Reading Flow has been an interesting re-visit to my own 'person' and where I stand in terms of Mihaly's postulations. Yet by chapter 4, I think the author becomes repetitive and has a tendency to generalize facts.
chapter1: happiness revisited
It
was intriguing to discover that enjoyment occurs between the boundaries
of anxiety and boredom when challenge matches skill sets possessed. The
necessary compatibility between skills and challenges was something I
hadn't paid attention to before.
When in high school, I used to paint a lot, and was nearly always in a state of flow when doing that. It was my escape. And yes, I was also the best in school! I guess that helps :) Yet, after joining design school, when visualization was institutionalized, judged and compared at each moment, I guess I have no longer perceived my skills to be adequate anymore and have lost that spontaneity. Also, I find my illustration skills too slow for the market where people wish to see results fast. That also has caused many inhibitions. And I do agree, these inhibitions don't make me a happier person, nor a better graphic designer.
Yet in this chapter, I don't agree that people don't break society's rules because they identify with the social order. They 'follow' because they're not prepared to deal with society's reaction if they commit something outside its boundaries. Or, they don't wish to hurt the people close to them. Thus if you notice, people lead 'double lives' and are prone to hypocrisy. This actually is in agreement with Mihaly's other postulate that - Men are not afraid of external things, but how they view them. And they may view society as threatening and therefore they carry along.
chapter2: the anatomy of consciousness
I
found the explanation of 'psychic entropy' very compelling and the
reference to battling 'for' the self, and use of food, rest as
'restorative' homeostasis functions. Prolonged entropy is crippling,
though I wonder why examples of all traumatic experiences are
attributed to parents (chapter 2&4&5).
chapter3 - enjoyment and quality of life
What
was interesting? The act of doing the task itself and not looking for a
result. I think one starts looking for results when the need to 'earn'
and be 'responsible' as an adult is realized. Its hard to not look for
results when time is running by and there are responsibilities, mostly
financial, to be met with. I guess thats why people miss childhood.
The idea of crime as a flow experience any less complex than other flow experiences didn't really make sense. The government spy or the mercenary probably have the same skills, which cause flow experience in successfully executed operations. Yet, the mercenary is held as mentally imbalanced mischief maker, requiring rehabilitation. Probably what the author meant as 'complex' was activities which were safe or were in tune with a society's laws.
chapter4 - the conditions of flow
I
think by this chapter onwards Mihaly has started becoming repetitive
and mentions not so correct facts. For example, I checked on the Ik of
Uganda through google. Nowhere is there a mention of, or examples of
"institutionalization of selfishness beyond the wildest dreams of
capitalism". I would like to know how the selfishness he speaks of has
been manifested.
What I took from this chapter was the reminder that "when every aspiration is frustrated, a person still must seek a meaningful goal around which to organize the self. Then, even though that person is objectively a slave, subjectively he is free".
chapter5 - the body in flow
Chapter
five is also repetitive and not much different than a gossip column on
"How to keep love fresh" and "Have a fit body and lifestyle".
Also, one postulate actually managed to irritate me. His assertion that "the Indian fascination with advanced techniques for self-control at the expense of learning to cope with the material challenges of the physical environment, has conspired to let impotence and apathy spread over a great proportion of the population, defeated by scarcity of resources and over-crowding", is ignorant and lacks factual backup and clarity.
This assertion comes under the banner of "Yoga and martial arts". First I would say that practicing 'Yoga' (as an advanced technique for self-control) does not stop a person from living life. Yoga usually takes not more than an hour of an individual's life, very similar to going to the gym or jogging. And the 'samadhi' he speaks of is the terrain of a few and does not reflect the masses.
Secondly, India not being able to cope with 'material challenges' is ridiculous. Our economy has grown since our independence from colonialism about 60 years ago. The west has had way more time to reach where they are and I wouldn't exactly approve their tactics.
The 'apathy' and 'impotence' (I'm assuming what he means here is 'incapacity') of the masses is not borne out of scarcity of resource or over-population, but due to years of internal caste differences. Also, Asian societies are very community driven, not individualistic like the west. It leads to people wishing a peaceful compromise over issues instead of outright revolution or war. Wanting a compromise is not apathy, its more like thoughtfulness.
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To sum it up,
I think the book 'Flow' is an interesting read. Most people I think
understand what Flow is all about, but its good to have that
understanding in written format as a reminder. The same idea is
presented in a Richard Linklater film 'Waking Life'. It poses the
question - What are the things that prevent humanity from reaching its
true potential? Is it Fear, or is it Laziness, or both?
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