[TheMentat]

Your suspicions are correct (in my opinion).

A whole bunch of my brother's friends got him going on it. A couple thousand dollars later, and all he got out of it was a bunch of annoyed family members that had to listen to his recruiting efforts for a couple years! Fortunately, he has come to his senses.

The thing I found funny, is that I've never met a forum attendee (or faculty member for that matter) that could articulate what any of it is about! All of my inquiries lead to the suggestion that I go to one of their "Introductions". This is basically a recruitment drive.

To be fair, it might benfit people with a deficient sense of self worth in the short term, by giving them something "bigger" to be a part of (much like any other cult). But this comes with a hefty price tag (I think workshops range from $300 to $1200... a lot of Porsche parts!). For stronger personalities, it comes accross as just plain stupid.