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The Flow of Creativity

A common factor among creators is that the find intrinsic pleasure in their work, a fact which the author found unanimous among those whom he interviewed.

Many others in the same occupations do not enjoy their work, so the author reasons that it isn't what creators do, but the manner in which they do it. That is, there is nothing intrinsically rewarding in being a carpenter, chemist, electrician, or writer - many who do the same jobs are not thrilled.

Programmed for Creativity

Interviewing creators, the most common sentiment is that they find that their work is enjoyable because it is a process of discovery.

He reckons this to be a distinctly human characteristic. All other species survive by following instincts that prescribe basic patterns of behavior that will lead to success. The instinctive creature "feels best" when it does what is known and receives the rewarded that was expected.

Human beings, meanwhile, have an adaptable physiology - our bodies are not designed to do a very limited tasks, and are not particularly well suited to anything. We succeed in a broader range of environments and climates than any other species because we are not adapted to one - we discover how to survive, wherever we are. We are, in effect, designed to be curious, to discover, and to create.

This pattern, he reckons, is much more developed in some men than in others. Some men enjoy the comfort and safety of the known, and delight in routines. Others are thrilled by the challenge of the unknown, and delight in discovery.

Moreover, evolution favors creativity: those men who cannot adapt cannot survive, and those who can adapt will thrive. But unlike animal adaptation, which relies on physiological change, man adapts by applying his mind.

If this theory holds true, than man of today are the descendants of ancestors who recognized the importance of novelty, protected and encouraged creativity, and imitated the successful behavior of others.

He also suggests that human beings are creative because we are lazy (or "entropic") by our nature. We conserve our energy and are driven to achieve more with less effort for the simple reason that we would prefer to relax. Early innovations such as farming and ranching occurred because they are much easier ways to get food than hunting and foraging.

However, this also runs contrary to creativity, as it is much easier on a human being to sit back and wait for someone else to figure things out than to attempt to discover it for ourselves. So again, there are two different paths to success: to create or to imitate.

What is Enjoyment?

This touches on a topic that the author studied many years ago: what causes people to take enjoyment in certain activities? It seems that the creative individual finds that same pleasure in his work that a hobbyist takes in his leisure activities.

He mentions his previous book, "flow," which was largely devoted to this topic. In that book, he found that certain activities produced enjoyment, and in which they became deeply engrossed. The qualities of a flow experience are largely independent of culture, and in interviewing people about their favorite activities, he found a number of common factors:

A clear sense of purpose

In contrast to daily activities, in which we do many things in a ritual manner, flow activities involve a clear sense of purpose and the actor knows exactly what he needs to be doing at each step of the way to progress toward his goal.

Frustration often arises where there is no clear goal or purpose, and a significant amount of effort is required to define one - but once the goal is well-understood, creativity becomes an enjoyable process of problem-solving.

In the creative arts, the purpose is often a "vision" that the artist is seeking to achieve, whereas in the more practical matters the goal is a more specific outcome that can be more easily demonstrated to have been met.

Immediate feedback

Enjoyment occurs in activities where the actor knows right away that what they have done is correct.

Consider how scoring is a common element use in many games, and there is a great deal of focus on the score. Without this feedback, the game is just an ongoing activity and there is no clear sense of where it ends or how well the players are performing.

This is also a difference between creative activities and everyday maintenance activities. Jobs that involve rituals and routines provide no sense of accomplishment, and fail to inspire performance.

Challenges are balanced to skills

We enjoy activities that are not easy, but are not beyond our capabilities. To simple a task results in boredom, and too difficult a task results in frustration.

Achieving this balance is a common cause of inertia among creators: a task seems insurmountable, so it is not attempted. Or they are struck by an easier solution while working on a difficult problem and accept a compromise in the outcome to escape the effort.

It is particularly difficult to balance creative work because the tasks are not known.

The mind is focused on action

In most everyday activities, we are thinking of one thing while doing another. In a flow activity, the mind is focused on the task. A few examples are given to attempt to clarify this, but they seem oblique.

It's also arguable whether this focus is attributable to the activity or the individual performing it: many people find tasks deeply engaging that others cannot bear to perform.

Distractions are excluded

Likewise, distraction is detrimental to the work - if a person who is attempting to do something is even momentarily distracted, he will be unable to succeed. Flow often exists in individuals who are not troubled or anxious about other things.

It's noted that some of the peculiar behaviors noted about creators are often attempts to avoid being distracted while working. In particular, many creative engage in "hiding" - sequestering themselves from others so that they are not disturbed in their work. Any noise or distraction that interrupts the creative flow is shunned.

The irresponsible behavior of some creative is along the same lines: when they focus on their work, they do not allow themselves to give attention to routine maintenance activities. They neglect their relationships with others, their financial responsibilities, and even such things as personal hygiene, when they are on the trail of an idea.

Failure is an option

When we are too obsessed with achieving a specific outcome, our focus is on the product and not the task and there is constant fear and worry of not achieving the desired outcome, which itself becomes a distraction.

Self-consciousness disappears

The person may become a distraction to his own work, as acute self-awareness is a burden. There is often the expression that a man merges with the tools he uses to do the work, and the object he is acting upon fills his whole consciousness.

Time distorts

During a flow activity, the actor loses the sense of time. Hours may pass, but to the actor feels that it has been only minutes. In some instances, the opposite occurs: a person may be so intent on the granular details of a specific action that time seems distended.

Activities become autotelic (an end in themselves)

The actor enjoys doing the activity, rather than being motivated by the desire to achieve some extrinsic goal, even the one resulting directly to his activity.

A common theme in interviews with creators is that they are not "in it for the money." Financial reward, if any, is extrinsic and can itself become a distraction and an obstacle to creativity. The work is undertaken for the pleasure of the work, not for any external reward because of the result of the work.

Flow and Happiness

The connection between flow experiences and happiness is complex. People do not often feel happy while they are working, because even a positive emotion is a distraction. A sudden onset of elation would be a terrible distraction from the work.

Happiness does occur between "sessions" of work - there is a sense of capability and accomplishment that results upon seeing the progress that has been made - but this requires stopping the activity to take note of the progress.

Flow and Evolution

There are many things that people enjoy. Some are considered base and vulgar, whereas other enjoyments are accessible only to the enlightened mind.

Among the ancient Greeks, Plato wrote of the appropriate pleasures and suggested they should be encouraged and cultivated in individuals, an idea that has been the basis of education and child-rearing ever since.

It's fairly obvious that society would be better off as a while if people were more interested in production than consumption, art than pornography, cooperation rather than violence, and the like. And in that sense, the promotion of flow activities can be considered to be a step in the evolution of human consciousness.

The problem is that a person enjoys satisfaction more often if he takes pleasure in the base pursuits - one who delights in building must wait many months to see the fruit of his labor and take pleasure in his accomplishment, whereas one who delights in destroying can achieve his goal in a few minutes.

He complains a bit about education and how utilitarian it has become. Children learn the fundamental practical skills needed to follow the beaten path, but are not taught to be fascinated by possibilities outside of current practices. They are taught to repeat rather to think, and to imitate rather than invent.