Landmarks or Roadblocks

I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this yet, so bear with me.

I just read a brochure for something called "Landmark Forum: An exceptional Opportunity". The Landmark Forum says that it is "a breakthrough in living. The Landmark Forum is a means of gaining insight into fundamental premises that shape and govern our lives-- the very structures that determine our thinking, our actions, our values, the kind of people we can be." Elsewhere it promises to "bring(s) a new dimension and cast(s) a new light on the situations and events that make up our lives." You can "step beyond the limits of your identity". Landmark claims to be based on "original theories and models of thinking". It will give you "enhanced sense of vitality and spirit along with a greater experience of your worth". Of course they used the word "enhanced". Well, thank God, they at least didn't use the word "paradigm".

The Landmark Forum takes place over four days. You meet for three hours, break, meet, have lunch, break, go home, do it again for three more days, then go on to your "new worlds of opportunity".

Landmark Forum, for all it's claims of originality, is actually rooted in Werner Erhard's EST movement of the 1970's. It's also related to "Large Group Awareness Training".

I tend to puke when I read language like the stuff in the Landmark brochure, especially when I see words like "enhance", "potential", "effectiveness", "results". This is a self-improvement course. You are you. Why? Nobody knows. But we can help you be better. When we are done, you will be new and improved. You'll be more valuable, happier, more productive. People will love you. You will have more power. You will rule the world.

I don't know if you can make people better. Most scientists think that you are pretty well the result of your genes or your upbringing and that's about it. Nobody has added a third category: shaped by self-improvement courses.

What happens at these seminars? You hear somebody say something like, "your life is full of people who waste your time by trying to draw you into their own petty little battles and dissatisfactions. Can you help them? No. Can they help you? No. They're wasting your time. You need to tell this person, 'Look, you are wonderful person and I really value you, but I can't help you with this problem and you can't help me, and I really have some fulfilling things to do so I can't waste my time listening to you any more.'" And the people at the forum go, "Wow! That's great. Why didn't I think of that!"

I once saw a tape of the magnificent Barbara Colorosso speaking on child discipline. She draws up a scenario: your teenager wants to die her hair orange and wear baggy trousers. Everyone in the audience groans. They know about this problem. How do you get your teenager to dress the way you want them to? Barbara says, "Is it physically harmful for them to wear baggy pants? No. Is it morally harmful for them to wear baggy pants? No. Let it go. Forget about it. Why waste your authority capital on issues that don't really matter?"

The audience goes "Wow! Why didn't I think of that!" That's a good question. My question is, if the audience is so smart as to know that this is good advice, why do they have to pay someone else to give it to them? Were these people so dumb that they never thought of this solution?

Part of the problem is that the problems Colorosso uses to illustrate her fool-proof methods of child-rearing are very simply and unambiguous. She is a good communicator and she gives her little mini-drama's a remarkable sheen of elegance and simplicity that may not exist in real life. If you could talk the way Barbara Colorosso can talk, I don't think you'd have very man problems with your kids. And I think people love her not because she solves problems for them but because she is such a good talker. She's funny and entertaining and seems to have everything solved. She would be a good movie.

My bottom line. My main point. My theme is... no number of workshops or seminars are going to take dumb people and make them smart.

And anyway, doesn't this sound a lot to you like religion? Take bad people and make them good. Give people a sense of meaning and purpose. Make people feel good about themselves. You would think that church people would walk right out of these seminars thinking to themselves, "No thanks, I already have some."

Whenever I read through these materials, I always feel a bit like an alien. I'm not sure what the real point of it is.

September 12, 1998