Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention | 
 enlarge | Author: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $4.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 14645
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4 Tra
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060928204
Dewey Decimal Number: 153.35
EAN: 9780060928209
ASIN: 0060928204
Publication Date: June 18, 1997
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Condition: Paperback. WRITING/NOTATIONS seen THROUGHOUT the book. Moderate cover wear. Still a very usable, good reading copy from a most-trusted seller. All orders are carefully packaged and shipped within 24 hours with delivery confirmation and email notification of shipment. Thank you
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Interesting June 23, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I especially liked the part where he says that a good chunk of Eulers mathematical theorems came towards the latter part of his life and when he was blind. I was especially interested in the linkage between age and creativity since I'm in my early 30's & wanted to make sure that I still have some juice left in me. :-)
Excellent book October 20, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The description posted here doesn't do the book justice - I own a copy and still made 8 pages of notes for myself. Typed pages! Dr. Csikszentmihalyi distills and highlights the creative moments in life and how to create more creative moments in your own. It is not dry reading - the interviews and comments from his pool of world-class 'creative' people was very enjoyable and I liked that portion the least! Here's one of my favorite quotes: 'Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives for several reasons.. First, most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity.
We share 98 percent of our genetic makeup with chimpanzees. What makes us different - our language, values, artistic expression, scientific understanding, and technology - is the result of individual ingenuity that was recognized, rewarded, and transmitted through learning. Without creativity, it would be difficult indeed to distinguish humans from apes.'
 Long and deep but very interesting July 31, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Very interesting and detailed book. Helps explain the true reality and complexity of creativity - that it is a system of multiple environmental, technology and human personality elements which in combination and interaction bring about new products and processes.
A book for all psychology majors March 24, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
If you're interested in any aspect of psychology then this is not only an informative book to read, but a fun one as well. As a psychology major, I enjoyed learning about how creative people live and work. Not only are the individual stories in the book interesting, but they also teach us ways of how to become more creative. The way Csikszentmihalyi describes the ways to enhance creativity makes us really believe we can do it. No, you don't need to come up with some incredibly brilliant invention. Just simply by waking up, setting a goal to achieve that day, enjoying your success, and increasing the complexity of the goal each day, you can develop the creative "flow" of everyday life.
In addition to helping people who lack creative qualities, Csikszentmihalyi also describes many ways to stay creative. For example, he suggests making time for reflection and relaxation. Also, he says to start doing more of what you love, and less of what you hate. These are just a few of the simple ways to help sustain your creative "flow" and again we feel confident that we can do these things. It's not brain science.
Even more importantly, Csikszentmihalyi does a great job of informing us about the so-called myths of creative people. These mostly deal with certain psychological traits that are given to the stereotypical creative person. We learn that creative people aren't as selfish, fanatical, crazy, and single-minded as we may assume. Psychologically, creative people tend to be very much a mixture of different levels of these stereotypes and the opposite of those stereotypes.
If I had to pick one downside of this book, it would be that there isn't a lot of detail on each creative person being interviewed by Csikszentmihalyi. For some of the people, we are given enough information to understand their creative story fairly well. However, for others it felt like not enough background information was given. A psychologist is interested in all perspectives of assessment: disease, dimension, behavior, and life-story. Thus, it would have been better to learn more about each person's life outside the creative world in order to see if creativity derives from psychological aspects of the person as a child or adolescent. Furthermore, the book could have contained more about the person's family, upbringing, hobbies, past achievements, IQ, etc. Again this is a bit of a personal preference and not necessarily a substantial flaw of the book.
This book "flowed", that's for sure. I enjoyed it!
The Real Facts About Creative People January 21, 2006
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Few activities are a misunderstood by the general public as inventing and creativity. Sadly, Hollywood and television often portray the great inventor, scientist or musician as some sort of "mad genius". This book seeks to put the study of creativity on a rational basis.
For the purposes of this book, creativity is defined as "... to bring into existence something genuinely new that is valued enough to be added to the culture". Ninety-one noted contemporary people have been systematically interviewed. While only two -- Jacob Rabinow and Frank Offner -- are full-blown inventors, their creative processes have a fascinating similarity to the composers, architects, astronomers, biologists and others interviewed.
The book does not just quote the people interviewed, but cites their views regarding various facets of the creativity process.
Jacob Rabinow (200 patents in diverse areas) believes most original thinkers share three common traits -- 1) their curiosity, from early childhood, results in acquiring a great deal of information, 2) they enjoy thinking up and combining ideas, and 3) they recognize their "good" ideas and don't hesitate to discard "junk" ideas.
Frank Offner (first electronic controls for jet engines and developer of the only successful heat-homing missiles in World War II) notes that while a "solid grounding in physical sciences" is an asset, knowledge from other fields may trigger a creative person's mind to override what is assumed to be true in one field. He also feels the love or joy of solving problems is a key to finding solutions. This fun aspect is so strong that Rabinow is quoted as saying that, given a choice between money-making and fun, he would go for the fun.
Creative people are sometimes thought to be arrogant. However, this often stems from the need for self-assurance or, simply, overriding modesty. As Rabinow notes, "... I always assume that not only it can be done, but I can do it".
Robert Galvin (head of Motorola for 30 years) is reported as saying two traits are essential: 1) anticipation, i.e., having a vision of the future, and 2) commitment, which keeps you going when you or others have doubts. He also practices a mental exercise worth considering -- flip the problem by asking, "What if the opposite were true?".
Freeman Dyson, the physicist, observes, "... it is easy when you have a problem to work on. The hardest part is finding your problem".
The book cites how being in the right place at the right time contributes to being recognized. In Florence, Italy, between 1401 and 1425, an explosion of creativity took place. For example, for eighty years the cathedral of Florence lacked a dome, and yet the Pantheon of Rome had a dome (142 feet in diameter!) for a thousand years. Suddenly, Brunelleschi, who had analyzed the structure of the Pantheon, applied it to the problem at hand. The social, economic and political factors that made Florence the "right place at the right time" are detailed in the book.
Are we, today, providing incentives for creativity to flourish? One aspect of this is what we can do as a society. The author notes children who suffer from hunger or discrimination are less likely to be curious or interested in novelty. Another aspect is what as individuals can we do to promote our own creativity. The author offers various ways to cultivate creativity. For example, preserve the awe of childhood, "be surprised by something every day". Write down some of your observations and follow-up with some research. Don't think certain things are not your business -- life is your business.
While the author is a professor and former chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago, the book is free from pompous phraseology and is readable by just about anyone who is interested in understanding creativity. If you want to dispel myths, such as "creative people are hyperactive", "have very high IQs" and "lack humor", then read this book and find out the real facts about creative people. A big book -- 456 pages -- but a delightful book. Read it and donate it to your local library -- the truth is there, so get it out there.
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