Paper idea #1

I figure this to be the first of many ideas about what I want to do my final paper on.

One of the most prominent forces in my life is that of addiction. My father was an alcoholic, my grandfather lost his job to prescription abuse, and I am currently addicted to nicotine. Addiction is also an inescapable facet in American culture. From video games to fast food to alcohol, there are hundreds of thousands of distractions that can take on addictive qualities. I say addictive qualities because the actual determination of addiction's medical category is vague and controversial. I am not interested in this part of the issue. Regardless of systemic process, there are sets of actions that define addiction in a very real sense. They are all a type of delusion though. The loss of control and the obsession are two common manifestations of the ailment and can, in my opinion, be enough to address the topic at the level I hope to discuss it.

There are many proposed remedies to addiction. Herbal cures supposedly make over-eaters feel nausea in the face of hunger while certain ipecac-like solutions make alcoholics viciously sick at even the slightest whiff of a drink. However, one of its remedies has taken on a life of its own- in both industry and psychology. It is neither chemical nor drug; it is, in its practice, simply a set of twelve steps which the addict uses to escape the shackles of their addiction. These twelve steps which I will write further on later in this blog, are aimed at two purposes. These are 1.) the dissolution of addiction, and 2.) the acceptance of a divine entity and thus a humbling of the user to something larger than themselves. In the context of this class, the Twelve Step Program is an attempt to systematize and create epiphany.

Seemingly based in mysticism, the idea that any person is capable of irrevocably changing their behavior through the recognition and emptying in the service to something beyond reason is an idea that requires a special kind of view of human nature. Forgiveness is the acceptance of both past and present while also requiring a view of the future. The twelve step programs are based in forgiveness. They are also based on a sense of presence that is often labeled as bullshit by the more practical of us. This strikes me as wholly literary.

So having not actually figured out a proper thesis or path of study for this thing, I will spend the next week blogging about my reflections, research, and memories on this topic in the context of the epiphany. Hopefully, I will figure out a proper presentation and paper on this subject.