Episode 239: Lose Yourself

David and Tamler lose themselves in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's (pr. 'chick sent me high') classic paper on the concept of flow. We talk about the features of flow activities – loss of ego, the merging of your awareness with the activity, and autotelic (not what you think) enjoyment. What makes flow activities so rewarding? Do you need to develop skills over many years to experience them? Do easy and natural social interactions count as flow? Plus as men of pure virtue, we call an audible and choose not to make fun of a recent paper (with a student as lead author). Instead we pilot a not fully formed idea: "Substack Starters." Now that the economy is tanking, do we have any heterodox beliefs that might lead to profitable Substacks? Sponsored By: BetterHelp: You deserve to be happy. BetterHelp online counseling is there for you. Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment. Our listeners get 10% off the first month by visiting BetterHelp.com/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Wren.co: Wren is for anyone who wants to tackle the climate crisis but isn't sure where to start. It's an approachable on-ramp to action: First you understand your own impact, and how that fits into the world. Then we help you reduce and offset your footprint while pushing the systems around you to change. Start making a change today--visit wren.co/vbw. Promo Code: VBW Support Very Bad Wizards Links: Flow (psychology) - Wikipedia Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Wikipedia Play and Intrinsic Rewards (1975) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi