In the AI era, is it the key to taking control of oneself?

Editor's Note:

In 1990, when Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote his groundbreaking book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, few could have foreseen that more than 30 years later, there would be so many distractions hindering us from achieving a state of flow.

When we are in a state of flow, we temporarily forget any potential negative thoughts and distractions and fully immerse ourselves in the flow task. Even if the task requires a significant amount of mental and physical effort, it feels effortless, as if we become one with the activity. After completing the flow task, we experience a great sense of control and achievement.

What a wonderful experience it is. However, the way the modern world operates keeps us away from flow. Our attention is being fragmented by the flood of information from digital media. The operating logic of modern society doesn't seem to lead us closer to happiness. Instead, it disrupts the order of our minds, creates mental entropy, and makes us feel the fragility, anxiety, and sudden changes of the era. Now, more than ever, we need flow.

Thirty years have passed since Mihaly wrote Flow. In Flow 2.0, Stuart I. Donaldson and Matthew Dubin explore how to achieve a 2.0 version of flow in this complex world characterized by a fast - paced, multitasking work environment and the integration of virtual and real worlds. Stuart I. Donaldson is an outstanding scholar in the field of contemporary positive psychology. He co - founded the Western Positive Psychology Association with Mihaly. In the past two decades, he has closely collaborated with Mihaly to promote the new science and practice of positive psychology. Matthew Dubin is a student of Mihaly and has been focusing on the research and practice of positive psychology and mental health education for many years.

In the digital age and even the era of artificial intelligence, how can we break free from the flood of information, seize flow moments, restore the order of our minds, and take control of our lives? Perhaps Flow 2.0 can provide some answers.

In today's era, human attention and consciousness have largely shifted from the physical world to the digital world, which has profoundly changed many aspects of our lives, including how we think, act, communicate, work, and entertain.

Looking back a few decades ago, for example, in the 1980s, we had only one or two ways to access news, and we mainly interacted with people around us, making only one or two phone calls when we had time. At that time, our brains had much more relaxation time because there were far fewer available sources of stimulation.

Now, let's take a look at a typical day in the digital society. Many people check their phones immediately after waking up, such as checking work emails, messages from friends, and notifications from various social media platforms. If there is nothing else to do, we can be addicted to our phones all day. We log in to a social media platform and mindlessly scroll through hundreds of posts, and before we know it, we go from being enthusiastic to feeling numb and bored.

From the perspective of the concept of flow, in the digital age, it seems that we can easily get addicted to something at any time, more easily than ever before. However, addiction is not the same as flow. Flow is a meaningful overall experience that requires you to use your skills to meet a certain challenge.

Most of the activities we participated in before had a natural ending point. For example, when doing a jigsaw puzzle, the puzzle is completed when there are no more pieces to put together; when baking, the cookies are done when they come out of the oven. But the digital universe is an endless playground, and information and content are constantly expanding like the physical universe. If we want to maintain a healthy relationship with the digital world, we need to maintain self - discipline and self - awareness.

Flow and Artificial Intelligence

So far, our experiences in the physical world and the digital world are still clearly distinguishable. However, with the exponential progress of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality technologies, the nature of human experience may change fundamentally, and the physical and digital worlds will merge into a brand - new world. We have only scratched the surface of the potential of these technologies. The interaction between humans and artificial intelligence will also profoundly determine what kind of flow experiences we will have in the near future.

Ideally, artificial intelligence will free up our time, allowing us to engage in more complex work, which makes it more likely for us to find flow and gain more creativity and vitality. For example, artificial intelligence can screen thousands of resumes, giving recruiters more time to focus on more detailed work and find the best candidate for a position.

However, a possible short - term problem is that people lack a sense of control when using artificial intelligence to perform tasks. Since a sense of control is a core feature of flow, this may hinder the occurrence of flow. For example, when we make cookies according to a recipe, we have full control over how much flour, sugar, and butter to mix together. When we paint, we can also precisely control the color and direction of each brushstroke. However, when using artificial intelligence tools, we gradually give up control of the task, allowing them to perform the task more efficiently and effectively, which is also their charm.

It is foreseeable that with the continuous progress of technology year after year, we will naturally give up more control over work tasks and rely on the support of artificial intelligence. If we allow artificial intelligence to manage every aspect of our lives, in extreme cases, we will lose control of our daily lives and even our consciousness. For example, artificial intelligence has the ability to create digital twins, which are "digital avatars of something that exists in physical reality."

In the future world, everyone will have their own digital twin, which will think, generate ideas, ask questions, and make decisions on our behalf. This will fundamentally change human experience and greatly weaken our ability to achieve flow in our minds. If these tools are not properly managed, we may be weakened or even completely abandon rich human experiences - those great ideas that come from racking our brains, and the sense of connection and wisdom gained from learning from others. Instead, we may choose tools that we think can do things for us. Artificial intelligence can provide a destination, but the meaning of life and flow lies in experiencing the chaotic and complex journey.

Finding Balance in the Interaction between the Digital and Physical Worlds

In February 2024, Derek Thompson wrote an article for The Atlantic titled "Why Are Americans Suddenly Stopping In - Person Socializing?" In the article, he shared a shocking statistic from the American Time Use Survey: from 2003 to 2022, face - to - face social activities among American adults decreased by 30%, and the decline was even greater among teenagers (reaching 50%). Of course, the impact of the COVID - 19 pandemic cannot be ignored, but the data also shows that this trend has existed for a long time and is closely related to the rise of the Internet and the popularity of electronic devices. Especially among teenagers, online social interactions have largely replaced face - to - face communication.

Then there is a famous Harvard University study that has been tracking the lives of 724 men for 75 years. It found that the most crucial factor for lasting happiness is high - quality relationships. Dr. Robert Waldinger, the director of the research project and a psychiatrist, said, "From the tens of thousands of pages of data in this study, we can draw a conclusion: good relationships make us happier and healthier."

Mihaly's research also found that "people feel happier, more conscious, and more cheerful when others are present than when they are alone. This is true whether they are working on an assembly line or watching TV at home."

From the perspective of flow, the question is: "If we spend more time alone in the digital world, how can we establish, cultivate, and maintain high - quality social relationships?"

The most obvious answer may be to consciously set aside time for socializing in the real world, but it's not that simple. With the continuous development of the metaverse, the digital world will only become more convenient and addictive.

The Future of Flow: Micro - Flow vs. Macro - Flow

In the initial flow research in the 1970s, the flow activities reported by the research participants were all closely related to the physical world. In today's era, we mainly participate in activities, obtain information, and engage in social interactions through two - dimensional screens. Today, the endless flood of external stimuli has almost completely eliminated our experience of solitary contemplation, leading to mental entropy, as Mihaly said:

Contrary to what we might think, the normal state of the mind is chaos. Without training and without an object of attention in the external world, it is difficult for an ordinary person to concentrate for even a few minutes... The mind is naturally hungry for information, and people are always ready to fill it with any available information to distract themselves from negative thoughts and feelings.

Our phones provide us with a constant stream of information 24 hours a day. They monopolize our attention, stimulate our material desires, and leave us no time to pay attention to our inner thoughts and feelings. This digital stimulation also provides instant gratification, leading to potential addictive behavior. The external stimuli are so overwhelming that we hardly ever feel bored.

In Flow 2.0, the authors call the state of freely exploring and browsing in the digital realm "micro - flow." Micro - flow has some characteristics of flow, but the tasks are less complex. In contrast, the "macro - flow" experience is a more complex and comprehensive experience that has all the characteristics of flow and brings self - breakthrough.

Playing an online game while waiting in line at Starbucks can help us achieve micro - flow immediately. However, since micro - flow is so easy to obtain, it may inhibit our initiative to pursue more macro - flow experiences. To use a food analogy, it is much easier to eat fast food than to prepare a meal with protein, complex carbohydrates, and vegetables.

Modern society is more conducive to our pursuit of micro - flow, but it inadvertently limits our macro - flow experiences. In a complex macro - flow experience, we are fully immersed in the flow task and cannot be on standby at any time. This means that we won't immediately reply to text messages or emails, nor will we check notifications on our electronic devices as soon as they arrive. This may make our family, friends, and colleagues unhappy, making them think we are unreliable and uncommunicative. However, we need to spend time experiencing comprehensive macro - flow instead of wasting our lives in short - lived micro - flow.

What are the differences between macro - flow and micro - flow? What conditions are needed to trigger macro - flow moments?

1. Clear Goals

To enter the state of macro - flow, it is crucial that we clearly know what we are trying to achieve. This is one of the differences between macro - flow and micro - flow. In micro - flow moments, we don't have clear goals. We just mindlessly browse and scroll under the stimulation of the information flood.

One of the reasons why sports are a classic example of flow activities is that the goals of the game are clear: winning the game, making a basket, completing a pass, etc. The same is true for baking: as long as you follow the recipe, you know when you're done.

A clear long - term goal provides a way for a person to experience flow sustainably. For example, a college freshman who dreams of becoming a doctor knows what required courses to complete in college, which standardized tests to pass, and then submit an application to medical school. After entering medical school and completing residency training, he finally realizes his dream. Guided by the ultimate goal of becoming a doctor, every necessary task that contributes to achieving this goal may become a source of his flow.

Finding flow at work can be challenging because often the goals are not clear enough. For example, we may know the goals of the organization, but we don't know how our role fits into them. To experience flow in our careers, both short - term and long - term goals need to be clear. Ideally, these goals should meet our personal needs and also align with the overall interests of the organization.

However, if the goal is trivial, achieving it won't make us happy and may not bring flow. As Mihaly said, "A climber needs to strive to reach the summit to achieve their goal. If my goal is to just sit on the living - room sofa and stay alive, I'll know I've achieved it over time, but this goal won't really make me happy. In contrast, a climber who has struggled to reach the top of the cliff will be overjoyed when they learn of their success."

Your goal must have some intrinsic meaning, be challenging, and bring you joy so that you can achieve flow in the process of pursuing it.

2. Immediate Feedback

After setting clear goals, we also need immediate feedback to determine whether we are moving towards our goals. However, the feedback we need to achieve flow is different from the feedback we usually give or receive at work, which usually comes from our supervisors.

The feedback in a flow experience comes from the flow activity itself and occurs immediately. Let's take a guitarist as an example. A guitarist experiences flow while playing because each note provides feedback: as soon as he hears the note, he knows whether he played it right or wrong and whether he is getting closer to the goal of playing the song. Immediate feedback allows people to focus on the task at hand while pursuing the goal, blocking out other distractions, which makes flow more likely to occur.

Mihaly once said: A tennis player always knows what to do next: hit the ball into the opponent's court. Every time he hits the ball, he knows whether he did well. A chess player's goal is also clear: checkmate the opponent before they do. With every move, he can calculate whether he is getting closer to the goal. A person climbing a vertical cliff has a very simple goal: reach the top without falling. As hours pass, he receives information every second to confirm that he is approaching the basic goal.

However, some of our work tasks do not provide the immediate feedback we hope for. Suppose a salesperson is preparing a PPT presentation to win a potential client, but he has never done such a presentation independently. In the process of preparing the presentation, he may feel confused and unclear about whether his progress is effective, which will lead to confusion, frustration, and ultimately disappointment. Therefore, managers have a crucial impact on employees' work experience: they need to provide employees with enough support and feedback, empower employees to gradually take on tasks independently, and have a clear vision of the final outcome.

It can be said that micro - flow takes up so much of our time because this digital stimulation can provide immediate feedback and instant gratification.

3. Balance between Challenge and Skill

To be in a state of flow, our skill level must match the challenges required by the activity. If our skill level is too high and any action opportunity in the activity is too easy, it is likely to lead to boredom. For example, in a work environment, if a skilled and capable graphic designer is assigned to make copies all afternoon, he is likely to feel bored. If Michael Jordan at his peak (or even now) plays one - on - one basketball with an ordinary person, the lack of challenge from the ordinary person's level may make him extremely bored.

However, if the challenge exceeds our skill level, it is likely to be a very anxiety - inducing experience. This is how an ordinary person feels when playing one - on - one basketball with Jordan. Another example is that if an employee with no public - speaking experience is asked to give a speech in front of the whole company without prior rehearsal, it is also likely to be an extremely anxiety - inducing experience.

This is also the difference between micro - flow and macro - flow. The tasks in micro - flow are of low complexity, far from our existing skill level. Even if we complete them, we won't have a great sense of achievement. In contrast, the task complexity in macro - flow is comparable to our skill level, and it is a healthy state of flow that can bring self - breakthrough.

Of course, as we engage in a flow task, our skills will inevitably improve, which will prompt us to seek increasingly complex challenges to continue experiencing flow in the activity. It is in our nature to keep trying and improving our skills to meet challenges so that we can reach our peak potential.

By meeting these three conditions - clear goals, immediate feedback, and a balance between challenge and skill - we are highly likely to enter the state of macro - flow. However, in this era of intense competition for attention, we have to admit that the 24 - hour continuous stream of information always tries to monopolize our attention and stimulate us to enter the state of micro - flow. How can we break free from this cycle?

In Flow 2.0, the authors advocate that we discover the boring moments in life and embrace them.

The authors say that we need to create some quiet moments to let our minds wander because only in these moments will our brains start to look forward to the future and help us set future personal goals. Boredom gives us time to evaluate our current situation and think more deeply about the changes we may want to make, thereby enhancing our overall life experience. In this process, we may realize that our work lacks challenge or that we haven't fully cultivated friendships with the people we care about.

However, this doesn't mean that we have to deliberately seek boring experiences. Instead, it reminds us to embrace the boring moments in life and not always completely avoid boredom. For example, when we are waiting in line at a coffee shop, waiting to cross the road at a crosswalk, or waiting for someone, we don't have to always stare at our phones. There are many such moments in daily life. We need to have strong self - discipline to avoid instinctively taking out our phones to distract ourselves when these moments occur.

Neil Gaiman, a well - known British novelist, once gave this advice to aspiring writers:

In