Originally Posted by
Dropsie 
My head sometimes hurts at the extent of thinking about what might be "beast" behaviour, but its very interesting.
You may simply recognize the Beast by its bark, the AV, which is clearly defined, as simply "any thinking or feeling which supports, suggests, or directs your possible future use of alcohol and other drugs."
If the bark in your mind's eye or ear fits the definition of AV, it is coming from your Beast.
AV ≠ Beast
Bark → Dog = AV → Beast
Originally Posted by
Dropsie I am with Fine on the addiction point, I know I cannot drink normally, and if I drink it will start the whole thing over, so I choose not to drink. But I am addicted. Same as with cigarettes.
The underlined parts are your Addictive Voice. This bit about being able to 'drink normally' or being 'an addict' is an inversion.
Normal people don't drink, and it is the AV itself which incessantly argues otherwise, obviously supporting the possibility of some more drinking. What if you could 'drink normally', for example?
Does that mean that you would then go ahead and drink some more? The Beast is playing chess, since it now would only have to argue that you might be able to drink normally. This is often why people return to drinking after some time without.
Additionally, to say that one is 'an addict' or 'addicted' is to say one is their Beast, as far as AVRT goes. No separation at all. The AV has skillfully concealed the Beast's existence.
Originally Posted by
Dropsie I think the issue lies in how you define addiction -- for me addiction is when you know that for whatever reason you will always do something compulsively if you do it all.
There is a loophole here in this sentiment. A contingency upon which to abstain, which centers around the previous idea I touched on, that one "can't" drink 'normally'. Can you see this?
In the context of AVRT, addiction is chemical use or dependence that exists
against one's own better judgment, and persists in spite of efforts to control or eliminate the use of the substance.
Originally Posted by
Dropsie I do not drink and I will never drink again because I choose not to because I know I am addicted and it will not end well.
Another contingency. Why focus on "what if?" with drinking, when never would suffice. Your Beast revels in "what if?" and will naturally try to argue that next time will be different.
The Beast doesn't particularly care either way, of course. Different or not, IT gets its life-giving 'oxygen', and if you or others are a casualty, that's just the way things go -- the price of its survival.