Oh I agree empirical evidence is not to be ignored. My dad always said "you can't argue with performance."
Nevertheless, the truth or falsehood of chakras and meridians is immaterial for a needle in a nerve bundle to cause a decrease in related neurological activity.
The AA experience has so much belief/faith (in AA) based content that it IS quasi-religious, and therefore extraordinarily resistant to anything heterodox, much less something so blasphemous as "optimization!" As such, you can see by the responses on this thread, the derision piled on a researcher with the audacity to suggest they might have a better way.
“...derision piled on a researcher with the audacity to suggest they might have a better way.”
I believe the negative reactions to this article are for several reasons: 1. The self righteous condiscention displayed in the title to a program that has helped 10s of millions over the decades. 2.The fact that it is written by a raging liberal/progressive rag. 3.The gratuitous attacks of a program where spituality, relationship with a higher power ie. God is such an integral part of it’s whole. 4. The implication that anyone who might utilize such a program might not sharpest knife in the drawer. 5. The fact that so many charletons over the years have represented many of the same things as this article claims with oftentimes catastrophic results.
To name a few.