Conversations For Transformation: Essays Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

Conversations For Transformation

Essays By Laurence Platt

Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

And More




Words Like Birds

Regusci Winery, Silverado Trail, Napa Valley, California, USA

December 28, 2011



I'm vulnerable. I'm unprotected and undefensive. I'm not wearing pads or a helmet. I'm out in the open and uncovered.

Speaking on the internet like this, affords no protection at all. None. There's no privacy. There's no safety. But that's not a complaint: it's what goes with this territory. Anything I publish to the internet in these Conversations For Transformation is immediately out there  where anything can be said about them, where any conceptions (accurate or inaccurate) can be imposed on them, and where I'm not asked to correct or true up  any misinterpretations about them. In the theatre of the internet, I'm speaking openly and overtly with an audience comprising anyone and everyone. No one is pre‑screened. No one has to meet any pre‑qualifications. Even if their listening disallows me speaking with  them (that's precarious), then I'm speaking in front of them (an even more precarious position) without their given commitment to listen me in any particular way, without their given commitment to create value for themselves from what I speak.

This is what it takes to deliver Conversations For Transformation on the internet. It's what's so about sharing light on Werner's work on the internet. It's even more so  about generating an internet presence  for Werner's work. On the internet there's no guarantee I'm speaking among friends. The internet isn't necessarily a safe space  for speaking transformation and possibility. This isn't the same as speaking in the privacy of a seminar. This isn't the same as speaking in a conversation which has been set up with confidentiality agreements and ground rules. I don't have the assurance that all foundational abstracts are in place before I bring any new ones forth. I've got no control over the order  in which Conversations For Transformation are read. I put it all out there with none of this assured. I can't count on any of that in this medium.

Although I can't count on any of that in this medium, here's what makes Conversations For Transformation work: they're my / our relationship with source. That's really what they are. And that's all they are. If you get that, they work. If you don't look at them this way, then try on for size that they're my / our relationship with source. There's nothing significant  about this, mind you. But speaking as their author, that's what they are (ie that's what they're intended to be):  my / our relationship with source. They can be anything else for you, for that matter, which shows up for you as you listen them. If you get value from them, then they work. If so, take them: they're yours. Free. There's no charge. And if they don't work for you, then move on.

I think of writing Conversations For Transformation and publishing them to the internet as akin to setting birds free: when I set them free, I never know to where they'll fly or to what impact. While it's my intention they'll create value, there's always a risk no good will come of them. In fact the odds aren't zero  this could be a total fiasco. Yet if the truth be told, mostly extraordinary things happen when they're read or heard. Inspired, a man traveled from Cape Town South Africa to London England, a distance of nearly ten thousand kilometers, to participate in Werner's work - as far as we know, the longest distance anyone has traveled specifically to participate in Werner's work in the absence of a location closer by. Inspired, a man traveled from Iran to India to participate in the Landmark Advanced Course in the absence of any  of Werner's programs being available in Iran, he already having graduated from the flagship program in another country. Conversations For Transformation have been translated into the Thai language and read on Radio Bangkok during peak commute hours.

What draws  people to participate in Werner's work is a function of their humanity, not of their culture nor of their nationality. Like anything else I do, I intend for this to work. And the truth is it does. It's not a concern to me that an infinitesimally small fraction of the feedback I get is negative. That's just like real Life, yes? The essential thing about Conversations For Transformation is I don't put them out there with any ulterior motive. I put them out there simply to put them out there, for the simple joy of setting them free. The evidence shows wherever they fly, wherever they land, they produce value. So I let them go freely, and they fly wherever they fly.

I'm not attached to them. I can't be. They're words like birds. Set free, they fly to a good place.



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