In reference to Jemima Kelly’s column “In praise of the bearable lightness of boredom” (Opinion, August 11), the opposite of boredom is that state of full absorption in a task that the late Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, described as a state of flow. The person is engaged in something challenging enough to consume their attention but not so challenging as to overwhelm them.
It is a paradox. They know they are making the effort required but the activity feels effortless, as if it is unfolding of its own accord and they are riding it like a wave. The person is deeply involved, but not frustrated; energised, but not spent.
Social media is no substitute. Just another form of channel surfing in front of a TV set. It is seductive because it is easy but in the end it cannot satisfy.
Humans are designed to be craftsmen, not onlookers. And so, Lucy Kellaway (“The anxiety exams”, The Weekend Essay, FT Weekend, August 6) is right to encourage her students to stick with honing their skills at the craft that is their schoolwork, both as a mental health measure and so that they keep their future options open.
At the same time, she can remind them that their exams are what they do, not who they are. Exams measure skill, not worth.
Margaret McGirr
Greenwich, CT, US
"flow" - Google News
August 15, 2022 at 09:58AM
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Letter: Recalling the psychologist who invented flow theory - Financial Times
"flow" - Google News
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