Flow

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi wrote a book, published in 1990 and passed onto my bookshelf last year from a friend. My friend disliked it and, although we both wanted to like it, I am finding it hard going. The book in questions is 'Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience'.

We all know what 'flow' is! It's that state when you're completely engrossed in what you are doing. He sites chess masters, rock climbers and computer programmers as excellent examples of people who regularly experience flow.

The problem I have is that the entire text is so easy to pick holes in, it's even occasionally insulting, that I cannot take it seriously enough to properly understand and research it.

The main thing that I think he confuses is 'optimal experience' and day-to-day feel-good. I don't think it's possible to experience flow whilst pulling up your pants (for example). Oh, I despair of writers with a good idea that just go and spoil it with confusion.