Modern Concept of "Flow" has Its Roots in Taoism

As reported in the Good News Gazette, veteran reporter Cheryl Hall of The Dallas Morning News had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, best known for his development of the concept known as "Flow," which has gained wide application in the business world.

He was in Dallas to present a lecture at the University of Texas campus there.

His book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, was first published in 1990 and is still in print. Explains Csikszentmihalyi, "Flow is what people feel when they get so involved in something that they forget time. They don't notice how they feel – hungry, sleepy, whatever."

In the world of academic psychology, Csikszentmihalyi has a perfect pedigree. Carl Jung, famous in his own right, was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology. And it was a lecture by Carl Jung in Switzerland when Csikszentmihalyi was a teen that sparked his interest in the field.

The idea that would become "Flow" came to him while studying the work of artists. He noticed that they tended to fully immerse themselves in what they were doing. But when they were done, they would put it aside and begin working on the next project, seldom to revisit their prior creations.

"That was so against what psychology was teaching, which was you are motivated by rewards that you can consume or use," Csikszentmihalyi says.

Think GM assembly line worker motivated solely by high wages.

Not so, says Csikszentmihalyi. Workers are far more motivated by a matching of personal skill with the challenge that the work provides.

There is a continuity here that goes back far beyond Freud and Jung. Jung's views, particularly later in life, were informed greatly by mysticism, including Taoism. The Tao te Ching says,

"If you want to accord with the Tao,

just do you job, then let go."

This is precisely the basis for Csikszentmihalyi's Flow.