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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Psychologist recognized for the concept of ‘flow states.’
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Key Concepts

Flow — state of being fully immersed in an activity.
Experience fluctuation model — experience that results from different levels of perceived challenge and perceived skill. Thesis is that you arrive in flow state when high degree of challenge, and high degree of skill.

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@Flow
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Notes

After seeing people’s lives destroyed by the fallout of World War II, Mihaly started with a few questions:
What makes people happier?
What makes people feel they have meaningful lives?
One of the first stories he tells is one of a factory worker, name Joe, who is the on the lowest rung of a factory floor. At the same time, Joe experiences a sense of happiness and purpose.
At work, he simply enjoyed fixing the machines. Because of his skill in fixing nearly anything in the factory, he became the most important worker in the factory.
In his spare time, Joe built a rock and plant garden with water configurations that produced rainbows.
He would go from work, where he achieved a state of flow in his work fixing machines to gardening at home amongst a set of rainbows, that he could create simply by turning on the water.
Key influences: Carl Gustav Yung
Did his PHD at University of Chicago, where he became a professor for over 20 years.
Started with interviews, but weren’t precise enough. Not enough texture.
ESM method: Experience Sampling Method
Electronic pager with radio signal. When the pager goes off, the person takes out the booklet and writes how they are feeling and many questions on scale. Over time, you get a film-strip of the person’s life. Don’t get distortion because you’re sampling in the moment.
What produces flow?
Clarity of goals.
Ex: game of chess.

8 Conditions of Flow
Clarity of goal
Rules are clear, know what you want to accomplish
Ex: tennis rules, chess rules, notes you want to play in music
Immediate feedback
Essential for keeping you focused on what you’re doing
Can change course
Ex: hitting ball in tennis, know it’s in the court or not
Challenges matched with the skill
Job that is too demanding, makes you feel stressed
Something too easy, makes you feel bored
Feeling of focus and concentration
Inner harmony
Spontaneous energy
Escape from everyday frustrations
Escaping backward
Escaping forward
Completely involved and focused
In control of your life
Ex: climber on the side of a mountain who feels more in control than crossing a busy street
Sense of time seems to be transformed

Everything we do reflected in consciousness
Attention reflected in consciousness
Attention is like a searchlight
Consciousness needed to accomplish anything in life

Experience Fluctuation Model
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