Contempt Prior to Investigation in Alcoholics Anonymous

What Contempt Prior to Investigation Means in The AA Big Book

I’ll never forget the first time I heard someone say “contempt prior to investigation” in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. It stopped me cold. Not because I understood it. Because something about it stung.

I was early in recovery, still full of pride, resistance, and what I now know was everlasting ignorance. I had come to the rooms beaten and hopeless, but that didn’t stop me from thinking I was smarter than the people in them.

I hope you stick with me as I look at the concept of contempt prior to investigation and how I dug my way out of this destructive mindset during my time at Purpose Healing Center.

When I First Heard the Phrase, I Thought I Knew Better

I figured I could take what I liked and leave the rest. If something sounded too spiritual or too uncomfortable, I threw it out. The big book? Just outdated words. Higher power? That’s for people who can’t face reality. The 12 steps? Some nice ideas for weaker folks, maybe. In truth, my life was a mess and I was desperate, but I was still clinging to the illusion of control. I was, without realizing it, living in a mindset of contempt prior to investigation.

I didn’t want to get help. I thought I could do it on my own. Luckily my wife made the decision for me, by threatening me with divorce unless I got treatment.

My Time at Purpose Healing Center Was Eye Opening

When I first arrived at Purpose Healing Center, I didn’t believe treatment would work for me. I was broken, angry, and full of opinions I thought were facts. I had tried white-knuckling sobriety on my own and failed over and over again. Walking into that facility felt like defeat. But by staying, it was the first time I made a real decision to live. I didn’t know it yet, but that moment would crack open something in me I had kept sealed for years.

In one of my early group sessions, someone brought up that phrase I’d heard in AA: contempt prior to investigation. I didn’t want to admit it, but that summed me up perfectly. I had spent years dismissing every suggestion, every solution, and every spiritual idea without ever really giving any of it a fair shot. Purpose Healing Center gave me the space, and the push, to start questioning that mindset.

The Staggering Variety of Denials I Put in Place

Alcoholics are masters at rationalization. I had a bar full of reasons why I wasn’t like “them.” I told myself I was just going through a phase. I believed I had enough life experience to course correct when things got too dark. And besides, I had opinions. Strong ones. I didn’t want to admit that maybe my thinking was the problem. I used open-mindedness as a word but rarely a practice.

My first sponsor used to tell me, “You’re not failing because you’re dumb. You’re failing because you think you already know everything.” He’d quote Herbert Spencer: “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation.” That hit me hard. I realized I had never actually given AA a fair chance.

Herbert Spencer’s contributions to modern psychology are detailed in this case study on the National Institute of Health website. This idea quoted in the Big Book is only one of many that can be applied to recovery.

Read more of his contributions here as well.

What Changed Everything

When I finally stopped fighting, something shifted. It wasn’t dramatic. It didn’t involve lightning or voices from above. But I had what the big book calls a spiritual experience. I stopped focusing on how different I thought I was, and started paying attention to the stories of others. I started seeing pieces of myself in their shares. Their pain, their fear, and their isolation all mirrored mine. I wasn’t unique. I was an alcoholic.

Admitting that was the first real open mind moment I had. It gave me just enough willingness to dig deeper. I had to look at my own mindset. I started asking myself, “Am I rejecting this because it doesn’t work, or because it makes me uncomfortable?” Usually, it was the latter.

The Power of Investigation

The phrase “contempt prior to investigation” comes up in AA not because it sounds poetic, but because it’s so deeply relevant to recovery. I had spent years failing not just because I drank, but because I refused to look deeper. I ignored proof of my problem. I refused to understand that the program wasn’t about control. It was about letting go.

I investigated the steps. I gave my first sponsor a real shot. I even started reading the Appendix II section in the big book about spiritual experiences. It talked about how change doesn’t always come as a sudden realization but can be the slow unfolding of clarity. That was me.

I couldn’t believe how much of my life I had lived stuck in the position of “I already know.” That mindset had cost me jobs, relationships, opportunities, and nearly my life.

Real People, Real Recovery

The people in AA weren’t saints or gurus. They were just people who had found a way out. The difference was, they had walked the walk. They had admitted they were wrong. They had been afraid and selfish and full of opinions just like me. But they had something I wanted: peace.

When I stopped arguing and started listening, things began to change. I started understanding what it meant to recover, not just to stop drinking. Recovery wasn’t about being perfect. It was about being honest. I had to walk through my own mess, look at my sinful nature, and let go of my contempt long enough to let new ideas in.

That’s when I understood that contempt wasn’t just a flaw. It was a survival tool that had outlived its usefulness. It kept me protected from change, but also trapped in failure.

The Importance of an Open Mind

An open mind doesn’t mean agreeing with everything. It means being willing to look. Willing to ask questions. Willing to understand rather than prove. I had to let go of being right. I had to learn to walk with uncertainty and accept that I wasn’t in control. That was a spiritual experience in itself.

Contempt prior to investigation had been my armor. But in recovery, I didn’t need armor, I needed support.

Programs like AA, and the concept of a higher power, weren’t there to brainwash me. They were there to help me live. I learned that the difference between success and failure in sobriety often comes down to perspective. Do I approach something with curiosity or conclusion? Do I look for truth or justification?

When I Finally Understood

The moment I finally understood the weight of contempt prior to investigation, I was sitting in a meeting listening to a newcomer argue with everything. I saw myself in him. He had opinions, positions, statements, and nothing but resistance. And yet, he had walked through the same doors I did. I saw what I had looked like when I first came in. And in that moment, I felt compassion.

I walked over after the meeting, shared a bit of my story, and just said, “Give it a shot. All the way. Then decide what you believe.” That’s what someone had said to me when I was full of contempt. It’s how the whole thing works. One alcoholic helping another.

Recovery Begins With Investigation

Today, I don’t pretend to know everything. But I do know this: contempt will keep you stuck. Open-mindedness will open doors. The spiritual experiences I’ve had have been real, but they only came when I dropped the act and got honest.

It’s not about pretending to believe in God or reciting things you don’t understand. It’s about showing up, being willing, and asking for help. That’s what recovery is. That’s what Alcoholics Anonymous offers.

And it all starts when we stop rejecting things before we even try to understand them.

Don’t Let Contempt Prior to Investigation Steal Your Chance at Recovery

If you’re struggling and you feel skeptical: good! You’re not alone. Many of us walked into recovery full of doubt, fear, and resistance. But when you’re willing to take that first honest look, everything can change.

Purpose Healing Center in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona, offers compassionate, evidence-based addiction treatment for those ready to start the process of healing.

Whether you’re seeking support for the first time or coming back after a relapse, the team at Purpose Healing Center will meet you where you are.

Let go of contempt. Begin your investigation. Reach out to Purpose today. Your new life is waiting.