Stealing Fire
by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal
March 2017, Coffee Shop in Chiang Mai
Flow
Do you know the feeling of getting lost in doing something you love? This feeling is associated with being fully immersed in something, with energized focus and full involvement. It leads to joy, fulfillment, and spectacular progress in the task you are performing. When you're deeply engaged in activities you enjoy, you experience a sense of flow, which is crucial for both personal happiness and productivity.
The Quest for Ecstasis
In pursuit of changing their mental and emotional states, people turn to various substances such as caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. Beyond substances, there are therapeutic and personal development programs designed to lift individuals out of their usual mindset and foster a sense of happiness.
High Flow-Pursuits
Engaging in high flow-pursuits like action sports and video games offers intrinsic rewards. These activities help participants achieve a state of flow where they experience selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, and richness—collectively known as STER. These elements contribute to stepping out of one’s self-awareness, which is often the source of personal suffering such as depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and other negative emotions.
Transient Hypofrontality: Silencing the Inner Critic
The prefrontal cortex, responsible for complex functions like planning and reasoning, also contributes to self-awareness. However, this self-awareness can be a double-edged sword. Achieving transient hypofrontality, where the prefrontal cortex temporarily goes offline, helps silence the inner critic. This paradox of selflessness suggests that by periodically losing our minds, we stand a better chance of finding ourselves.
Timelessness and Effortlessness
Creating pauses in our hectic lives allows us to experience timelessness, contributing to a state of flow. This effortlessness, combined with the richness of immersive experiences, raises a question: While STER makes us feel better, can it also help us think better? Rather than training a specific skill, fostering a state of mind conducive to creativity might be more beneficial.
Harnessing the Subconscious
Addressing complex problems—ranging from global issues like war and poverty to everyday concerns like traffic and trends—requires letting the subconscious mind do the work. Creativity is less a skill and more a state of mind. Practical steps to cultivate this state include writing down the three most important tasks for the next day, allowing the subconscious to tackle these overnight. Other techniques include staying hydrated, taking cold showers, and using auditory aids like binaural beats to maintain focus. Strategies like the Pomodoro technique and engaging in physical activity can also enhance mental clarity and focus.
Flow Enhancements and Cultural Phenomena
Innovative tools and cultural phenomena like the God Helmet, Flow Dojo, and events such as Burning Man explore the boundaries of inducing flow and ecstasis. Figures like Mikey Siegel, Tony Andrews, and Danger Ranger are pivotal in these explorations, promoting environments like Fly Ranch that support sustained engagement in flow-inducing activities.
In conclusion, flow is not just about peak experiences or productivity; it's a comprehensive approach to living that embraces joy, creativity, and a deeper connection to oneself and the world.