Thanks dSober.
I've actually seen quite a few posts here on SR where people tell their story of successfully learning how to moderate. I have a couple of family members who were also able to (and quite a few who were not). It's likely that a great many people who struggle with alcohol at some time in their lives (and many people do) are able to self-adjust their use of the substance and drink moderately. All of the research seems to point to the level of dependence at the height of use as the deciding factor of how likely moderation is to succeed. If one becomes deeply physically dependent on a given substance the brain may have rewired itself to never be able to process said substance normally. The question of whether an abstinence only approach, such as AA, or a moderation approach (MM) seems largely related to how far the individual's drinking had progressed.
I get the feeling from AA members that they believe that those who can successfully moderate drinking aren't "really" alcoholics. The problem with this is, of course, that no one seems to know what the necessary and sufficient conditions for being an "alcoholic" actually are. Furthermore, it's circular reasoning ("Why was he able to moderate? Because he wasn't an alcoholic. How do you know he wasn't an alcoholic? Because he was able to moderate").
This is not a dig on AA (I attended a few meetings at first, which were helpful, but have some deep seated reservations about the program... or any "program" for that matter). AA helps a great many people and kudos to the wonderful people at AA who seemingly are only interested in helping themselves and others.
This topic is primarily fascinating because it raises questions about the nature of addiction and why we, as individuals and a culture, are so obsessed with alcohol. Even with my enhanced quality of life in sobriety, I still miss alcohol a great deal. The standard account might claim that this is due to my "disease" but I have a hard time buying this particular line of reasoning (due to a lack of evidence, scientific data, and my own experiences).
Thoughts?