Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
Actually, it's already been done by psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow. For [SIZE=-1]Csikszentmihalyi, being "in the groove" is a balance between skill and challenge in a particular "game field" (i.e. a bounded, rule ordered set of tasks with clear win-lose settings). I've used his work to explain how certain types of ritual activity effect behaviour patterns such as looking for work.

One of the things I have been interested in doing is looking at the relationship between Flow states and basic forms of social relationships. I haven't had the chance to put that down on paper yet, though <sigh>.

Marc
I will attest to that. When I am "on", women make eye contact, smile and otherwise flirt. If I am not "on", I don't exist, in their eyes.

Likewise with mechanical things. I sometimes fabricate parts for machines, and if I am "happy", nothing goes wrong. I can work for hours and even my sloppy tries end up being "right".

Same thing with tracking or navigation. I've followed critters or folks without even looking for sign. Or at a map, if I need to get somewhere.