I have procrastinated on this review because I wanted to write something longer and more in-depth, but it’s time to accept that that review is not going to happen, because there’s not that much I have to say about the book.

I’ve heard about the concept of flow so much that I wanted to read the original book about it. In Flow, Csikszentmihalyi takes a layman’s approach to the topic, talking not in scientific terms but situating the concept of flow within the history of culture. Basically, attention is a type of “psychic energy” and our experience of life is shaped by how we invest our attention. Gaining a flow state helps to improve our quality of life and we should try to achieve flow.

In order to achieve flow, at least one (but more commonly all) of the following conditions must be met:

1. The task is achievable
2. We can concentrate on what we’re doing (no outside distractions or worries)
3. The task has clear goals and immediately feedback
4. There is a sense of control

There are a few other things mentioned but there are experiences rather than conditions. Quite notably, you’ll have to be able to concentrate on what you are doing to achieve flow – while the book gives a few examples of people achieving flow in terrible conditions (like in a POW camp), I would assume that a certain level of financial security is needed for most people to experience flow. Could you experience flow if you were in straightened conditions? Yes, but I wouldn’t judge a person if they couldn’t or tell them that they can/should be achieving flow.

It was pretty interesting to read about all the different fields we could achieve flow in (I assume that’s why they have separate sections) – from work to food to even sex. Csikszentmihalyi gives a lot of examples of how people find meaning in this, and the book even looks into the ethics of flow; while flow can help live a meaningful life, it’s not always good. He brings up the case of Adolf Eichmann, who might have experienced flow while killing thousands of people to show how not every case of flow is morally right.

However, Csikszentmihalyi’s attempt to show how flow can be experienced in a wide variety of fields leads to a feeling of repetition after a while. The experience of flow appears to be the same, even if the subject matter is different.

More concerning, however, is the lack of variety in the examples given. I wasn’t actively keeping count but my impression is that most of the examples are from Western nations. Since Csikszentmihalyi talks about how flow is a universal experience, something that I am willing to accept given that concepts like reciprocal filial piety appear to be a universal constant as well, I would have liked to see more variety in examples of how people experience a flow state, as well as if culture influences how flow is triggered and understood.

Speaking of culture, this is a small point but it bugs me that these lines appear in the chapter on sex:

“The Japanese created extremely sophisticated professionals of love, expecting their geishas to be accomplished musicians, dancers, actresses, as well as appreciative of poetry and art. Chinese and Indian courtesans and Turkish odalisques were equally skilful.”

Basically, I disagree with conflating prostitutes and courtesans, because courtesans didn’t sell their bodies for money. Freewomen, Patriarchal Authority, and the Accusation of Prostitution by Stephanie Lynn Budin does a good job of defining the difference between the two. Geishas are not prostitutes and they don’t have to sleep with every man that wants them – they have the right to choose their lovers. There was definitely a mix-up by Americans between Geishas and prostitutes, and I understand this book was written some time ago, but I really am going to keep banging this drum: freewomen are not prostitutes – they tend to be women in charge of their own bodies and livelihood, and are very often cultural bearers. People pay for their company and their time, not for access to their bodies.

Anyway, going back to the book: If you’re really interested in the idea of flow and you want to go really in-depth into the concept and how and where it can be applied, this may be the book for you. However, I suspect that for most people, the short description of flow that many books have will be sufficient for an understanding of the concept. In other words, this book is optional to one’s understanding of the concept of Flow.