Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Literature Analysis (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

TOPIC(S) and/or EVENT(S)

1.     As we have discussed in class, a book is said to be nonfiction if its content is based on facts or events.  What is your book about?  [a]. Try writing a paragraph first to capture your thoughts.  [b]. Then see if you can boil it down to one clear statement.  (Even if you feel like you can just skip to [b], please do both; remember that your reader doesn’t know what you know.)

[a.] Mihaly Csikszentmihakyi, one of the most prominent founders/leaders of the relatively new branch of psychology known as "positive psychology", is perhaps most revered for his theory of flow. His 1990 release, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, serves to lay out nearly three decades of flow research in terms that most members of the general public can understand and benefit from. And it is this intent that not only sets the book apart from a standard psychology publication, but also ties it in so seamlessly with my masterpiece topic; for the primary purpose of the book is not only to present the research, as with most publications in its field, but rather to actually apply it. I would say that more so than flow itself, true happiness is the focus of this book, with flow being the means of attaining it. I will talk more about this in the "style" section. Moving on, I will provide a brief overview of the book as I have done with my other literature analyses: Csikszentmihalyi begins by discussing happiness, and the mysterious predicament that seems to bar most humans from ever truly attaining it. He points out that, despite our lives being, on average, overwhelmingly longer, less arduous, and more healthful than the lives of the people of any preceding era, we do not seem to be any happier. In the richest and most hospitable nation in the history of the world--where we are able concern ourselves with how we should spend our leisure time and stay entertained as opposed to what we must suffer through to merely survive--we seem to share the same internal discontent as members of history's harshest societies. The reason for happiness' deceiving elusiveness, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is that humans depend on external factors to make them happy--sex, money, power, material possessions--the things that society tells us we should long for. Further, he argues that these societal rewards are carefully, and intentionally, instilled in us to fulfill a very specific goal: to cultivate a population whose ethics match those of their society, enabling the people to fill the niches that society needs filled, even if those people aren't necessarily doing what they want. This leads into his most important argument; that true happiness is generated internally, and cannot result from any external circumstances. By this reasoning, it is clear why mankind seems to be constantly chasing its metaphorical tail, never content with any degree of "success". For if a person who is struggling to secure even the basic essentials is supplied with food, water, and shelter, he/she will soon long for some luxuries such as a television set or a computer or an automobile, then if those wishes are met, the desire for a bigger house and a nicer car will emerge, and so on and so forth all the way up until an opposite extreme from which we started is reached. Now, this person has everything available in the current day and age: an enormous mansion, a parking garage filled with exotic cars, an expert private chef, as many sexual partners as could possibly be desired, etc.--external conditions could not be more favorable. These things may provide temporary pleasure, but they cannot provide sustained happiness. This is because pleasure, man's most widely sought-after sensation, is not intertwined with happiness as many people believe.  As Csikszentmihalyi explains in Chapter 3: pleasurable things have become symbols of happiness in our society. If a "regular" person sees an extremely wealthy individual reaping all of the luxuries that money can buy, that person will almost always assume that the wealthier person must be far happier as a result of all of the pleasure that he/she is undoubtedly taking in. Again, people are inclined to want what they don't have; it is comforting to believe that there is "something more"--some upper echelon of living that offers guaranteed happiness and fulfillment. Unfortunately, no amount of "success", as society defines it, will ever be sufficient in pursuing this imaginary goal. The sensation of pleasure occurs as a result of psychological imbalances being reconciled, returning the internal self to equilibrium. In the words of Csikszentmilhalyi: "Sleep, food, rest, and sex provide restorative homeostatic experiences that return consciousness to order after the needs of the body intrude and cause psychic entropy to occur. But they do not produce psychological growth. They do not add complexity to the self. Pleasure helps maintain order, but by itself cannon create new order in consciousness." And it is this "optimal experience" of expanding one's self that can actually improve quality of life and facilitate happiness, as is covered in Chapter 2. It is certainly a good feeling that we experience when we grow and stretch ourselves in new directions, but if it isn't pleasure, what exactly is it? Enjoyment. Often lumped in as a synonym of pleasure, the two sensations are quite different. "Enjoyable events occur when a person has not only met some prior expectation or satisfied a need or desire but also gone beyond what he or she has been programmed to do and achieved something unexpected, perhaps something even imagined before." This is where the idea of flow as optimal experience comes from; for the enjoyment that such growth provides is unparalleled when it comes to happiness, and enjoying an activity in virtue of itself is one of the primary characteristics of flow. Flow, named such due to the effortless "flow" of psychic energy (attention) that people performing various flow-inducing activities reported in Csikszentmihalyi's interviews,  is a mental state which is said to to be the pinnacle of positive human experience. Csikszentmihalyi lays out a few key components/characteristics of flow: First and foremost is complete and total focus/immersion. During a flow experience, a person becomes completely involved in what he/she is doing, often to the extent that that person loses track of time, daily stresses and troubles, and even his/her very self. The free and effortless flow of attention that occurs during a flow experience acts as a wedge between a person and his/her own thoughts and feelings; exactly what the person is doing at that particular instance is the only thing he/she is aware of. Despite this lack of self-consciousness, the person still receives a deep sense of enjoyment from the activity while in the flow state. This alone is another component of flow; the activity must be enjoyable in and of itself, regardless of extrinsic rewards, in order for flow to be likely. A rock climber that Csikszentmihalyi interviewed described this perfectly: "The mystique of rock climbing is climbing; you get to the top glad it's over but really wish it would go on forever. The justification of climbing is climbing, like the justification of poetry is writing; you don't conquer anything except things in yourself... The act of writing justifies poetry. Climbing is the same: recognizing that you are a flow. The purpose of the flow is to keep on flowing, not looking for a peak or utopia but staying in the flow. It is not a moving up but a continuous flowing; you move up to keep the flow going. There is no possible reason for climbing except the climbing itself; it is a self-communication." Perhaps most importantly, a person must be attempting to accomplish a clearly defined goal that requires roughly the same amount of skill in a given area that that person possesses. It is at this convergence of skill and challenge that a person's psychic energy most easily flows, and also that a person is subject to the greatest amount of growth. Also crucial is that the goal provides immediate feedback--a person must be able to evaluate his/her performance level and/or progress instantly at any step. Without the ability to gauge the success of each of the numerous micro-goals that go into any task, the task becomes frustrating, and one may feel that his/her psychic energy is being wasted; this is obviously not conducive to flow. In summation: the more frequently a person is able to find flow, the more happiness he/she will generate for him/herself. While far easier said than done, mastering the ability to "control one's consciousness", as Csikszentmihalyi calls it, is perhaps the only way to guarantee happiness, effectively rendering external circumstances a nonissue.

[b.] Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is a promiscuous-for-its-kind book that blends together elements of (positive) psychology, phenomenology, sociology, and other fields and applies them to explain happiness, the misconceptions that make it so unattainable, and the mental states/disciplines that can help facilitate it.

2.     Why did your author choose to write about this topic, person or event?

According to the preface, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote this book to present his model of happiness--especially his research on the mental state of flow upon which that model is based--in the form of a straightforward body of text that as many people as possible may understand and benefit from.

3.     Why did you choose this book?  What about the book appealed to you the first time it came to your attention (and how did it come to your attention)?  What about the book made you want to keep reading once you began?

I chose this book because of my Masterpiece project - plain and simple. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow became a pivotal part of my topic after it was introduced to me by Dr. Preston and, seeing as nearly all of the resources I found on flow are based on Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, I figured I might as well cut out the middle man and just read the book. This book was quite a refreshing change of pace from the books I read for my last couple literature analyses. This book was not pettily mindless by any standards, but it was certainly not written to be intentionally difficult either. Aside from this new-to-me readability, the groundbreaking, yet practicable ideas that comprise the text drew me in without a doubt. I would recommend this enjoyable, and possibly life changing, read to almost anyone.

4.     Did you find the book realistic?  Did you make any connections between people/events you read about and people/events in your own life? Why or (if you didn’t) why not?

Everything in this book can be applied to one's own life. That is the entire point of the book after all: "to present general principles, along with concrete examples of how some people have used these principles, to transform boring and meaningless lives into ones full of enjoyment." I frequently made connections to my own life in order to solidify the things I'm doing correctly, and attempt to change the things I'm not. I wouldn't say that I'm unhappy, but there is always room for improvement in all areas, life quality included.

PEOPLE

There are no characters in this book. A few situations involving people are mentioned, but briefly, and only as examples.

STYLE

1.     Did the author use any tools from fiction writing (such as foreshadowing or symbolism), or did the author use a journalistic style? Example(s)?

Some tools from fiction writing--namely similes, metaphors, and other comparative forms of figurative language--are commonly used in nonfiction writing to relate a book's contents to the real world. In this book, however, real examples were paired with nearly every main point/idea, alleviating the need for any crossover devices from fiction. One might think that this more factual style would dry the text out, but I don't believe it does at all. Csikszentmihalyi's ideas are interesting enough on their own that any superfluity would be unnecessary at best, and distracting at worst.

2.     Does the author use lengthy descriptions of places and people,or does s/he focus more on action or dialogue?  What overall effect do these choices have on the book?

Csikszentmihalyi focused on explaining his ideas and their implications more than the places, people, and events that he used as examples. The few times that he did describe certain scenes, however, the actions of the people involved were most important for his purposes.
       

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

MASTERPIECE INTERVIEWS

Jake:
  • What are you working on?
         Becoming a veterinarian

  • Why?
         Loves animals and wants to work with/help them
  • What is the significance of this project in your life/career?
         Giving him direction and helping him take the first steps towards pursuing his dream job
  • How do you see this work helping you in life outside of school?
         Hopefully providing him with a career that he'll love
  • Has anything surprised you in your work?
         How difficult the job is. Arguably more difficult than being a "real" doctor, since a veterinarian has to  be completely versatile and can't specialize in one given area.
  • What do you need to successfully complete your project and present it?
         Needs to accurately document veterinary intern work
  • What have you learned that's worth teaching someone else?
         Too much to teach, which is a lesson in itself: one should always consult a professional regarding   problems with his/her animal's health 
  • What are you working on?
         Boxing
  • Why?
         It is his passion, plain and simple
  • What is the significance of this project in your life/career?
         Hopes to go pro and make a career out of it
  • How do you see this work helping you in life outside of school?
         Keeping him in shape, providing him with the ability to defend himself, and opening a possible career path
  • Has anything surprised you in your work?
         The amount of cardio that boxing requires - it's deceivingly exhausting
  • What do you need to successfully complete your project and present it?
         Needs to find a way to showcase skills/progress
  • What have you learned that's worth teaching someone else?
         Able to teach basic boxing skills to others as a means of self-defense.

Dale:
  • What are you working on?
         "Preparing for the future."
  • Why?
         "What I'm currently starting, medical training, will help me in many of my career options. If I don't get exactly what I want, I've got somewhere to start."
  • What is the significance of this project in your life/career?
         "It will come in useful, in life and career, for myself and others. I plan to use these skills for others' benefit."
  • How do you see this work helping you in life outside of school?
         "Also in school if necessary, but it will put me in a better position for the future in what I want and what I can get. It's a very beneficial skill to know, life saving, and you shouldn't ever be without it."
  • Has anything surprised you in your work?
         "There aren't any surprises, but I have learned just how much work all of this can be. Even the simplest of tasks, CPR for example, is high intensity, for a few minutes let alone a half hour straight."
  • What do you need to successfully complete your project and present it?
         "A variety of skills to demonstrate, share, explore, and gather from others in order to share all of our knowledge in the best way possible. Everything is available and I want every contribution possible. I want to solicit the help of others, to learn from them and to teach them as well."
  • What have you learned that's worth teaching someone else?
         "There is much I know and much I don't. What I know and what anyone else does is very different. I have just as much to learn as anyone else. I like to think I have an early lead, but it doesn't really matter in the end. I want to discover what people want so I can give it to them, as well as find what I need and ask those who know for their knowledge. It's a give and take, one that I hope to contribute much to."