The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous

[durangodawood]

I haven't said anything about will power now have I.

So if alcoholism isnt a medical condition, then what do you think it is? A character flaw?

 

[grasping the after wind]

So if alcoholism isnt a medical condition, then what do you think it is? A character flaw?

Did I say it wasn't a medical condition? It is an addiction. That is a medical condition but just as high blood pressure is not equivalent to leukemia, addiction is not equivalent to either. One is not addicted to leukemia or high blood pressure so the medicines one might take to treat the symptoms of those maladies are not the same thing as being addicted to those substances unless the medicines become addictive. If one is addicted to a substance, then if one must take another substance to avoid taking the first substance one remains addicted and is now using the second substance as a substitute for the first. Unless the use of the second substance is temporary and stopping the use of that second substance does not result in the continued use of the first substance.

 

[Nithavela]

I take it that you concede that the numbers in that old 2015 article from The Atlantic are, at best, dubious (in particular, AA has a 75%—not 10%—success rate) and that the scientific evidence shows that Alcoholics Anonymous helps keep alcoholics sober.

If you’re going to start a thread using very dubious numbers and questionable evidence, I don’t think it’s fair to ask the thread to be closed once the weak evidence is questioned.

I am asking to close this thread because its been dead for months and I dont feel like going back to it.

If you see debate as a war and the goal to be that you make the opposition stop talking first, congratulations, you won.

 

[St. Helens]

MOD HAT ON

MOD HAT OFF​