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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

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Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention Paperback – International Edition, May 9, 1997

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Author)

4.4 656 ratings

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Creativity is about capturing those moments that make life worth living. The author's objective is to offer an understanding of what leads to these moments, be it the excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab, so that knowledge can be used to enrich people's lives. Drawing on 100 interviews with exceptional people, from biologists and physicists to politicians and business leaders, poets and artists, as well as his 30 years of research on the subject, Csikszentmihalyi uses his famous theory to explore the creative process. He discusses such ideas as why creative individuals are often seen as selfish and arrogant, and why the tortured genius is largely a myth. Most important, he clearly explains why creativity needs to be cultivated and is necessary for the future of our country, if not the world.

Print length

464 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper Perennial
Publication date

May 9, 1997
Dimensions

5.31 x 1.05 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0060928204
ISBN-13

978-0060928209
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Although the benefits of this study to scholars are obvious, this thought-provoking mixture of scholarly and colloquial will enlighten inquisitive general readers, too.” (Library Journal (starred review))

“Accessible and enjoyable reading.” (Washington Times)

About the Author

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a professor at Claremont Graduate University and former chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. His previous books include The Evolving Self and the national bestseller Flow.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Translation edition (May 9, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060928204
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060928209
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 1.05 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,237,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,535 in Popular Psychology Creativity & Genius
- #6,675 in Creativity (Books)
- #10,418 in Medical General Psychology

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4.4 656 ratings

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pennyws

interesting analysis of what 'being creative' really means

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2013

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This easy-to-read absorbing book is based on lengthy interviews with 91 creative individuals ranging from Nobel prize winners to artists to CEOs. Csikszentmihalyi starts by debunking the myth of 'the lone genius having a brilliant idea as if by magic' and defines three necessary ingredients for creativity ('with a capital "C"') - domain, field, and individual. Creativity must take place within a recognised domain (such as physics, painting and so forth); be recognised by experts in that domain (the field, although this may not happen in the individual's lifetime, eg, Van Gogh); and of course come from an individual, although he also adds the painstaking work that precedes and insight, the reality that all creativity builds on what has gone before, and the social elements of the creative process.

The book also offers supporting evidence from the lives of the 91 interviewed, which also provides interesting insights into their lives. In many ways, this book is a biography of the creative individual.

Also contains a chapter with quite practical guidance on how to live more creatively. Prescient advice for a book published in 1996 given the increasing profile creativity is getting in business and public life.

HIghly recommended, one of the most interesting learning experiences i have had in a long while!

4 people found this helpful

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Brian Johnson | Heroic

I absolutely loved this book.

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2016

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“This book is about creativity, based on histories of contemporary people who know about it firsthand. It starts with a description of what creativity is, it reviews the way creative people work and live, and it ends with ideas about how to make your life more like that of the creative exemplars I have studied. There are no simple solutions in these pages and a few unfamiliar ideas. The real story of creativity is more difficult and strange than many overly optimistic accounts have claimed. For one thing, as I will try to show, an idea or product that deserves the label ‘creative’ arises from the synergy of many sources and not only from the mind of a single person. It is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment than by trying to make people think more creatively. And a genuinely creative accomplishment is almost never the result of a sudden insight, a lightbulb flashing on in the dark, but comes after years of hard work.”

~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi from Creativity

Creativity with a capital C—the type of Creativity that changes the world.

How can we go about cultivating it in our lives? That’s what this book is all about.

Our guide is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi—one of the founders of the positive psychology movement. Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced “cheeks sent me high”) is a professor at Claremont Graduate University and the former Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago who wrote the classic book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience .

This book features the wisdom gained from over three decades of research along with over one hundred interviews with extraordinary people—from scientists and business leaders to artists and poets.

Warning: Although deeply insightful, it’s not an easy read. If you’re looking to understand creativity at a deeper level via one of the world’s leading (and legendary) psychologists then I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Here are some of my favorite Big Ideas:

1. What is Creativity - Domain + field + person.
2. Attention - + Being kind weird
3. Complexity - + Resolving dischotomies.
4. Rhythms - Your ideal days?
5. Creativity + Flow - The 9 elements

Well, there we go. That’s a super quick look at this great book. Time to get our flow on as we tap into our Creativity and optimize + actualize!

More goodness— including PhilosophersNotes on 300+ books in our *OPTIMIZE* membership program. Find out more at brianjohnson . me.

33 people found this helpful

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M. Edwards

Personal Creativity does not equal Domain Transformation

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2010

Verified Purchase

This was a good if not a great book. Its greatest strength lies in the thesis introduced early on and supported throughout that the kind of creativity that leaves a trace in the cultural matrix rests not in the personal creativity of the individual, but in what Csikszentmihalyi tags the "systems approach " to creativity. To have any effect, a creative idea must be couched in terms that are understandable to others, pass muster with the experts in the field (i.e. the gatekeepers to the domain), and be included within the cultural domain (the set of symbolic rules or procedures) to which it belongs. In this systems view, the definition of a creative person is someone whose thoughts or actions change a domain or establish a new domain (pp. 27-28). This is no easy task, especially since he or she needs to learn the existing domain or domains first, and almost always necessitates being in the right place at the right time (e.g. studying quantum physics at the beginning of the 20th century or women seeking academic opportunities when WWII broke out).

Having established this in the first 30 pages, if you didn't read the remaining 350 you wouldn't miss much. But I still enjoyed reading the stories and thoughts of selected individuals whom the author deemed as "creative" according to the definition above (However, I disagreed with the selection of a few of these and would have chosen at least one more person of faith in addition to the Quaker who was briefly highlighted. Also on the issue of faith, I found the author's grouping on page 371 of studying the bible with addictive behaviors such as cruising the internet and betting on horse races to be rather laughable!).

Some additional personal nuggets I gleaned from this book include the following:

1. Those who persevere and succeed must be creative not only in their manipulation of symbols but maybe even more in shaping a career and a future for themselves that will enable them to survive while continuing to explore the strange universe in which they live (p. 199).

2. When seeking to allow your mind to make new connections in a beautiful setting, just sitting and watching is fine, but taking a leisurely walk seems to be even better. The shaping of one's personal space is also important. The Greek philosophers settled on the peripatetic method, preferring to discuss ideas walking up and down in the courtyards of the academy. When we participate in this kind of "semiautomatic activity" that uses a certain amount of attention, we allow the rest of it to be free to make connections among ideas, often from different domains, well below the threshold of conscious intentionality. "Devoting full attention to a problem is not the best recipe for having creative thoughts. "(p. 138)

3. Both creativity and innovation on the one hand and conservation and traditionalism on the other are both equally important. "Neither uncritical acceptance nor wholesale dismissal of human creativity will lead us far. " (p. 322)

The final section deals with how to enhance personal creativity. Some of these ideas were helpful (e.g. to seek to be surprised and to seek to surprise another person at least once every day, to seek to look at problems from multiple perspectives instead of assuming you see the issue clearly from one perspective, etc.) but others just seem to be taking up space on the page. I'm afraid the phraseology of how to use psychic energy more effectively on page 356 and a few other places lost my interest almost completely.

15 people found this helpful

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