I was curious about “flow”
a state that I sometimes get into
especially when developing apps
Disappointingly
it was too draggy
Only the first few chapters
were meaningful
Summary
Our consciousness is limited
so we have to focus on what we do
Attention is like energy
without it, no work can be done
think of it as psychic energy
We create ourselves by how we invest this psychic engergy
Learn to control your attention
on what to focus
on what to block
Conditions of flow:
Challenging activity that requires skills
Clear goals and Feedback
2nd Reading
I read the book for the 2nd time, in 2018 July.
The book is written in an academic style, which makes me drowsy, especially the later chapters. And so I was selective in what to read, and skipping quite a lot of text.
Social Control
The essence of our social system is to punish and reward.
Punish comes in the form of pain or isolation, which physically we are fearful of.
Cicero wrote: to be completely free one must become a slave to a set of laws (or faith).
Contradictory, but it makes sense. When you obey the laws, a great deal of energy gets freed up for living, instead of being spent on wondering about how to live.
Your Consciousness & Self Control
To topic of “self” is always difficult. Are you in control, or not?
If you have love at first sight, are you in control? You might think that is happening to only your “self”. But what if your genes are programmed to do that?
Sometimes, you need to restrain what you are programmed to behave, and direct and focus your energy.
Friends
It is in the company of friends that you can clearly experience freedom of the self and learn who we really are.
We choose friends, usually based on common goals and interests.
We need not change ourselves to be with friends; they reinforce our sense of self.
Politics
Politics is beyond individual, friends, and families.
It is trying to find common goals for unrelated individuals.
A complex activity, for greater good.
As always, you must be able to take care of yourself and your family first, before taking care of the wider community.