We consider consciousness this week in our re-read of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow. Consciousness is a process of interpreting and processing thoughts and feelings. The author defines consciousness as a biological process rather than something metaphysical. It is shaped by the information we accept and then assemble into an order that constitutes our reality. The chapter begins with a bit of history. In some cultures in the past, people weren’t judged to be human unless they could master their thoughts and feelings. Mastery is the outcome of a process to order what we see, hear, and feel. Current culture is less impressed with people who attempt to master their thoughts and feelings. People who develop control of thoughts and feelings are viewed as “ridiculous, uptight, or not quite with it.”
Even though consciousness is a biological process, consciousness can be overridden, which suggests that an individual has control – we can craft an “independent course of action.” If we accept that consciousness corresponds to subjectively experienced reality, control centers on what we allow into our consciousness. Things we are unaware of, directly or indirectly, aren’t part of our reality. As we all know the world is full of demands on our attention. There is so much information flowing around us that every person needs an approach to decide what to pay attention to. Attention is a limiting filtering mechanism that will enable us to craft our consciousness – our reality. The author states, “Because there is a limit to what we can assemble at one time and in our entire lifetime what we decide to allow into our consciousness, then becomes extremely important.” The book uses an example of driving on a highway and trying to remember the cars that you interacted with. You pay attention to the important ones – the one weaving in and out of traffic or the Lamborghini right in front of you – the other several hundred cars leave no lasting impression.
When the energy needed for attention is freely and intentionally invested (remember the definition of happiness from Chapter 1) we have the building blocks for flow. “Flow is important both because it makes the present more enjoyable, and because it builds the self-confidence that allows us to develop skills and make significant contributions to humankind.”
A final quote from Chapter 2 suggests a link to our last re-read. “Some people learn to use this priceless resource (attention) efficiently, while others waste it.“ Learning to use attention wisely is something Deep Work (our last re-read) provides ideas to address.
Buy a copy and read along – https://amzn.to/4b5kPmb
Week 1: Preface and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3WLjFHU
Week 2: Happiness – https://bit.ly/4dUSpNg
