Discussion Forum > Be one with Flappy Bird
Here is a quote:
<< Csikszentmihalyi broke down the conditions for achieving such a state: There must be a clear and simple task; that task must provide instant feedback; there must be no distractions that either disrupt your concentration or make you ultra-aware of your own actions; and, key to the act of game playing especially, it must be a challenge with appropriate balance with regards to your own skill and the task's difficulty. >>
<< Csikszentmihalyi broke down the conditions for achieving such a state: There must be a clear and simple task; that task must provide instant feedback; there must be no distractions that either disrupt your concentration or make you ultra-aware of your own actions; and, key to the act of game playing especially, it must be a challenge with appropriate balance with regards to your own skill and the task's difficulty. >>
March 9, 2014 at 0:53 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I don't think creative work lends itself to this as much.
March 10, 2014 at 1:17 |
Melanie Wilson
Melanie Wilson
Actually, it was creative work that got Csikszentmihalyi going down this path in the beginning, as cited in the article:
<< Flow as a concept in psychology was coined by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s, when artists would describe in interviews the experience of getting lost in their work as like being carried along by water. Throughout the following decades, Csikszentmihalyi published a number of books on flow, starting with "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play" in 1975 and later, throughout the '90s, numerous publications on flow as a means to a more effective education, achieving happiness, and unlocking the secrets of motivation and creativity.
<< What he discovered was that it wasn't just artists, but athletes and chess players and students that relied on flow too. It's now understood to be found within all sorts of other tasks, even everyday ones we barely think about as we do them, from mowing the lawn and shaving to cooking and ironing shirts. Basically anyone who is performing a task that met a certain distinct criteria could achieve a state of flow where your focus and sense of self reach a unique fluidity and, as Csikszentmihalyi put it in Wired magazine in 1996, "The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost." >>
<< Flow as a concept in psychology was coined by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s, when artists would describe in interviews the experience of getting lost in their work as like being carried along by water. Throughout the following decades, Csikszentmihalyi published a number of books on flow, starting with "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play" in 1975 and later, throughout the '90s, numerous publications on flow as a means to a more effective education, achieving happiness, and unlocking the secrets of motivation and creativity.
<< What he discovered was that it wasn't just artists, but athletes and chess players and students that relied on flow too. It's now understood to be found within all sorts of other tasks, even everyday ones we barely think about as we do them, from mowing the lawn and shaving to cooking and ironing shirts. Basically anyone who is performing a task that met a certain distinct criteria could achieve a state of flow where your focus and sense of self reach a unique fluidity and, as Csikszentmihalyi put it in Wired magazine in 1996, "The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost." >>
March 10, 2014 at 23:18 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Right, but this:
"There must be a clear and simple task; that task must provide instant feedback..."
does not apply to writing (which most of my creative work is). Writing is not a clear and simple task and it does not provide instant feedback. I do get into a flow state while writing at times, but I don't see how I could possibly be in a flow state more often with the kind of work that I do.
Today I was testing a new approach to working and was interrupted constantly. That's the other problem! :-)
"There must be a clear and simple task; that task must provide instant feedback..."
does not apply to writing (which most of my creative work is). Writing is not a clear and simple task and it does not provide instant feedback. I do get into a flow state while writing at times, but I don't see how I could possibly be in a flow state more often with the kind of work that I do.
Today I was testing a new approach to working and was interrupted constantly. That's the other problem! :-)
March 13, 2014 at 3:48 |
Melanie Wilson
Melanie Wilson
For what it's worth I've read Csikszentmihalyi's book and it's not *simplicity* of the task that's important, but it being just difficulty enough to be challenging without overwhelming.
Flow tasks tend to be good to 'recharge' your mental and spiritual energy as it were. Mark calls these 'depth tasks'. Approached in the right mindsight, prayer, walking, drawing, converstions and even reading can be flow activities that allow you to 'lose that sense of self and feel that extreme joy'.
You will rarely feel flow when you're mastering a new skill, flow only comes after you've 'overlearned' the skill such you no longer have to focus on the skill itself, but just the outcome.
Creative work can cause flow, but it also can be more challenging than what will allow for flow.
Flow tasks tend to be good to 'recharge' your mental and spiritual energy as it were. Mark calls these 'depth tasks'. Approached in the right mindsight, prayer, walking, drawing, converstions and even reading can be flow activities that allow you to 'lose that sense of self and feel that extreme joy'.
You will rarely feel flow when you're mastering a new skill, flow only comes after you've 'overlearned' the skill such you no longer have to focus on the skill itself, but just the outcome.
Creative work can cause flow, but it also can be more challenging than what will allow for flow.
March 13, 2014 at 4:10 |
Ryan Freckleton
Ryan Freckleton
Ryan:
<< For what it's worth I've read Csikszentmihalyi's book and it's not *simplicity* of the task that's important, but it being just difficulty enough to be challenging without overwhelming. >>
That's my understanding too. And the converse is that you won't be in flow if what you are doing is either so difficult you can't do it, or so easy it doesn't challenge you. That suggests that one of the most important parts of getting into flow is to be continuously pushing one's comfort zone boundaries.
<< For what it's worth I've read Csikszentmihalyi's book and it's not *simplicity* of the task that's important, but it being just difficulty enough to be challenging without overwhelming. >>
That's my understanding too. And the converse is that you won't be in flow if what you are doing is either so difficult you can't do it, or so easy it doesn't challenge you. That suggests that one of the most important parts of getting into flow is to be continuously pushing one's comfort zone boundaries.
March 13, 2014 at 17:40 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Ryan and Mark, that makes more sense to me. I'm not sure I would want to be in flow all the time. Life includes the struggle at times, too. And even dealing with boredom.
March 16, 2014 at 21:14 |
Melanie Wilson
Melanie Wilson
Hi Mel
I'm not thinking about being on a good roll to complete work. The flow I'm thinking about is creative expression. You can't conjure it up willfully. All of the sudden you feel the spark of divinity and if there are witnesses, they feel it also like involuntarily weeping during a cello concerto, suddenly weeping in an art gallery, the first sight of your newborn child, etc. If I could will myself to spark divinity in myself and others, I'd only eat or sleep barely long enough to subsist. The rest of the time, I'd immerse myself in the rapturous flow until I'd finally die. I truly believe to participate in those rare glimpses of the divine and to share it with others is what I'd imagine heaven to be like.
I'm not thinking about being on a good roll to complete work. The flow I'm thinking about is creative expression. You can't conjure it up willfully. All of the sudden you feel the spark of divinity and if there are witnesses, they feel it also like involuntarily weeping during a cello concerto, suddenly weeping in an art gallery, the first sight of your newborn child, etc. If I could will myself to spark divinity in myself and others, I'd only eat or sleep barely long enough to subsist. The rest of the time, I'd immerse myself in the rapturous flow until I'd finally die. I truly believe to participate in those rare glimpses of the divine and to share it with others is what I'd imagine heaven to be like.
March 17, 2014 at 5:08 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
p.s.
I can't really describe it. It's not so much what you're doing, it's like all of the sudden you realize that you're a part of something that's much, much more than yourself. You're working furiously but you're not really aware of it because you're not thinking. You're responding to something you're not really conscious of. You're along for the exhilarating ride. Even if you're not on stage, many times people will recognize "that something" in your work that's awe inspiring. I'd sell my body parts and organs if I could buy it. LOL!
I can't really describe it. It's not so much what you're doing, it's like all of the sudden you realize that you're a part of something that's much, much more than yourself. You're working furiously but you're not really aware of it because you're not thinking. You're responding to something you're not really conscious of. You're along for the exhilarating ride. Even if you're not on stage, many times people will recognize "that something" in your work that's awe inspiring. I'd sell my body parts and organs if I could buy it. LOL!
March 17, 2014 at 5:18 |
learning as I go
learning as I go
Be one with Flappy Bird: The science of 'flow' in game design - CNET Mobile
http://m.cnet.com/news/be-one-with-flappy-bird-the-science-of-flow-in-game-design/57618580