a quality of effectiveness and plan to one's everyday life." Landmark is dedicated to "empowering people in generating unlimited possibilities and making a difference. Our work provides limitless opportunities for growth and development for individuals, relationships, families, communities, businesses, institutions and society as a whole." They are "successful" and "internationally recognized." They are " committed to generating extraordinary communication --powerful listening and committed speaking that results in self-expression and fulfillment." Landmark is "exciting, challenging and enjoyable." "Well being, self-expression, accountability and integrity are the tenets upon which we stand. This stand leads to our extraordinary customer, assistant and employee satisfaction." And, of course, Landmark Forum wants to help you fulfill all your human potential, your "capacity to create, generate, invent and design from nothing." [Landmark Education Charter] As I said, very grand and very vague, but inspiring nonetheless.
Programs such as est, its forerunner, Scientology, and its successor, Landmark Forum, can point to many "successes." They can demonstrate that their programs "work." They can bring forth to testify on their behalf hundreds, if not thousands, of satisfied customers. And some of these customers are famous! John Denver, John Travolta, Yoko Ono, Cher, Valerie Harper. Many people apparently find that their lives are better after they get involved in est, Landmark Forum, or Scientology. Those of us who have been trained to study philosophy and psychology, who have a deep sense of the nature of speculation and empirical research, are able to recognize the pseudoscientific nature of programs such as est or dianetics. We know that testimonials do not validate a self-help program. We know that an awful lot of post hoc reasoning goes on by both gurus and their followers. We are aware of the role of subjective validation, selective thinking, wishful thinking, and communal reinforcement in the success of such programs. We know that many of these people do not really have better lives after their programs, they just feel better about whatever life they have. We know there is little or no research done by the promoters of these programs to (a) test causal claims that might establish some degree of effectiveness to their methods; (b) establish clear criteria for what counts as "successful" training; (c) keep records of "failures" or those who feel ripped off or harmed by the program. We know that the similarity between these programs and cults is more than just a superficial resemblance.
est and its current manifestation, The Landmark Forum, must be very emotional experiences. I have never attended a session of either but from what I can gather from those who have, the experience is not likely to be dull or non-emotive. Andy Testa posted this account of his experiences with Landmark Forum in 1986:
The Forum attempts to deconstruct personal attachments in a non-abusive manner by focusing your attention inward: The basis is being kept in a hotel ballroom for 10 hour days with little sleep, listening to the same thing over and over and over. Most of it consists of having people look at their childhood, and find the events that caused them to make decisions about other people, especially their parents.....
You can't go to the bathroom when you want, you take meals in groups, there are strict rules about talking and conduct, and the leader won't hesitate to shame you into compliance. Much of it is psychology parlor tricks, like making a headache go away by imagining it as a physical void in your head, and imagining it being filled. This goes on for four full days. The last 1/2 day is sales night. This night, all the participants are told to bring friends and relatives. The focus of the evening is on sales: signing up your relatives for the Forum, and signing YOU up for advanced classes....
I decided to stop participating after they began pressuring me to take the Six Day course. Six Days at a camp for intense further scrubbing of your cranium. At this time, I was a student working two jobs. This course cost over $1000 and I had none, so I had no intention of taking it, but they insisted. They told me to get a job that would pay for it. I refused to change my life plans to take this course, so I became a target for constant recruitment. The same happened when I refused to sign up for a further seminar. You see, to these people, when you stop participating it means you are allowing all those negative thoughts you purged to influence you again. You need them to keep you on the path to transformation. By wanting out, you PROVE you need their help. Well, they called me every single day for weeks. They would not even get off the phone, but would just tell me about the breakthroughs waiting, and how they would help me if they could, but they wouldn't accept no. They wouldn't get off the phone. I had to hang up on them. They don't see social politeness as anything but equivocation, which is seen as a desire for help. So if you don't like being rude, they'll never leave you alone. [Testa]
In a personal correspondence, a Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton claims
I have found the primary value of the Forum to be in what I have learned that continues to be of practical use in my everyday life long after taking the course.
When asked to elaborate, the good doctor wrote the following:
....the emphasis of the Forum is indeed on action, not on feeling good about yourself or other intangible goals. In this regard, one of the arguments presented is that much of our behavior is based on erroneous assumptions about how people will respond to our actions and what the "meaning" of past actions of theirs was. Once you recognize the existence of the assumptions you make (and they are unique to each person), you can see how they are affecting your perception of events and decide for yourself whether or not your interpretation is valid. In many cases you will discover that it is not and then have the choice of whether or not to change your behavior accordingly.
In my case I would cite three examples: First would be my relationship with my wife. I used to hide my fears and worries from her on the assumption that sharing them with her would make her feel insecure. I thought that she needed to feel that I was absolutely stable and dependable. In fact, of course, by doing this I was making her feel powerless. I was always there to help her, but she was never able to help me. Once I recognized this I became more willing to share my worries and concerns with her. The result is she feels closer to me (I know this because she says she does) and our relationship has become more equal and mutually supportive.
The second example would be my relationship with my father...I had built up this story in my mind that he didn't really love me, that all the things he had done for me growing up he had merely done out some kind of a sense of duty. I had actually told people this. Once I saw that this too was a story that I had created (when I learned that he had actually read my Ph.D. dissertation, word for word, the story became pretty unsustainable), I was able to apologize to him and for the first time I can remember, was able to hug my dad. (I realize that this would have sounded really corny to me before this happened, but that was probably because I was trying to deny that my relationship with my father was important. The fact is that our relationships with our parents are always important to us, even if they are very distant and remote ones like mine were.)
A final example would be how I interact with strangers. Thinking of myself as a geek all my life I have always been sensitive to my unhipness and therefore avoided talking much to people I didn't know, for fear of exposing my essential nerdness. Having realized that this is my perception of myself, not other people's, I no longer feel inhibited about talking to them and find myself chatting inanely with people in the post office, the woman who cuts my hair, etc. [Roger, personal correspondence]
It is known that many who sign up for such programs are significantly distressed and have a strong desire to learn how to cope better with their problems. The methods used seem to combine techniques of group therapy and Socratic instruction. Emphasis is on not only how to communicate better but how to relate better to those around me, as I am forced to reflect on and examine my life. Such courses, if they are really good, will inspire many people to create themselves anew. Many will see positive effects immediately. Finally, many are so impressed that they want to share the experience with others. They become zealots and recruiters for the program. Part of their zealotry, however, derives from the intense pressure put on them to bring their friends and family into the program, and to sign up for follow-up courses. The main marketing tool Landmark uses is high pressure direct contact with participants, including phone calls that border on harassment, according to some participants. Some critics even think that recruitment is the main goal of the program.*
From what I have read by those who have been involved in est or Landmark Forum, the experience is at minimum disrupting and provocative, at best life transforming. This would indicate that something reaches deep into some of the participant's emotional life. However, there are some who report that their loved ones have been turned into robots or worse.** Some, like Rabbi Yisroel Persky, recognize that what they are being given are little more than "common-sense concepts cloaked in esoteric packaging."* Thus, while there must be something of substance to the content of the message (culled from the great minds, after all) the importance of the messenger and the way the message is delivered cannot be overestimated. The messenger must be believable. He must appear sincere. He must exude confidence. He must know how to use his voice and body to get his message across. He must be a master of communication skills. He must have wit and humor. He must be a raconteur. He must not only talk the talk but appear to clearly walk the walk as well. And he must do it with a large group, to utilize the power of the group to infect each other. And if he is good, the participants will leave charged up and ready to take on the world. The revival will have revived them. They will leave running on sixteen cylinders. They will be tuned up and turbocharged, empowered and their lives changed.
That is why so many people feel they have benefited from programs such as Landmark Forum (or est or even Amway). The programs have given people a positive direction and focus, and surrounded them with like-minded folks for reinforcement. They have helped them achieve peace of mind or to accomplish goals they had been unable to accomplish heretofore. They have helped with personal relationships with spouses and children or helped them justify getting out of relationships with their friends and family. The program has forced them to be more self-conscious, forced them to think and examine their lives, something most people don't do on an ordinary Tuesday. Any time a rational person reflects on his or her life, or on some of the bigger issues in life, it feels good or it puts things in perspective. Either way, it is satisfying.
It is true, however, that there are some people who have breakdowns after attending such programs as Landmark Forum [see Abstracts of Articles in Psychological Journals concerning est and The Forum]. Those who are not harmed, but feel that Landmark Forum has given them the power and self-esteem they lacked are perhaps the better for it.. Some of the good feeling and carryover in behavior may be long-lasting, or it may be temporary, like the rush that follows an inspirational meeting, or the new perception of reality that follows an intense emotional experience. Unless, of course, there are follow-up courses and advanced seminars to provide reinforcement. There are, and these can get quite costly. For example: $700 for the advanced course; $1,050 for the two advanced courses on Communication and Power; and $1,700 for The Wisdom Program.
Yet, I would not be too quick to blame Landmark Forum or Scientology,
etc., for all the harm done to some of their clients. Many of those who
seek out self-help or group awareness programs are troubled already. Some
are deeply troubled and the training might send them over the edge. But
whose fault is that? Such people might have gone to the movies and been
pushed over the edge, like the man who started murdering "evil"
women after seeing Cecil B. DeMille's film, The Ten Commandments.
further reading
Lell, Martin. Das Forum: Protokoll einter Gehirnwäsche. Der Psycho-Konzern Landmark Education. May 1997. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, München .
Pressman, Steven. Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner
Erhard From est to Exile, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993).