science

Twelve Traditions

Twelve Traditions is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Twelve Traditions rather than just read about it. In short: The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the traditions.

Key takeaways

Twelve Traditions belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Twelve Traditions to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Twelve Traditions from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose are addressed in the traditions. They were originally written by Bill Wilson after the founding of the first twelve-step group, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Origins Several of the tenets of what was to become AA's Twelve Traditions were first expressed in the foreword to the first edition of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939. By 1944 the number of AA groups had grown, along with the number of letters being sent to the AA headquarters in New York asking how to handle disputes caused by issues like publicity, religion, and finances. By 1946 AA cofounder Bill Wilson had formulated the basic ideas for the Twelve Traditions based on this correspondence with groups (via the group conscience method), setting guidelines on how groups and members should interact with each other, the public, and AA as a whole. The traditions were first published in the April 1946 AA Grapevine under the title Twelve Points to Assure Our Future and were formally adopted at AA's first international convention in 1950. Wilson's book on the subject, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, was published in April 1953.

The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. AA should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers. AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. AA has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into public controversy. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Long Form Our AA experience has taught us that:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Twelve Traditions

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Twelve Traditions claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Twelve Traditions before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Twelve Traditions ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Twelve Traditions

In research: Twelve Traditions appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Twelve Traditions in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Twelve Traditions is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Alcoholics Anonymous, Traditions, Twelve-step programs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Twelve Traditions outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Twelve Traditions” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Twelve Traditions in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Twelve Traditions means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Twelve Traditions out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Twelve Traditions in simple terms?

Why does Twelve Traditions matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Twelve Traditions?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Twelve Traditions.