A systems / information theoretic evaluation of AA’s “first three steps”… required reading for anyone interested in the underpinnings of addiction and of G. Bateson’s path-breaking work with schizophrenics at the Palo Alto VA. (Just google the title for a free PDF version… peep the abstract below)
The cybernetics of “self”: A theory of alcoholism.
By Bateson, Gregory
Miller, Ronald B. (Ed), (1992). The restoration of dialogue: Readings in the philosophy of clinical psychology., (pp. 440-456). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association, xx, 654 pp.
Abstract
This reprinted article originally appeared in Psychiatry: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, Vol. 34(1) Feb 1971, 1-18. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1971-29301-001.) Evaluates alcoholism in terms of a system theory of the self. It is stated: ‘(1) that an entirely new epistemology must come out of cybernetics and systems theory, involving a new understanding of mind, self, human relationship, and power; (2) that the addicted alcoholic is operating, when sober, in terms of an epistemology which is conventional in Occidental culture but which is not acceptable to systems theory; (3) that surrender to alcoholic intoxication provides a partial and subjective short cut to a more correct state of mind; and (4) that the theology of Alcoholics Anonymous coincides closely with an epistemology of cybernetics.” Discusses limitations and implications of the theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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