Thom:
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Thank you for posting the link¡ I have never read this particular piece by Ernie before.
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As usual, Kurtz brings his ever-insightful intellect to the question of Wm. James and spirituality ¨C making salient points about James on several levels and then expanding that understanding to show how A.A. and its members so neatly fit into the philosopher/psychologist¡¯s description of ¡°sick souls¡± ¨C (which James himself identified with) ¨C in contrast to what Ernie calls ¡°the therapeutic narcissism of the New Age¡± movement.
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But, perhaps most important to me was to read Ernie saying in print something that he shared with me more than once in conversation¡ namely that he didn¡¯t think Bill Wilson was much of a reader throughout his life.
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¡°Indeed, the bulk of evidence,¡± Ernie writes on page 5 of this article, ¡°points in the direction of Bill being one of the few early members who did not read Varieties [of Religious Experience] very thoroughly. Wilson may, of course, have picked up an awareness of William James¡¯s ideas on the topic in conversation (which is how Bill gained most of his knowledge: like James, he was an extraordinary listener.¡±
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On several occasions, I have mentioned to people Ernie¡¯s firm belief that Bill was always an avid and engaged listener ¨C absorbing vast amounts of information almost by ¡°osmosis¡± ¨C but that he was never a reader of any depth and breadth. Some (many?) have scoffed on hearing this¡ but now I can rely on Ernie¡¯s own words rather than just my own so-easily-questioned secondhand reporting.
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Again, thanks, Thom¡ GREAT piece of writing.
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Bill Schaberg
william schaberg