Here is a/THE incubus of Landmark abettors.
[www.esalen.org]
As I read this 1967 article on Esalen, I thought, "This is my image of HELL on earth."
Free-wheeling 'ID', in isolation.
Definitely a PR piece by Psychology Today.
The bit that caught my eye was mention of Dick Price working on a proposal with R.D. Laing (Tavistock Institute). They were intending to purpose this idyllic venue for research on psychotics.
And, I am wondering WHY the then most influential psychiatrist on planet earth is talking to hippie with an undergrad degree in psychology about what sounds like a pretty dicey (for the subjects) research project???
What could possibly be the APPEAL for Laing? How would said 'hippie' have even been able to connect with this guy? (In my world, loftily-placed practitioners don't really talk to plebs.)
My guess is that: 1) somebody was funding this research on psychotics, and 2) Esalen was a private institution -- a no accountability zone.
This may also explain why the rash of suicides among program participants (as described in Upstart Spring was never investigated.
In any case, this was to be Werner Erhard's finishing school...where he picked up some professional lingo and moves, and, maybe, the idea that his own accountability toward other human beings was nil???
I am EXTREMELY reluctant to place credence in stories of objections lodged against Erhard's behavior by his mentors in so far as they were not published, and because Erhard's money was always good at Esalen, and when it came time to finance 'research' projects.
Erhard's website (or, one of the many) lists Michael Murphy as a recipient of grants from the Erhard Foundation...and, this donating occurred years after protests against the "Est-hole" are alleged to have occurred.
So, let's call the Esalen Institute, an institutional abettor.
Bakkagirl
[www.esalen.org]
As I read this 1967 article on Esalen, I thought, "This is my image of HELL on earth."
Free-wheeling 'ID', in isolation.
Definitely a PR piece by Psychology Today.
The bit that caught my eye was mention of Dick Price working on a proposal with R.D. Laing (Tavistock Institute). They were intending to purpose this idyllic venue for research on psychotics.
And, I am wondering WHY the then most influential psychiatrist on planet earth is talking to hippie with an undergrad degree in psychology about what sounds like a pretty dicey (for the subjects) research project???
What could possibly be the APPEAL for Laing? How would said 'hippie' have even been able to connect with this guy? (In my world, loftily-placed practitioners don't really talk to plebs.)
My guess is that: 1) somebody was funding this research on psychotics, and 2) Esalen was a private institution -- a no accountability zone.
This may also explain why the rash of suicides among program participants (as described in Upstart Spring was never investigated.
In any case, this was to be Werner Erhard's finishing school...where he picked up some professional lingo and moves, and, maybe, the idea that his own accountability toward other human beings was nil???
I am EXTREMELY reluctant to place credence in stories of objections lodged against Erhard's behavior by his mentors in so far as they were not published, and because Erhard's money was always good at Esalen, and when it came time to finance 'research' projects.
Erhard's website (or, one of the many) lists Michael Murphy as a recipient of grants from the Erhard Foundation...and, this donating occurred years after protests against the "Est-hole" are alleged to have occurred.
So, let's call the Esalen Institute, an institutional abettor.
Bakkagirl