one of the most interesting things that i learned in the last 4 years of university is the notion of flow. no, scratch that. it is THE most interesting thing that i have learned in the past 4 years. the reason i bring it up in this post, is that flow is a state in which you are:
- highly internally motivated
- are keenly interested
- faced with a challenge just at the border of your abilities
among other things. this really deserves another entry on its own, BUT, today i realized WHY it is that the task must be challenging.
philosophy of logic, a class i am taken, is taught based on a book written by ian hacking, a u of t professor (honorary at this point, i believe). the book is incredibly well written, is highly interesting, and incredibly easy. it is easy not because material is easy – it isn’t really THAT easy – but because i have already met all the material presented with in. frequency probability (studied in stats of psych), belief probability (studied in stats of CS – highly relevant to AI!), philosophy of logic (despite that this is the name of this class, i have ran into the arguments presented with in in my other philosophy classes). i’ve touched on all of the math in it.
therefore, i have a terribly hard time making myself sit down and get into the details of the “basics”. i am capable of it, and i did a lot (finished reading the entire book, for example – i am doing all the exercize sets tonight). its just difficult to not get distracted.
therefore, out of a bracelet maha gifted me with years ago, i have made that necklace. it is SO FREAKING COOL. and thanks to my abnormally thin wrist, i am still able to wear the bracelet comfortably. YAY for saving $30.
you can read more about flow there.
“the zone” as they call it. It really is interesting when I think about what happens during and after I’m in the zone. For example, if i’m doing something really meticulous, like setting up some wiring on a computer, soldering, troubleshooting, or drawing, I get really irritated when I’m abruptly interrupted. Abruptly as in I just get the question as opposed to an attempt to get my attention first, so that I can deconcentrate and pay attention. Same for movies that I get into.
But I think the 3 keys you gave are mandatory at the same time, especially the one requiring something at the border of my abilities.