The late Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi identified happiness with a state of “flow”. The idea can still help us detach from consumerism
The recent passing of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reminds us of his brilliant concept of the mental state known as “flow”, which Csikszentmihalyi developing from engaging with artists and sportspeople. To be in “flow” is to occupy a sweet spot between your skills, and the difficulty of your challenge. Too easy, it’s boring; too difficult, it’s frustrating. But to be in “flow” is to be pleasurably “lost” in the activity.
We have been interested in the category of this kind of “practice” since the beginning of A/UK - with a side agenda of how such an absorption might be an alternative to the needs answered by materially-excessive consumerism. So we’re delighted to find this appreciation of Csikszentmihalyi written by Tim Jackson (familiar to these pages) and Amy Isham at CUSP, which zeros in on exactly this point.
They begin by noting how, as a young boy, Csikszentmihalyi coped with an experience being in an Italian prisoner of war camp in WW2, by becoming lost in chess as a “different world”.
Mike’s early immersion in chess at a prison camp had convinced him that the content of our inner lives is as important in determining our happiness as the outer circumstances. By losing himself in chess, he was able to create an inner life that was not just tolerable but positively enjoyable. ‘People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives,’ he once said. And that’s ‘as close as any of us can come to being happy’.
In the following years, he spoke to artists, rock climbers, basketball players, hockey players, dancers, composers, musicians and chess grand masters. All of them used very similar language to describe their experience. ‘You are in an ecstatic state to the point where you feel as though you almost don’t exist,’ said one of the musicians he interviewed. ‘I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching it in a state of awe and wonderment. And the music just flows out of itself.’
Csikszentmihalyi coined the term ‘flow’ to capture this phenomenon. It may seem paradoxical to propose that happiness can be achieved by losing one’s sense of self. But numerous subsequent studies (including our own) have confirmed that those more prone to experience flow also report higher levels of subjective wellbeing.
Not content with simply describing the phenomenon, Csikszentmihalyi strove to understand both the characteristics and the determinants of optimal experience. He identified a set of characteristics that typify flow. They included intense concentration, a sense of control, a transformation of time, and a loss of self-consciousness. He found that the conditions for flow include having clear goals, receiving feedback on progress towards them and a maintaining a good balance between the level of challenge and the level of skill involved in the task.
Jackson and Isham go on to detail their own researches into flow states, and how they might provide an alternative to consumption:
Our own work in CUSP has been inspired by a specific proposal Csikszentmihalyi made that flow activities could offer the potential to live better with less impact on the planet. Together with CUSP co-investigator Prof Birgitta Gatersleben, we set out to test this hypothesis. Using data collected through a study in the US, we examined the link between the experience of flow and environmental impact.
We found a very distinct set of high-flow, low-impact activities across the sample. They centred on five key themes: physical sports, craft and creative activities, social interactions, romantic relationships and contemplative practices like meditation. All of these activities have low environmental impacts. But people engaged in them report high levels of flow.
Clearly, these things aren’t always easily attainable—particularly in today’s highly materialistic society. In a separate study, we found that simply favouring materialistic values is enough to undermine people’s potential to experience flow.
The damage created by consumer capitalism is not restricted to its impact on the planet, it seems. We are led to believe that material affluence represents progress. But in some very specific ways, the focus on material things actively impedes our ability to achieve our fullest potential as human beings.
‘The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times,’ said Csikszentmihalyi. ‘The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limit in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.’
Implicit in this understanding, we believe, is a far-reaching vision capable of transforming our sense of what prosperity means on a finite planet.
Sixty years after his family was forced into exile, Csikszentmihalyi was awarded the Grand Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, the nation’s highest civilian honour. Time, he once said, is our scarcest resource. ‘It is how we choose what we do, and how we approach it, that will determine whether the sum of our days adds up to a formless blur, or to something resembling a work of art.’
His own life certainly exemplified the latter. He died at home on 20th October 2021, aged 87, leaving behind a legacy worthy of our highest aspirations.