×

We use cookies to help make LingQ better. By visiting the site, you agree to our cookie policy.


image

Happiness, 2.07 (V) Week 2 Video 6 - When does flow happen

2.07 (V) Week 2 Video 6 - When does flow happen

[MUSIC] Welcome back, everybody. Good to see you again. In the last video, we talked about how flow has these three characteristics. In this video, I want to talk about when you're most likely to experience flow. Imagine one more time, that you're playing tennis against somebody. When are you likely to experience flow do you think? When your opponent is far better than you or when he is far worse than you? That is when do you think you're likely to be, as many people put it, in the zone. When your opponent is far superior or far inferior to you. Well, as it turns out, you're not likely to experience flow when you opponent is far better or far worse. When your opponent is far better than you, you're likely to be anxious and when he's far worse than you you're likely to be bored. Professor Csikszentmihalyi found that flow happens in this sweet spot between anxiety and boredom. In other words, flow is most likely when your skill levels are matched by the skill levels of your opponent. In fact, even a perfect match of skill levels is not ideal. Flow is most likely when the opponent's skill are just a little bit, ever so slightly higher than your own skills. So back to the tennis example, imagine that you're an intermediate level tennis player. Let's say, with a USTA rating of 4.0. You're most likely to experience flow when you're playing against somebody who's just about your level. Somebody with a rating of say, 4.5 if such a thing exists or better yet a rating of 4.1. When your opponent is just a little bit better than you, you can't rely on your current skill levels alone to beat him. You would need to up your skills, even as you're playing the game. That's the only way in which you're going to win. So flow happens when you're stretched, but not by too much. But by just the right amount. So in a sense, flow is kind of like yoga. You need to stretch beyond your point of comfort, but not by too much. Stretch too much and it would hurt you, it would be painful, you would get anxious. Stretch too little and you will not be growing, you will be bored. What this means is, so long as you're able to put yourself in a situation where your current skill levels match the skill levels required of you or actually are stretched a little bit by the skill levels required, you will experience flow. So for example, you can experience flow in chess, right now, by playing against somebody who's just a little bit better than you are. Or, you can experience flow in crossword or Sudoku, or playing the violin, what have you, by doing something that's just beyond your current capabilities. But not all situations in which there is a match between available and required ability provide equal flow. Flow experiences at the bottom left-hand corner of the figure on your screen in which a low level of available ability is matched by an equally low level of required ability. Will not be as absorbing as those at the top right corner, in which both available and required abilities are very high. To understand why, let's go back to the tennis court one last time. Imagine that you are a beginner playing against another beginner. Given your low skill levels, you and your partner will probably hit the ball out of the court far too often for flow to last. So whatever flow you experience will be disrupted by long intervals of non-flow. When you're picking up the ball in the net, or retrieving it from outside the court. Compare that to a situation in which both you and your opponent are expert players. Now, we're really talking, right? At this high skill level, you're likely to sustain flow for much longer durations. Your rallies, for example, are likely to last several seconds, and in the course of these rallies you're likely to feel quite stretched. At really high, exalted levels of flow, I'm talking here at the level at which say, Djokovic and Federer experience when they play against each other. The flow would be so intense, that it would even draw the people watching you into your orbit. I think people who get to experience these really high levels of flow are really lucky. They no longer have doubts about what their purpose in life is. They know that the purpose is to nurture the talent that enables them to experience this flow. Notice, by the way, that I said purpose in life and not purpose of life. Who knows what the purpose of life is and whether in fact, there is such a purpose. But we all have a purpose in life, which is to nurture our inherent talents and experience flow. And if you're able to do that, a big chunk of your happiness puzzle is solved, which would be a really great thing to happen of course. So to step back, so far, I've talked about the characteristics of flow, and I've also talked about when, that is the conditions under which we are most likely to experience flow. In the next video, I'm going to talk about why flow experiences enhance our happiness levels. Till then, bye-bye. [MUSIC]


2.07 (V) Week 2 Video 6 - When does flow happen

[MUSIC] Welcome back, everybody. Good to see you again. In the last video, we talked about how flow has these three characteristics. In this video, I want to talk about when you're most likely to experience flow. Imagine one more time, that you're playing tennis against somebody. When are you likely to experience flow do you think? When your opponent is far better than you or when he is far worse than you? That is when do you think you're likely to be, as many people put it, in the zone. When your opponent is far superior or far inferior to you. Well, as it turns out, you're not likely to experience flow when you opponent is far better or far worse. When your opponent is far better than you, you're likely to be anxious and when he's far worse than you you're likely to be bored. Professor Csikszentmihalyi found that flow happens in this sweet spot between anxiety and boredom. In other words, flow is most likely when your skill levels are matched by the skill levels of your opponent. In fact, even a perfect match of skill levels is not ideal. Flow is most likely when the opponent's skill are just a little bit, ever so slightly higher than your own skills. So back to the tennis example, imagine that you're an intermediate level tennis player. Let's say, with a USTA rating of 4.0. You're most likely to experience flow when you're playing against somebody who's just about your level. Somebody with a rating of say, 4.5 if such a thing exists or better yet a rating of 4.1. When your opponent is just a little bit better than you, you can't rely on your current skill levels alone to beat him. You would need to up your skills, even as you're playing the game. That's the only way in which you're going to win. So flow happens when you're stretched, but not by too much. But by just the right amount. So in a sense, flow is kind of like yoga. You need to stretch beyond your point of comfort, but not by too much. Stretch too much and it would hurt you, it would be painful, you would get anxious. Stretch too little and you will not be growing, you will be bored. What this means is, so long as you're able to put yourself in a situation where your current skill levels match the skill levels required of you or actually are stretched a little bit by the skill levels required, you will experience flow. So for example, you can experience flow in chess, right now, by playing against somebody who's just a little bit better than you are. Or, you can experience flow in crossword or Sudoku, or playing the violin, what have you, by doing something that's just beyond your current capabilities. But not all situations in which there is a match between available and required ability provide equal flow. Flow experiences at the bottom left-hand corner of the figure on your screen in which a low level of available ability is matched by an equally low level of required ability. Will not be as absorbing as those at the top right corner, in which both available and required abilities are very high. To understand why, let's go back to the tennis court one last time. Imagine that you are a beginner playing against another beginner. Given your low skill levels, you and your partner will probably hit the ball out of the court far too often for flow to last. So whatever flow you experience will be disrupted by long intervals of non-flow. When you're picking up the ball in the net, or retrieving it from outside the court. Compare that to a situation in which both you and your opponent are expert players. Now, we're really talking, right? At this high skill level, you're likely to sustain flow for much longer durations. Your rallies, for example, are likely to last several seconds, and in the course of these rallies you're likely to feel quite stretched. At really high, exalted levels of flow, I'm talking here at the level at which say, Djokovic and Federer experience when they play against each other. The flow would be so intense, that it would even draw the people watching you into your orbit. I think people who get to experience these really high levels of flow are really lucky. They no longer have doubts about what their purpose in life is. They know that the purpose is to nurture the talent that enables them to experience this flow. Notice, by the way, that I said purpose in life and not purpose of life. Who knows what the purpose of life is and whether in fact, there is such a purpose. But we all have a purpose in life, which is to nurture our inherent talents and experience flow. And if you're able to do that, a big chunk of your happiness puzzle is solved, which would be a really great thing to happen of course. So to step back, so far, I've talked about the characteristics of flow, and I've also talked about when, that is the conditions under which we are most likely to experience flow. In the next video, I'm going to talk about why flow experiences enhance our happiness levels. Till then, bye-bye. [MUSIC]