Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Here we go: — Flow: The most fitting for the HN crowd. A fantastic read about the state of flow in work and leisure. Great framework for unlocking what drives the mind towards fulfillment and happiness. I liked the ideas around how "order of thought" relates to personal satisfaction. I wished it talked about the "how" not just the "what". — Man's Search For Meaning: An absolute classic. A moving but most of all inspiring book about the experience of a man in the Nazi camps. Stoic optimism. It opened my eyes to the relationship between suffering and self-actualization. — I Remember: A book by Joe Brainard to be found in the poetry section but written in a unique unconventional style. Accessible, playful and moving. It created a lot of noise with it came out because of its format. — Never Say You Can't Survive: How To Get Through Hard Times By Making Up Stories: The book I needed to read to reconnect me to writing to cultivate the spirit. — Carbon & Silicon: This last one is a comic book. The story is an intimate (yet grand) robot saga that expands over centuries. A battle between immortality and decay. A joy to read. It hit me hard.

Why not buy three? 1. Should be Required reading for any rising senior at High School- Psychocybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. I got this for my 43 birthday and you will have a huge head start over others. 2. Flow- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi masterclass in writing exposition. Essentially how to find happiness in everything in life 3. The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime- cringy title but packed with practical nuggets on how to earn a living and create wealth outside of the scripted 9-5/30 years of employment. Very in your face but I am trying hard to apply what this book teaches. Good luck!

Posted on a previous thread Flow mihaly csikszentmihalyi Psycho cybernetics by Dr. Maltz. Helped me grapple with my midlife crisis and gave me true purpose- to achieve my goals on my own terms. No something set by the society’s concept of achievement. Highly recommend reading it and not audible listening

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - made me fall in love with deep work.

- "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" - probably the most influential book I've read in my life, profoundly changed the way I think. It's a collection of LessWrong essays on science and rationality. - "On Intelligence" and "I am a Strange Loop" - how mind works. - "Rework", "Zero to One", "Start Small, Stay Small" - insightful startup advice. - Fun autobiographies: Ghost in the Wires (Kevin Mitnick), iWoz (Steve Wozniak), Catch me if you can (Frank Abagnale), Just for Fun (Linus Torvalds), Elon Musk, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - How companies work: Creativity Inc (Pixar), In the Plex (Google) - On writing: Art of fiction/nonfiction by Ayn Rand, Story by Robert McKee, Save the Cat, Step by Step to Standup Comedy. - Other: The Selfish Gene, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Serious Creativity, Hackers & Painters, Hacking Growth, Angel (on angel investing, by Jason Calacanis). Also collections of essays by Paul Graham [1] and Scott Alexander [2]: [1] https://www.dropbox.com/s/2no0sqybnxurpcd/Paul%20Graham%20-%... (https://www.dropbox.com/s/2no0sqybnxurpcd/Paul%20Graham%20-%20Complete%20Essays.epub?dl=0)…

The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav The Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich Hayek The Worldly Philosophers, by Robert Heilbroner The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant Grammatical Man, by Jeremy Campbell Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-... (https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202) Antifragile https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Ince... (https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto/dp/0812979680) High Output Management https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/d... (https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884) The Master Switch https://www.amazon.com/Master-Switch-Rise-Information-Empire... (https://www.amazon.com/Master-Switch-Rise-Information-Empires/dp/0307390993) Thinking Fast and Slow https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp... (https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555)

A couple of these have been named and I've upvoted them, but this is my list: * "Flow" by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. Being fully immersed and engaged in an activity. 1) Knowing the value of this mental state, 2) being able to recognize when you're in it, and 3) setting yourself up so that you can be in this state as much as possible is really valuable. File it under living an examined life, IMO. All the popular "don't interrupt the programmer" and Pomodoro and other time management techniques build on this old research. * "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius (several translations, worth comparing for even more insight) -- this is a man who understood duty and getting things done! (Not surprising from a stoic, but somehow this collection has extra impact because I know they were primarily notes and reflections written for his own clarity, more than for an audience.) Wisdom to apply to situations. Patterns to recognize in yourself and others.…

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-C... (http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202) It really has opened my eyes about how to deal with having a negative attitude and understanding the driving forces behind being in the "flow"

See here: http://jseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-that-... (http://jseliger.com/2010/03/22/influential-books-on-me-that-is/) for a list of influential books on me. I actually have a half-written post on books I wish I'd read when I was younger; here it is: 1. <em>Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience</em> by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 2. <em>The Guide to Getting It On</em> by Paul Johannides [sp?] 3. <em>The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature</em> by Geoffrey Miller 4. <em>Hackers & Painters</em> by Paul Graham 5. <em>Man's Search for Meaning</em> by Viktor Frankl 6. <em>Stumbling on Happiness</em> by Daniel Gilbert In all cases, I think these books profoundly shaped how not only I think, but I think others can learn to think too. All suddenly revealed new connections and ideas about the world I'd never experienced or expected to experience before.…

On a "what makes us tick" non-fiction bent: 1. Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (http://tinyurl.com/33kv6te) - fascinating look at the author's theory of Flow, the state of total absorption that accompanies total concentration - so called "optimal experience". Anyone who programs knows this feeling. Really excellent book. 2. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert (http://tinyurl.com/38lvdzc) - not the self-help book it sounds like, but an interesting look at why we're so bad at working out what will make us happy. 3. The Tiger that isn't by Andrew Dilnot (http://tinyurl.com/38hntqx) - interesting guide to our instinctive interpretation of statistics and how the media manipulates it. 4. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (http://tinyurl.com/3yk8woz) - at once amusing and horrifying look at various aspects of pseudoscience, especially as applied to healthcare. Fiction: 1. Anything by Iain Banks, especially the sci-fi. 2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor (http://tinyurl.com/3496d34) - worth reading just for the language he uses. 3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (http://tinyurl.com/3xyr65w) - great fantasy with a darkly humorous side.

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi AMZN blurb: You have heard about how a musician loses herself in her music, how a painter becomes one with the process of painting. In work, sport, conversation or hobby, you have experienced, yourself, the suspension of time, the freedom of complete absorption in activity. This is "flow," an experience that is at once demanding and rewarding--an experience that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates is one of the most enjoyable and valuable experiences a person can have. The exhaustive case studies, controlled experiments and innumerable references to historical figures, philosophers and scientists through the ages prove Csikszentmihalyi's point that flow is a singularly productive and desirable state. But the implications for its application to society are what make the book revolutionary.

"Into to Thin Air" by John Krakauer and "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csik... (http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/dp/0060920432) The Design of Everyday Things http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d... (http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0385267746)

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying &amp; The Sound and the Fury Julian Jaynes' The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind Peter Medawar's The Art of the Soluable Designed by Peter Saville Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols Bloom County Babylon