Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

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By: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
(24 customer reviews)
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EDITORIAL REVIEW

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.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Publisher: Harper Perennial
Pub. Date: 9th May 1997
Catalog: Book
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 464
Ean: 9780060928209
Isbn: 0060928204

ABOUT THIS BOOK

USER REVIEWS

an odd definition of creativuty
~ Written on Aug 9, 2009. out of users found this review helpful.

This book narrowly defines Creative people as those who have made a name for themselves by "changing their domain". While it is interesting to read about some of the world's most Ambitious and Recognized creatives, it thereby instantly excludes all the people who are true artists in their craft, but simply have not been recognized publicly by society or become famous in their chosen fields. A frustrating and exclusionary take - much too narrow for me.

I now more fully understand how I think
~ Written on Mar 18, 2009. out of users found this review helpful.

I consider myself one who is inclined towards creative solutions when dealing with life. I enjoy representing my reality through various mental images that others often consider absurd, odd, etc.; often those mental images lead to a creative solution to a problem. Up until now I thought that this process was simply "my style" of representing and dealing with the world around me. I knew that others had similar tendencies (With differing fields of specialty, interests, hobbies, etc.), but I never thought that such a seemingly chaotic process (Creative thinking) could be broken down into such easy to understand terms (With a minimal amount of psycho-babble). This book does just that.
As a result of reading this book (And I'm just about finished with the other book "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience"), I have learned more about how and why I think the way I do. It is a wonderful feeling.

Interesting
~ Written on Jun 23, 2007. 1 out of 3 users 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
~ Written on Oct 20, 2006. 4 out of 5 users 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
~ Written on Jul 31, 2006. 2 out of 3 users 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.

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