Editing Werner Erhard (section)

===Influences===
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Erhard acknowledges many influences on his development, including a variety of experiences.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moreno |first=Jonathan D. |title=Impromptu Man: J.L. Moreno and the Origins of Psychodrama, Encounter Culture, and the Social Network |date=October 14, 2014 |publisher=Bellevue Literary Press |isbn=978-1934137840 |quote=“Erhard had gone through a variety of experiences and acknowledges a wide range of influences on the way to his transformation, including many self-enrichment texts, hypnosis, Zen Buddhism, physics, the psychology of Maslow and Rogers, Dianetics, Mind Dynamics, and more.”}}</ref> He did not have much formal education and was [[Autodidacticism|self-educated]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bennis |first=Warren |title=Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership |date=August 16, 2010 |publisher=Jossey-Bass |isbn=978-0470432389 |quote=“He didn’t have much formal higher education, but the man I came to know in San Francisco was an impressive autodidact.”}}</ref> He became interested in physics in high school<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bartley |first=William Warren |title=Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est |date=December 12, 1988 |publisher=Clarkson Potter |isbn= 978-0517535028 |quote=“Werner returned to Norristown High to complete his senior year… Except for his English and physics classes, however, he was no longer much interested in school.  His attention was elsewhere.”}}</ref> and later developed friendships with Nobel Laureates [[Richard Feynman]] and [[Murray Gell-Mann]], from whom he gained knowledge of theoretical physics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bennis |first=Warren |title=Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership |date=August 16, 2010 |publisher=Jossey-Bass |isbn=978-0470432389 |quote=“He was especially knowledgeable about theoretical physics, largely as a result of his friendship with such distinguished thinkers as Nobel laureates Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann.”}}</ref> Erhard also credits being tutored by philosophers [[Michel Foucault]], [[Humberto Maturana]], [[Karl Popper]], and [[Hilary Putnam]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=David L. |title=The Predicament: How Did It Happen? How Bad Is It? The Case For Radical Change Now! |date=January 1, 2013 |publisher=The Predicament: How Did It Happen? How Bad Is It? The Case For Radical Change Now! Sic Itur Ad Astra Publishers |isbn=978-0988872806 |quote="Werner also credits tutoring by Richard Feynman, Michel Foucault, Humberto Maturana, Sir Karl Popper, and Hilary Putnam."}}</ref>

During his time in St. Louis in the 1960s, Erhard read two books that had a marked effect on him: [[Napoleon Hill]]'s ''[[Think and Grow Rich]]'' (1937) and [[Maxwell Maltz]]'s ''[[Psycho-Cybernetics]]'' (1960).<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|122}} When a member of his staff at ''Parents Magazine'' introduced him to the ideas of [[Abraham Maslow]] and [[Carl Rogers]], both key figures in the [[Human Potential Movement]], he became more interested in personal fulfillment than sales success.<ref name="Lewis2001" />

After moving to Sausalito, he attended seminars by [[Alan Watts]], a Western interpreter of [[Zen Buddhism]], who introduced him to the distinction between mind and self;<ref name="Lewis2001" /> Erhard subsequently became close friends with Watts.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|117–138}} Erhard also studied in Japan with Zen rōshi [[Yamada Mumon]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rawlinson|first1=Andrew|title=The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions|date=December 31, 1998|publisher=Open Court|isbn=978-0812693102|page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofenlightene00rawl/page/261 261]|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofenlightene00rawl|url-access=registration}}</ref> In Bartley's biography, ''[[Werner Erhard (book)|Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man, the Founding of est]]'' (1978), Bartley quotes Erhard as acknowledging [[Zen]] as an essential contribution that "created the space for" est.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|146,147}}

Erhard attended the [[Dale Carnegie|Dale Carnegie Course]] in 1967.<ref name="Lewis2001" /> He was sufficiently impressed by it to make his staff attend the course, and began to think about developing a course of his own.<ref name="Lewis2001" /> Over the following years, he investigated a wide range of movements, including [[Encounter group|Encounter]], [[Transactional Analysis]], [[Enlightenment Intensive]], [[Subud]] and [[Scientology]].<ref name="Lewis2001">{{cite book|editor=[[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]]|author=Kay Holzinger|title=Odd gods: new religions & the cult controversy|chapter=Erhard Seminars Training (est) and The Forum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Y7XAAAAMAAJ|access-date=November 18, 2010|date=February 1, 2001|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=978-1-57392-842-7}}</ref>

In 1970, Erhard became involved in [[Mind Dynamics]] and began teaching his own version of Mind Dynamics classes in San Francisco and Los Angeles.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|136–137}} The directors of Mind Dynamics eventually invited him into their partnership, but Erhard rejected the offer, saying he would rather develop his own seminar program—est, the first program of which he conducted in October 1971.<ref name="Bartley" />{{rp|178}} John Hanley, who later founded [[Lifespring]], was also involved at this time. In their 1992 book ''Perspectives on the New Age'', [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] and [[J. Gordon Melton]] write that Mind Dynamics, est, and LifeSpring have "striking" similarities, as all used "authoritarian trainers who enforce numerous rules," require applause from participants, and deemphasize reason in favor of emotion. The authors also describe graduates recruiting heavily on behalf of the companies, thereby eliminating marketing expenses.<ref name=melton>{{cite book| last1 = Melton| first1 = J. Gordon| author-link = J. Gordon Melton| last2 = Lewis| first2 = James R.| author-link2 = James R. Lewis (scholar)| title = Perspectives on the New Age| publisher = SUNY Press| year = 1992| pages = 129–132| isbn = 0-7914-1213-X| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=U1werz4a1BIC&pg=PA129| access-date = August 5, 2021| archive-date = September 29, 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230929150415/https://books.google.com/books?id=U1werz4a1BIC&pg=PA129| url-status = live}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, shortly before the est training was phased out, Erhard was introduced to the work of philosopher [[Martin Heidegger]]. He consulted with the Heideggerian scholars Hubert Dreyfus and Michael E. Zimmerman, who noted commonalities between est training and elements of Heidegger's thought.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hyde |first=Bruce |title=Speaking Being: Werner Erhard, Martin Heidegger, and a New Possibility of Being Human |last2=Kopp |first2=Drew |date=August 6, 2019 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1119549901 |quote=“During the transition to The Forum…[Erhard] was introduced to the work of the twentieth-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Erhard was taken with the way Heidegger’s thinking reverberated with his own, and he consulted with several Heideggerian scholars on the subject.  Two of them – Hubert Dreyfus and Michael E. Zimmerman of Tulane – provided formal assessments of the est Training’s effectiveness and noted its consistencies with elements of Heidegger’s thought.”}}</ref>