New Founders Semi-Sesquicentennial Commemorative Collection

April 10, 2014 marked the 75th Anniversary of the publication of “Alcoholics Anonymous,” the basic text for the Fellowship of the same name. Coincidentally, 2014 will also mark my 35th, and last, year associated with AA in any way. To commemorate the “Big Book’s” 75th Anniversary, and to personally go out with a bang, not a whimper, my Discovery & Development Company, Cogniventus ®, sponsored a multi-media presentation of the New Founders Project (NFP), a bold and comprehensive plan to bring AA into the 21st Century, and place addiction in its proper place within the study of human nature. The centerpiece of the Project was an unauthorized sequel to the iconic text “Alcoholics Anonymous,” still displayed in part as UNRESTRICTED ACCESS on this website. RESTRICTED ACCESS or CONFIDENTIAL Text may be Available on Request.

1. Unauthorized Sequel to “Alcoholics Anonymous”

—available as stand-alone, or as a special edition with opposing Big Book pages and extensive cross-referencing

—integrates “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” into an extended 64-page reply to the Big Book’s “How it Works”

—massive ENDNOTES section replaces stories in order to serve better as a “Basic Text” and allow continual updates without changing the text proper

—”A Scientist Speaks Out” replaces “The Doctor’s Opinion” with a quick review of the last 80 years of the medical model of alcoholism

—new set of Appendices includes a practical “Condensed Meaning of the Text” and the tongue-in-cheek stand alone essay “Bill’s Biggest Big Book Blunders”

—”Write Your Own Big Book Template” explains how the Big Book Sequel was written, and how each person can write their own version

2. The New Founders Project Timeline: a meticulously crafted narrative of the influences and influencers of the NFP. Including, but not limited to:

—2014: After multiple attempts, a proto-sequel to the basic text of “Alcoholics Anonymous” finds its roots on the 75-year semi-sesquicentennial anniversary of the publication of the Big Book.

—2009, April 1: Original PowerPoint Slides of the first public presentation of “The New Founders Program” to the CEO and COO of CARON in Wernersville, PA. (Includes to November 9, 2009 update that applies Cogniventus® methodology to “The New Founders Program.”)

—2007, May 17: Transcript of National Public Radio Talent Quest entry

—2007-2006: Systematic codification of ten years of research & development into first written manual

—2006, February 18: Transcript of first introduction of New Founder principles to a Twelve Step speaker meeting: “Better than Bill Wilson, better than the Big Book”—Walter G. Barlow (in attendance; permission to quote with full name). The official retooling of the Secondary Purpose Group as the New Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous which, in 2012, would be absorbed into The Cogniventives.

—2003: Beginning of systematic codification of 10 years of Research & Development

—1991: Chance encounter launches The Secondary Purpose Groups, which would eventually evolve into The New Founders Movement. Beginning of a 10 year in-the-field ethnography on how the Twelve Steps are worked within the Fellowship of AA.

3. Take the Cogniventus® Challenge

— A “first principles” presentation of how to evaluate the authenticity of any Program of personal transformation using the Twelve Steps as an example. Expansion into  current Good Recovery Practice (cGRP) and current Best Recovery Practice (cBRP), an industry standard of Quality Control that holds all members of the Addiction-Recovery accountable

—Created by a Chemical Process Engineer who was the first person to investigate the Twelve Steps as a Process and apply Process Hazard Analysis, Key Process Indicators, Design Intent, and a variety of other industry standards

4. The 10 x 10 Videos: rigorous vetting of Secondary Purpose principles within a variety of Twelve Step Programs, presented in aphoristic form just as they were to a variety of interested groups over a twenty year period. Including :

i. Top Ten Lessons that we learned in AA

ii. Top Ten Lessons that we can learn from relapse

iii. Top Ten Things AA got Wrong

iv. Top Ten Things AA got Right

v. Top Ten Milestones along the Twelve-Step Path

vi. Top Ten Roadblocks along the Twelve-Step Path

vii. Top Ten Decisions you will have to make in AA

viii. Top Ten Questions to ask a Potential Sponsor Rehab Facility

ix. Top Ten Things to Remember when Working with Others

x. Top Ten Signs that it is time to move on.

BONUS: “Top Ten Questions AA does not Answer.”

5. From NOT-GOD to NOT-SELF: an advanced, interactive 30-module matrix that takes the student from a Substance-Causality view of Self to a Process-Creativity view of Self. We stop thinking of ourselves as a Being that interacts causally to the world, and start thinking of ourselves as a Becoming that relates creatively to the world. The durability and longevity of the results for any path of personal transformation depends on this subtle, difficult shift in perspective.