Is Self-Serving really Self-Serving?

The "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous makes a stark claim in answering the question of what is meant by turning one's will and life over to the care of God (as one understands God).

The authors state that it means "that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success" (pg.60). This statement is difficult. Does this mean that we should simply not do anything? Or does this mean that anything I do is not to be called a success? What are the authors driving at?

The next sentence tells the reader that living on a "self-will" basis brings us into conflict with others, regardless of our motives. Again, such a statement might imply that we are to avoid conflict at all costs or, that conflict is a sure sign of a lack of success. Is that what the authors are driving at?

The questions raised by these comments were helpfully addressed by some insights of Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's partner). He shared that the one factor he consistently underestimates is "self-serving bias."

He states "My favorite human misjudgment is self-serving bias: how the brain subconsciously will decide that what’s good for the holder of the brain is good for everyone else. If the little me wants it, why shouldn’t the little me have it? People go through life like this. I’ve underestimated this phenomenon all my life. People go bonkers taking care of their own self-interest. It’s a sea of miscognition. People who write the laws, people who treat patients, who experiment with rats, all suffer horribly from this bias."

Given that we are living in this "sea of miscognition," what are we to do about it? Charlie Munger says "to train yourself not to do this," but provides no practical program to do so. In the "Big Book," the authors state that we will not be able to reduce this problem "by wishing or by trying on our own power." Instead, we need to "quit playing God" by making God our Director.

Essentially, the authors are stating that turning our will and our lives over to the care of God may be fraught with self-serving bias and, for this reason, requires prior thought. Without first conceding that our "self-will" is an impediment to success in life, we probably will not quit playing God, even though we may think that we are "turning it over."