Alcoholics Anonymous similarities to 2.0
Exhortation does not work – No alcoholic that I have ever met, and I know a lot, has ever responded to “Please stop dad this is killing you and us!” or to the doctor’s demand “If you don’t stop, you will die”. No matter how desperate the family beg or no matter how much information the doctor provides - Exhortation does not work. So it is no wonder that decades of pleading to stop eating junk food and to take more exercise has failed.
1.0 is all about Exhortation. It uses the “Expert” or the “Morally Superior” POV. It tells you that you are “bad”. Your normal reaction is to push back. There can be no empathy from the expert. So the message cannot be heard. So most of the money spent on this kind of messaging is a waste. In fact it may even be counter productive.
A true peer is a person who has sunk as low as you. So he is a person who cannot and will not judge you. THIS is the “Trusted Space” that all of us need to be safe enough to try something scary. And changing a life long habit is scary.
For in the 1.0 world – we know everything don’t we? In the 1.0 world we are the experts. But in the 2.0 world of AA, we are all sinners and the fallen. This is what makes the community SAFE. And so enables us all to grow.
AA is primarily a source of support. But over time, its real power is that it is a place where you can give. It is by giving that you are made stronger and where you find in yourself compassion. It is these people that “run” the network and give it its life.
…tell stories now of how we overcame temptation – telling stories of how we were helped or how we helped – we teach and learn from each other the pragmatic steps of how to create new habits and how to avoid the barriers set up by our loved ones and by society
We seek to find others like us in other places – so that we can get the support and offer our stories in the end globally. We build a true network with all the help that a 2.0 world can offer.
- Rob Paterson
NOTES
Outstanding!
(Source: smartpei.typepad.com)
