171–180 of 366 posts
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I googled it, seems to be you're supposed to take some drug that makes you stop drinking.
"Some drug that blocks the euphoric effects of drinking" would be more accurate.
recovering addict here. some words for those who may be struggling. i tried a number of things over many years (life coach, therapy, meditation retreats, ayahuasca, ibogaine, etc). i reached a bottom, and nothing i had tried really worked or stuck. kept relapsing after a few months of sobriety at most. ultimately it was going to AA that i largely credit to my successful transformation into a happy life of sobriety. i…
It’s great you’re willing to overcome the technicalities for a greater good. Too many people are restrained by their own ego. Keep up on your righteous path.
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People often get hung up on the contemporary Western conception of a higher power, not realizing that the personal, anthropomorphic God is but one flavor of the concept. Scientific laws or forces are in some sense, a "higher power" - clearly we all surrender to the power of gravity every day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_god
I've definitely heard this several times that "a higher power in AA can be anything, it can be the fire extinguisher on the wall!". But if that were really the intent of the program then why do they have a prayer where they ask capital-G-God for help every meeting?
I lost one of my best friends to alcoholism about a month ago. My friend was 54 years old. AA is good. It does help, but it's not an absolute cure. It does seem better than most (all?) of the other methods. The very best way forward is simply to not take the first drink, ever. (This is what I am hypocritically telling my children. I drank to excess in my younger days, but I've been dry for about 20 years.) I hope the…
I get that you're afraid that your kids will end up abusing alcohol, but I think you do them a disservice by painting the world so black-and-white. Avoiding alcohol can have many good effects, but it can also leave people out of many valuable social (and in some industries) business experiences, as much as it's a shame that that's still the case. Better to let them make their own decisions when the time comes without unduly influencing them with an absolute. (And many prohibitions that you lay on kids end up backfiring greatly with opposite effect, so there are no guarantees.)
Meanwhile, there are lots of more likely ways that they could screw up their life. Alcohol is just an easy bogeyman to shake a stick at.
These meme bugs that infect people are the on ongoing issue you see a lot here.
They make no sense, but that's why the meme works. AA is free and you talk to people about your issues, it's hard to see why it's wrong, which is why people love the meme.
Throw in some other regulars -
Inefficiencies mean people actually use more because of "Jenkins paradox" so don't make things efficient!
You are supposed to wake up every night in the middle because some researcher in the arts read it in 300 year old documents.
People are more afraid of losses than gains.
Dumb people think they are smart.
People rise to their level of incompetence... Actually this ones true. But it does mean Impostor Syndrome is more complex than people say.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-irr...
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Societies have been driven by religion and spirituality for ages. Of course we have now been enlightened by science buts it's probably one of the challenges of culture to come up with an effective replacement. One that not only not contradicts scientific commonsense but that is also not considered as mumbo jumbo. There's definitely a void left by the demise of religion. Also this leaves the question open whether that…
The fallacy I can't help but point out here is that thinking because of our science we are better off and have somehow been "enlightened" when all evidence points to the contrary, at least not to the things that truly matter: the human condition, life, love, family, relationships: can't say our science and techology has made these things better on a whole, but at least we can binge watch Netflix and play Minecraft to…
"But apart from medicine, effective sanitation, drastically higher chances of living a long life, material welfare, peace and declining violence, and a near end to famines and legal slavery, what has the Enlightenment ever done for us?"
Sure, WWII claimed 3% of the world population, but Tamerlane got 5% and Genghis Khan 10%.
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Societies have been driven by religion and spirituality for ages. Of course we have now been enlightened by science buts it's probably one of the challenges of culture to come up with an effective replacement. One that not only not contradicts scientific commonsense but that is also not considered as mumbo jumbo. There's definitely a void left by the demise of religion. Also this leaves the question open whether that…
The fallacy I can't help but point out here is that thinking because of our science we are better off and have somehow been "enlightened" when all evidence points to the contrary, at least not to the things that truly matter: the human condition, life, love, family, relationships: can't say our science and techology has made these things better on a whole, but at least we can binge watch Netflix and play Minecraft to…
While you're at it, ask them what it was like trying to keep in contact with someone far away before the internet. Maybe ask them about birth complications and childhood death rates.
People who pine for the past are ignoring the facts in their face. Life has never been better.
Interesting. I was never a fan of AA and I was very critical in the lack of science and rigor in addiction treatment, and actually for mental health in general. I always felt there were better treatments, but CBT-based group therapy / 12-step alternatives are pretty rare. All you really need to start a chapter of AA is to not have one nearby and a place to host it. It's comforting that AA at least doesn't make things…
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I think there's a major understanding of this part of AA. This DOES NOT mean acknowledging that you believe there is a god. The concept of a "higher power" can mean anything you want it to mean. You can imagine your higher power is Gandalf, Sauron, elves at the bottom of the garden, or even some aspect of your "best self." You could imagine it to be the spirits of your ancestors or even something like the energy of t…
> Don't get tied up in militant atheist perspectives. Not that you're saying its not, but I'd grasp onto this to add a point that its valid and useful to debate whether that surrendering is the best path. In my mind, what you're being asked to do is abstract and make a virtual externalization of your ego. The benefit is you can get some of the benefits of ego-depletion or ego-loss, but the side effect is that it risk…
Interesting. I was never a fan of AA and I was very critical in the lack of science and rigor in addiction treatment, and actually for mental health in general. I always felt there were better treatments, but CBT-based group therapy / 12-step alternatives are pretty rare. All you really need to start a chapter of AA is to not have one nearby and a place to host it. It's comforting that AA at least doesn't make things…
Maybe there's some kind of slippery slope there, where they eventually start sending you to church for a parking ticket. But we don't seem to be sliding to that conclusion very quickly; so if it works, just go with it.
If you want to make a big federal case out of it, you could probably win it. But I honestly don't see how anyone wins with that outcome.