Flow
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The Psychology Of Optimal Experience
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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.
 Write a Review of Flow
  
LOLJPB, February 17, 2006
Reviewer: LOLJPB
General Content: Flow (the book) is a wonderfully detailed treatise on optimal human performance and experience. I’ve read a good chunk of it and found it to be a very interesting and pragmatic concept. However, Flow (the audiobook) is an extremely abridged very of the book that I didn’t think adequately captured the ideas in the book. If you’re looking for a very high level overview of what Flow is then you’ll probably like this audiobook. If you’re looking for me you would be well-advised to read the book instead.
Throughout the book, different voices tell stories of being in flow states. In addition, anecdotes are offered to provide examples of the benefits of being in flow (as well as the additional stress and hardship associated with not consistently finding flow). While the audiobook did an adequate job describing flow, it didn’t seem to do a good enough job of telling how to get into the flow state. I haven’t read the entire book but I believe the book does a better job than this abridged version.
On the whole, I wasn’t very impressed with this version. I think this is a case in which the book is a better option. I’m pretty sure that an unabridged copy of Flow doesn’t exist so until it does, do the reading thing instead.
Audio-Specific Content: I listened to the (very) abridged version of this title on two cassettes (less than two hours). As mentioned above, a significant amount of material seemed to have been left off of the abridgement. This is a shame as Flow is such a tremendous book. This title was read by the author who, while he doesn’t speak perfect English, does add an aura of authority to the reading. An added bonus is that you get to here the individual doing the introduction pronounce his name a couple of times (something I’ve never been able to do!).
- Published:
2002
- LearnOutLoud.com Product ID:
F003286
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Volumes |
ISBN |
ISBN-13 |
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Audio CD |
2 Discs |
0743525043 |
9780743525046 |
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Cassette |
2 Tapes |
0671894803 |
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Self Development
Mind & Body
Self Development
Creativity
Social Sciences
Psychology
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