PHYSICS CONFERENCE
"Novel Configurations in Quantum Field Theory"

Sponsored by The Werner Erhard Foundation

January 22 through 24, 1977 San Francisco, California

The Werner Erhard Foundation Physics Conference, like the early Solvay Conferences, brought together a relatively small group of renowned physicists who experienced a close working relationship in a supportive and congenial environment outside of a university or professional society setting. This particular group of outstanding physicists had never before met together in a conference. This was the first opportunity for these distinguished physicists to participate directly with each other.


NAMES OF PHYSICS CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
Eduard Brezin C.E.N. Saclay Gif sur Yvette
Curt Callan Universite de Paris - Sud
Geoffrey Chew University of California at Berkeley
Sidney Coleman Harvard University
Roger Dashen School for Natural Sciences Institute for Advanced Study
Richard Feynman California Institute of Technology
David Finkelstein Yeshiva University Jean-Loup Gervais Universite de Paris - Sud
Fred Goldhaber State University of New York at Stony Brook
David Gross Princeton University
Roman Jackiw, M.I.T.
T. D. Lee Columbia University
Claudio Rebbi M.I.T.
Stanley Mandelstam University of California at Berkeley
Leonard Susskind Yeshiva University
J. A. Swieca Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janiero
Steven Weinberg Stanford University
John Wheeler University of Texas
Edward Witten Harvard University

Werner Erhard Physics Conference - at scribd.com

Physics Conferences

In 1977 the Werner Erhard Foundation brought together a relatively small group of renowned physicists working closely together in a supportive congenial environment outside of a university. The topic of discussion, representing the frontier of theoretical physics at the time, was "Novel Configurations in Quantum Field Theory" Richard Feynman, Leonard Susskind, Sidney Coleman and David Finkelstein were among the notable physicists in attendance. Read more about how the Werner Erhard (est) Foundation created this event.

Presentations by the Werner Erhard Foundation

The Werner Erhard Foundation funded and organized public programs and national speaking tours in order to present the ideas of prominent philosophers, scientists, and theologians to the public. By 1980, the Werner Erhard Foundation had sponsored 31 of these presentations, which were attended by 57,000 people in cities throughout the US. The global thinker R. Buckminster Fuller; British philosopher Douglas Harding; an eminent leader of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa; and a world renowned siddha yogi, Swami Muktananda were among the presentations given. Read more at the Werner Erhard Foundation website.

Werner Erhard's est Training inspired est participants to fulfill humanitarian objectives. Creating a number of not-for-profit organizations, founded by Werner Erhard along with other original est staffers, notably Gonneke Spits, literally hundreds of thousands of people illustrated that the power of "the little individual" can improve communities and the world. 'The Breakthrough Foundation' gave 'Youths At Risk' a new opportunity in their lives, and fostered and funded development in Africa; people committed to work to end hunger in the world through 'The Hunger Project' and its many offshoots; the 'Community Workshop' gave ordinary citizens a new opportunity to contribute to their communities. These organizations, along with the Werner Erhard Foundation, played a hand in inspiring est Training participants to go out and make a difference in their lives, contribute to humanity, and give back to their communities, in addition to providing forums for the individual to make a difference worldwide. For more information about the Werner Erhard Foundation visit http://www.wernererhardfoundation.org.

Jeff Bridges Works To End Hunger

From the days of doing Werner Erhard’s est Training and co-founding the End Hunger Network, which, among other things, put on the first Live Aid concert, to his role in 2010 as national spokesman for No Kid Hungry Campaign, Jeff Bridges has been passionate about making a real difference in people's lives.

“Poverty is a very complex issue, but feeding children isn’t,” he said, unveiling an initiative that suits today’s political and economic climate because it requires no new money, or programs. Federally funded programs are in place but only half the kids eligible for a government-funded breakfast receive it, and only 15 percent of kids eligible for assistance during the summer get it. Bridges has signed on with Share Our Strength, a nationally recognized nonprofit, in what he says is “like a public-relations assignment,” to publicize the gap and get governors to commit to closing it.

Bridges has been involved in the hunger issue for a long time, and in 1983 helped found the End Hunger Network, which among other things staged the Live Aid concerts in 1985 and produced the movie “Hidden in America,” about a father who can’t provide for his children, starring his brother, Beau Bridges. Asked to be more specific about what triggered his interest in the issue, Bridges revealed that it goes back to “est” and the human-potential movement headed by Werner Erhard, who challenged his followers that once they knew the facts—that widespread hunger could be overcome—they shouldn’t look to others to solve the problem but should take action themselves.

From: The Most Significant Thing He’s Ever Done - Newsweek November 12, 2010

Getting 'it" in prison

In an article written in 1978 about the est Training given at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary, writer Neal Rogin talks about the process inmates went through in gaining responsibility for their actions. This is an excerpt of that article:

What comes up for the trainees to experience is often more than uncomfortable. Take the case of Bobby. Bobby was in Lompoc for homicide. Throughout the training he wore very dark glasses and sat in the back row. The only time he took them off was when Ted (the trainer) confronted him in the Danger Process, and even then he did everything to avoid looking at anyone. "The Danger Process was really a high point in this training," Ted later told me. "It was the time when they got in touch with their tough guy acts and became a group."

It was after the Danger Process that things really began to come up for Bobby. Sometime during the afternoon of the third Saturday, I looked up and saw an empty chair in the back row. Turning toward the door, I saw Bobby moving unsteadily towards it. Joe walked over to him. They stood there for a long time. A very long time. I wondered what was going on. Joe later explained, "What Bobby was looking at, what had come up for him was whatever it was that made him kill people. He said he couldn't stand being in the room any more and that he not only wanted to get out of the training, he wanted to get out of the prison. He was literally ready to go over the wall, rather than experience what was coming up."

"I didn't press him on it. That doesn't work. I just gave him the space to look, and to communicate. He knew that this was his number, and he was able to see that he was standing at a crossroad. I pointed out to him that he was totally free to leave the training without being hassled, that it was perfectly OK with Ted for him to be there or not be there, and that this was an opportunity for him to do something he never did before, to move through the barrier he was up against and to be done with it. After four hours, he chose to stay...."

After all the trainees had become graduates, people refused to go away; the feeling of love and communication in the room was so intense that I have rarely experienced any thing like it. The graduates walked around getting to know one another, laughing, sharing, swapping stories, hugging. All differences disappeared. There was no outside or inside, no prisoners or visitors, there was just the commonly shared experience of knowing who's responsible for it all....

We were about to leave when Bobby came over to Ted and stood there, without his glasses for the first time. He moved close to Ted, took his hand, muttered and stammered something under his breath and hurried shyly away. "What did he say?" I asked. Without taking his eyes off Bobby as the inmate walked away, Ted said, "He told me he loved me."

From Getting 'it" in Prison, reprinted from The Graduate Review, June 1978

Prison Possibilities

Prison Possibilities, Inc. was an independent non-profit organization established by the Werner Erhard Foundation that enabled men and women in prisons to alter their predictable futures. This organization's programs demonstrated concrete results in significantly lowering the rate of re arrest and imprisonment among those inmates who participated. A number of the inmates who participated in the programs continue to this day to make the program available to others.

For additional studies of est in Prisons see:

Earl Babbie, Ph.D., "est in Prison - General Overview", American Journal of Corrections, Nov-Dec 1977 & Jan-Feb 1978

Mark Woodard, "The est Training in the Prisons: A Basis for the Transformation of Corrections?", University of Baltimore Law Journal, 1982