Scientific editor Dmitry Leontiev

Project Manager I. Seryogina

Corrector M. Milovidova

Typesetter E. Sentsova

Cover designer Y. Buga

© Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1990

© Translation, preface. LLC Scientific and Production Company Smysl, 2011

© Edition in Russian, design. LLC "Alpina non-fiction", 2011

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic copy of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and in corporate networks, for private and public use, without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Dedicated to Isabella, Mark and Christopher

He is for real a wise man. Slow, though sometimes resolute. Immersed in himself, although periodically blooming with a radiant smile. Weighing words and avoiding categorical judgments, but speaking and writing surprisingly clearly and transparently. More interested in others than in himself, however loving life in its various manifestations.

Today he is one of the most authoritative and respected psychologists. He is known and appreciated all over the world, and not only by his colleagues. A few years ago, the popular anthology How to Make a Life came out in the United States, offering lessons in wisdom from the lives of prominent thinkers and writers, past and present, starting with Plato and Aristotle. Csikszentmihalyi is among the heroes of this book, positioned between Salinger and Disney. The business community treats him with great attention and respect; his main place of work now is the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont University, California. At the turn of the century, Csikszentmihalyi, together with his colleague Martin Seligman, became the founder positive psychology- a new trend in psychology, which is aimed at studying the patterns of a good, meaningful and dignified life.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was born in 1934 on the shores of the Adriatic, on the territory that then belonged to Italy, and now it is part of Croatia. His father was a Hungarian consul, after the collapse of fascism he became ambassador to Italy, and when the communists who seized power in Hungary in 1948 dismissed him, he decided to stay with his family in Italy, where Mihai spent his childhood and school years. Interested in psychology and unable to find a suitable university in Italy, he flew across the ocean to get psychological education in the USA, and after graduation University of Chicago remained to live and work in this country, where he spent his entire professional career. He is the author of one and a half dozen books, including: “The meaning of things: domestic symbols of our I”, “Creative vision: psychology of aesthetic attitude”, “Personality in evolution”, “Being a teenager”, “Becoming an adult”, “Creativity”, etc.

However, the most main book, which brought him worldwide fame, is precisely the “Flow”. Some time after its release in 1990, it was given brilliant publicity by such impressed readers as US President Bill Clinton, Speaker of Congress Newt Gingrich, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It is included in lists such as "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time". It belongs to the rare category of "long-running" bestsellers. Having gained popularity among the mass audience immediately after its release, it continues to be reprinted almost annually and has already been translated into 30 languages.

This is an amazing book. Before I undertook to edit its translation, I read it at least twice, used it in lectures and publications, and undoubtedly appreciated it, which was facilitated by both personal acquaintance with the author and joint work with him. But only now, slowly and painstakingly going over word by word, I experienced a genuine, incomparable pleasure from the way it was written - there are no gaps between thought and word, each word is fitted to the next, each phrase stands in its place. , and in this text there is not a single slot where a knife blade could be inserted. This is a sign of that rare book, whose words do not play their game, leading a cheerful round dance or, on the contrary, folding into a reinforced concrete structure, but directly and accurately express a clear and well-thought-out picture of the world. Each word is not accidental, it contains the pulse of a living thought, and therefore this whole book is like a living organism: it has structure, order, unpredictability, tension, tone and life.

What is it about? About much. If approached formally - about happiness, about the quality of life, about optimal experiences. The category of experience is really one of the central ones for Csikszentmihalyi (under the influence of the famous American philosopher of the beginning of the last century, John Dewey), and he convincingly shows the emptiness and meaninglessness, on the one hand, of the brilliance of fame and material prosperity, on the other hand - noble slogans and goals, if they do not give rise to a person's feeling of inner uplift, inspiration and fullness of life. Conversely, the presence of such experiences may well make happy man, devoid of many familiar to us wealth and pleasures.

Happiness and pleasure are different things, and in this Csikszentmihalyi repeats the revelations of many prominent philosophers, from Aristotle to Nikolai Berdyaev and Viktor Frankl. But he does not just repeat, but builds a detailed, coherent and experimentally confirmed theory, at the center of which is the idea of ​​"autotelic experiences" or, simply put, flow experiences. This is a state of complete merging with your work, absorption by it, when you do not feel time, yourself, when instead of fatigue there is a constant surge of energy ... Csikszentmihalyi discovered it in his research creative people, but the stream is not the exclusive property of any special people. For three decades now, research and discussion around this phenomenon has continued, new books are being published, but one thing is clear: the state of flow is one of the most beautiful things in our life. And most importantly - unlike other similar states that from time to time fell into the focus of attention of psychologists (for example, peak experiences, happiness, subjective well-being) - the flow does not descend on us as grace, but is generated by our meaningful efforts, it is in our hands. In it, pleasure merges with effort and meaning, giving rise to an energizing active state of joy.

Therefore, the flow is directly related to the characteristics of the personality, the level of its development and maturity. Csikszentmihalyi recalls that when he was a child, he ended up in exile, while in his native Hungary everything was collapsing, one system and way of life was replaced by another. According to him own words, he watched the disintegration of the world in which, at the beginning of his life, he was quite comfortably rooted. And he was surprised how many adults, whom he previously knew as successful and self-confident people, suddenly became helpless and lost their presence of mind, having lost that social support, which they had in the old stable world. Deprived of work, money, status, they literally turned into some kind of empty shells. But there were also people who retained their integrity, purposefulness, despite all the chaos surrounding them, and they in many ways served as an example for others, a support that helped others not to lose hope. And the most interesting thing is that these were not the men and women from whom this could be expected. It was impossible to predict what kind of people in this difficult situation save themselves. They were neither the most respected, nor the most educated, nor the most experienced members of society. Since then, he wondered what are the sources of strength of those people who are stable in this chaos. All my later life he considers the search for an answer to these questions, which he could not find either in too subjective and faith-dependent philosophical and religious books, nor in too simplified and limited in their approach psychological research. These were people who maintained their resilience and dignity in the storms of World War II, who did something impossible, and in this could be found the key to what a person is capable of at his best.

What is it about? About much. If approached formally - about happiness, about the quality of life, about optimal experiences. The category of experience is really one of the central ones for Csikszentmihalyi (under the influence of the famous American philosopher of the beginning of the last century, John Dewey), and he convincingly shows the emptiness and meaninglessness, on the one hand, of the brilliance of fame and material prosperity, on the other hand, noble slogans and goals, if they do not give rise to a feeling of inner uplift, inspiration and fullness of life. And vice versa, the presence of such experiences may well make a person happy, deprived of many material goods and pleasures familiar to us.

Happiness and pleasure are different things, and in this Csikszentmihalyi repeats the revelations of many prominent philosophers, from Aristotle to Nikolai Berdyaev and Viktor Frankl. But he does not just repeat, but builds a detailed, coherent and experimentally confirmed theory, at the center of which is the idea of ​​"autotelic experiences" or, simply put, flow experiences. This is a state of complete merging with your work, absorption by it, when you do not feel time, yourself, when instead of fatigue there is a constant surge of energy ... Csikszentmihalyi discovered it in his studies of creative personalities, but the flow is not the exclusive property of some special people. For three decades now, research and discussion around this phenomenon has continued, new books are being published, but one thing is clear: the state of flow is one of the most beautiful things in our life. And most importantly - unlike other similar states that from time to time fell into the focus of attention of psychologists (for example, peak experiences, happiness, subjective well-being) - the flow does not descend on us as grace, but is generated by our meaningful efforts, it is in our hands. In it, pleasure merges with effort and meaning, giving rise to an energizing active state of joy.

Therefore, the flow is directly related to the characteristics of the personality, the level of its development and maturity. Csikszentmihalyi recalls that when he was a child, he ended up in exile, while in his native Hungary everything was collapsing, one system and way of life was replaced by another. In his own words, he witnessed the disintegration of the world in which he was quite comfortably rooted at the beginning of his life. And he wondered how many adults he knew earlier as successful and self-confident people suddenly became helpless and lost their presence of mind, having lost the social support that they had in the old stable world. Deprived of work, money, status, they literally turned into some kind of empty shells. But there were also people who retained their integrity, purposefulness, despite all the chaos surrounding them, and they in many ways served as an example for others, a support that helped others not to lose hope. And the most interesting thing is that these were not the men and women from whom this could be expected. It was impossible to predict which people would save themselves in this difficult situation. They were neither the most respected, nor the most educated, nor the most experienced members of society. Since then, he wondered what are the sources of strength of those people who are stable in this chaos. He considers his whole subsequent life as a search for an answer to these questions, which he could not find either in too subjective and faith-based philosophical and religious books, or in too simplified and limited in their approach psychological research. These were people who maintained their resilience and dignity in the storms of World War II, who did something impossible, and in this could be found the key to what a person is capable of at his best.

The book "Flow" is a very non-trivial approach to many problems. general psychology, first of all to the problems emotional life human and behavioral regulation. There is no need to retell the content of the book that is in your hands, but I will note the main thing, in my opinion. Csikszentmihalyi, with convincing historical and experimental psychological material in his hands, methodically, step by step, refutes the myths of mass consumer culture and its offshoots in a higher price category - glamor. These myths are known: no need to load, no need to bathe, all the main answers to life tasks simple, to be happy, one must not think about the difficulties and troubles and have more money to deny yourself nothing.

The Flow book is definitely new approach to the problems of human emotions and their influence on behavior. The so-called "joy of the flow" is the highest degree consciousness. This is the gift that the universe rewards us for striving to solve more and more new tasks...

What main feature methods of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi? This is permanent job over themselves, their feelings, experiences. The quality of experiences can be constantly improved by investing a special currency. It's not money or gold, it's emotions and organized efforts to achieve harmony. The author constantly reminds us that happiness is not a coincidence of random circumstances. This is, above all, art, science and constant work. Any person can become happy, but the key to achieving happiness lies in the ability to control your feelings, desires, impressions, behavior.

In the book, Csikszentmihalyi cites all sorts of creative personalities as an example. He reveals a pattern between the feeling of happiness, and the constant process of insight experienced by artists. This can be considered a flow state. But the stream cannot be considered the property of a separate caste of people. The author makes it clear, building a whole theory, that there is a flow in the idea of ​​everything. And when a person completely “merges” with his business (work, hobby, recreation, sports), he begins to come to a state of flow. Stops hearing the world, does not feel tired, receives an additional charge of pure energy.

The book will be extremely interesting to those who seek to find harmony with themselves. Those who want to live this life happily and healthy. Those who are interested in psychology, expansion of consciousness, self-control and other psychological practices. The book can be of interest to absolutely any category of readers.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Flow. Psychology optimal experience

Translation from English by Elena Perova

Scientific editing and foreword by Dmitry Leontiev

Moscow 2011

Dedicated to Isabella, Mark and Christopher

How to forge happiness: the secrets of craftsmanship (foreword by the editor of the Russian edition)

He is truly a wise man. Slow, though sometimes resolute. Immersed in himself, although periodically blooming with a radiant smile. Weighing words and avoiding categorical judgments, but speaking and writing surprisingly clearly and transparently. More interested in others than in himself, but loving life in its most diverse manifestations.

Today he is one of the most authoritative and respected psychologists. He is known and appreciated all over the world, and not only by his colleagues. A few years ago, the popular anthology How to Make a Life came out in the United States, offering lessons in wisdom from the lives of prominent thinkers and writers, past and present, starting with Plato and Aristotle. Csikszentmihalyi is among the heroes of this book, positioned between Salinger and Disney. the business community treats him with great attention and respect; his main place of work now is the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont University, California. At the turn of the century, Csikszentmihalyi, together with his colleague Martin Seligman, became the founder of positive psychology - a new trend in psychology, which is aimed at studying the laws of a good, meaningful and dignified life.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was born in 1934 on the shores of the Adriatic, on the territory that then belonged to Italy, and now it is part of Croatia. His father was a Hungarian consul, after the collapse of fascism he became ambassador to Italy, and when the communists who seized power in Hungary in 1948 dismissed him, he decided to stay with his family in Italy, where Mihai spent his childhood and school years. Having become interested in psychology and not finding a suitable university in Italy, he flew across the ocean to get a psychological education in the United States, and after graduating from the University of Chicago, he remained to live and work in this country, where he spent his entire professional career. He is the author of one and a half dozen books, including: “The Meaning of Things: Home Symbols of Our Self”, “Creative Vision: The Psychology of Aesthetic Attitude”, “Personality in Evolution”, “Being a Teenager”, “Becoming an Adult”, “Creativity”, etc. .

However, the most important book that brought him worldwide fame is precisely the “Stream”. Some time after its release in 1990, it was given brilliant publicity by such impressed readers as US President Bill Clinton, Speaker of Congress Newt Gingrich, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. It is included in lists such as "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time". It belongs to the rare category of "long-running" bestsellers. Having gained popularity among the mass audience immediately after its release, it continues to be reprinted almost annually and has already been translated into 30 languages.

This is an amazing book. Before I undertook to edit its translation, I read it at least twice, used it in lectures and publications, and certainly appreciated it, which was facilitated by both personal acquaintance with the author and joint work with him. But only now, slowly and painstakingly going over word by word, I experienced a genuine, incomparable pleasure from the way it was written - there are no gaps between thought and word, each word is fitted to the next, each phrase stands in its place , and in this text there is not a single slit where a knife blade could be inserted. This is a sign of that rare book, the words of which do not play their game, leading a cheerful round dance or, on the contrary, folding into a reinforced concrete structure, but directly and accurately express a clear and well-thought-out picture of the world. Each word is not accidental, it contains the pulse of a living thought, and therefore this whole book is like a living organism: it has structure, order, unpredictability, tension, tone and life.

What is it about? About much. If approached formally - about happiness, about the quality of life, about optimal experiences. The category of experience is really one of the central ones for Csikszentmihalyi (under the influence of the famous American philosopher of the beginning of the last century, John Dewey), and he convincingly shows the emptiness and meaninglessness, on the one hand, of the brilliance of fame and material prosperity, on the other hand, noble slogans and goals, if they do not generate in a person a feeling of inner uplift, inspiration and fullness of life. And vice versa, the presence of such experiences may well make a person happy, deprived of many material goods and pleasures familiar to us.

To the question "Are you happy?" most people are unlikely to give a definitive answer. For each person, the concept of happiness includes a number of certain factors. This allows us to say that the state of well-being is subjective. But is there a happiness that will have the characteristics of inherence and transcendence? Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi answers this question.

The theory of flow experience and modern psychological knowledge

Most psychologists, in developing their theories, relied on material obtained from unhealthy neurotic patients. For example, such is the well-known psychoanalysis of Freud.

The work created by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - “Flow. Psychology of optimal experience "- reflects one of the most authoritative concepts in modern psychological science. Csikszentmihalyi, like Maslow, is a scientist who has put healthy person. Flow theory finds applied application in many areas. This is clinical psychotherapy, improving efficiency in educational processes, corrective work with juvenile delinquents.

What is missed by a reasonable person?

In our time, many, not without reason, predict the end European civilization. On the other hand, we often forget the extent of the progress we have made. Csikszentmihalyi emphasizes: our capabilities are incommensurably greater than those that people had, for example, in the times ancient rome. What could not be achieved by man? The answer is simple: he failed to become happy. And moreover, in this respect not even any progress.

Ruthless statistics show that in civilized countries, since the nineteenth century, there has been a gradual increase in the number of suicides.

The state of well-being and modern culture

In his book, the scientist comes to the conclusion that happiness is a subjective concept. Satisfying one need, a person inevitably faces the fact that new ones come in their place. Well-being always slips out of your hands. Each culture sought to solve this problem in its own way. For example, with the help of faith in God. But how many people do we know she made happy? When beliefs are defeated, their place is taken by such coveted goods: material wealth, power, sex. But they do not bring peace.

So, we have learned to satisfy our physical needs, but not mental ones. Obviously, happiness is largely determined precisely by the conditions that life presents us with. A person without a roof over his head is unlikely to feel satisfied. Nor will they experience much enthusiasm for people living in an unstable political environment. And, of course, those who have problems in family life cannot be fully happy.

What is a flow state and its features

But after all, in this way, people a priori cannot find peace? Each god gives his own cross, most often, seemingly unbearable.

Csikszentmihalyi was able to answer this question. What a person needs to catch the bird of subjective happiness is not at all a greenhouse existence with total absence problems. And not even a state of relaxation. What can we say, if 1.4% of those who commit suicide do it because of ... satiety with life.

No. Happiness brings something completely different; the scientist gives this state the name "flow". The book (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi claims to be the result of twenty-five years of research) is about how anyone can achieve it. Paradoxically, it is even akin to pain. It is the pursuit of a goal.

Should we feel comfortable achieving it? And the answer to this question is also negative. It is unlikely that a runner, approaching the finish line with the last of his strength, feels like in a home chair.

A state of control and power over events own life and describes Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The flow is the point at which a person transcends his powers; the point where true happiness can be found.

How the human mind works

The truth of our being is the fact that we will never achieve complete security and the fulfillment of all desires, says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow differs from a state of temporal satisfaction in that the latter is conditioned external factors. For some, obstacles are something that can completely destroy them. For others, it is a stimulus that provokes maximum concentration and perception control.

Consciousness behaves selectively in relation to the whole variety of surrounding information. It "snatches" out of it those pieces that correspond to its internal content. Concentration on the negative only leads to its growth. As a result, a person comes into a state of internal disorder or entropy, which is the opposite of happiness.

How to enter the flow state?

The condition for creating flow is immersion in activity, states Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. In search of flow, a person needs to be able to identify for himself those activities that both correspond to his abilities and represent a challenge. The types of such activities are innumerable. It can be anything: competing in a variety of sports, honing skills in fine arts, work in the field of entrepreneurship, says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The psychology of flow has important aspect: the state of true happiness is impossible without strenuous effort.

Although it may occur spontaneously, in most cases it is necessary to make an effort, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi warns us. The current is not kind to those who are lazy.

So the satisfaction of the urgent human needs- an important component of life, but inner well-being is in a completely different area. “Flow” is a book (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi emphasizes its universality) that can teach everyone to be happy: from a cleaning lady to shareholders of multinational companies.