Exercising the principles of the program daily produces a wisdom that knowledge alone can never provide. 

Some members and I were discussing recovery, psychology, neurology, and technology. One fellow mentioned that he wished he knew as much as I did. That comment put things into perspective.

I’ve been in SA for over a decade. It took seven years before I achieved a year of sobriety. He’s been in SA for three years and has been sober since day one. What he may lack in knowledge, he makes up for by applying the tools in his life.

The White Book says, “Knowledge never gave us power” (SA 91). According to the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, wisdom is “the right use or exercise of knowledge.” What is my wisdom-to-knowledge ratio (W2K Ratio)? How much of what I know do I use in my daily life? Let me first explain where the term W2K Ratio comes from. It is a combination of the “Y2K Bug” and “Signal-to-Noise Ratio.”

The Y2K Bug was a concern in the 90s because programs stored years using two digits instead of four. For example, the year 1990 was recorded as 90. Approaching 2000 was a problem because, to the programs, it would be 00 and that would mean the year 1900. Every software in the world using two-digit years had to be updated.

Signal-to-Noise Ratio measures the difference between a wanted signal and background noise. It’s like trying to talk to a friend in a loud space. You want to hear your friend (Signal), but it is difficult to make out because of all the other interfering sounds (Noise).

What is the recovery application for this? Gaining more knowledge seemed like a way to victory in my life. Because of my lack of wisdom, I did not see that it would actually be a detriment. In recovery, I needed to do a lot of work to undo this misconception. Also, my brain can easily be overwhelmed with information I do not need (Noise), and it can lead me to fixate on things I do not need to pay attention to (also Noise). And when that happens, I lose what I do need: my connection to my Higher Power (the Signal).

My hope in recovery is that when I apply the program in my daily life, my level of wisdom will someday reach the level of my knowledge.