Hi, Dudes!

  As long as we are in the Lab, I would like to share a discovery published a couple days ago:

Editor: great idea, but it doesn't belong with this topic, so has been given a thread of its own; "Memory & Serotonin".

You should be able to start new topics yourself with the tools of the forum. If you can't, please let us know because it's hard to tell from this side of the website when things like that go wrong.

Meta Process Wrote:
Hey, alex. Is there any evidence that flow can be sustained regardless of activity?
Can it be sustained all day long without fixation on goal-oriented activities or a stable routine?

Not as far as I know, I have considered this a lot, and started out thinking constant flow space might not be beneficial, in the same way that sustaining sleep all day long is not beneficial. Flow is part of a process, all processes are a series of stages and to become stuck in any one stage would prevent the system maintaining dynamic equilibrium. We need time out to provide the mind with the input and practice it needs to learn to use flow in an ever increasing selection of different circumstances, and to learn to use all our other abilities as well. Time being finite, any excess practising of one ability is stealing practice time from another. In effect, excess practice in one area preventing functioning of others is exactly what happens in an unbalanced set of networks.

But then I started thinking, what if flow space is the natural waking state? What's the evidence for that?

Both flow space and fight/flight response seem to alter priorities rather than diminishing needs, prioritising blood flow to the peripheral nervous system but in the case of 'zone space' also maintaining it in frontal lobes, which is unusual. In situations of fight or flight, blood supply to frontal lobes is ordinarily shut down in favor of supplying the skeleto-muscular system to save us from emergencies such as being eaten. Fortunately, this system doesn't require any practice. The state of flow is usually (but not always) associated with long hours of practice at something, regardless of what. And it can happen in a chess match or a computer game just as effectively as in a fighter pilot or a formula one race, so is not necessarily linked with physical activity.

Both seem to put visceral systems on low priority; in f/f digestion largely stops, much less urine is produced, and signals to eat, sleep, or excrete are put on standby. But they don't seem so tightly controlled in zone space although digestive metabolism does slow down.
This tells us the hypothesis (that flow is the natural waking state) is feasible only if there is no heavy demand on internal functions so if it were true, it would be easier to achieve constant zone space without side effects if we eat easily digestible low GI foods and keep the cortisol down, which we probably knew anyway  :  )

Has anyone come up with a recipe, like: 1. relax; 2. concentrate; 3. enjoy the task, and so on?

JC Pearce used, "All we have to do is play, and the mind will do all the work", but I prefer "Behave as though it's happening, and the brain will think its happening."

If you want more details, I use COMP (see tutorials) -Concentration, observation, modeling, practice & variation. If its allowed to do its thing the ordinary natural learning process should result in zone space with regard to the context you are learning in.


The wiki article says there are 3 conditions, goal-orientation, self-confidence in challenge and clear & immediate feedback, but those, even if they are true, are not enough.

This doesn't seem accurate as it's known that people can get into zone space with very low self confidence, indeed shy, timid kids are often the best at it.

It'd be interesting to see an experiment with advanced practitioners of meditation that compared their likelihood to achieve flow in novel challenging situations with that of the general population.

Yeh that would be very cool. A bunch of zen buddhists in a tombraider competition, control group non-meditators, all newbies to the game. I want to see that results page!

I've often wondered if by awake or enlightened is meant permanently in the zone, selfless, flexible, aware, or a similar state that could be easily hacked into it.

I suspect something similar. It's possible that our natural state is a cycle of relaxation - zone space - relaxation -zone space- (repetitive). Only one of the relaxation periods each day would be sleeping, with ever-varying cycles of stretch/relax in between...it's also possible that zone space can maintain dynamic equilibrium contrasted only with sleep periods.

Whatever is true, it's going to be fun finding out  :  )  Exploring zone space would also be a great project for HW base when we get that far, so if nobody's solved it by then, we'll play  :  )

Best,
AR

Meta Process Wrote:
"The state of flow is usually (but not always) associated with long hours of practice at something, regardless of what."
It's the not always bit that I'm interested in as a learning aid. What are the conditions for that exception?

Exceptions occur in moments of crisis. No parent has hours of practice lifting cars off kids  :  )  Those who experience such events say things like "I don't remember what happened, I just seemed to behave like Superman".
Is this another form of the Zone, or is it something totally different? JCPearce's work implies it's the Zone. I'm not so sure.

Can one get in the zone in normal conversation?

Absolutely; that's one of the main areas I experience it. Anything creative seems to be able to access zone space.

I'll try meditation + fun. Do you have any suggestions that can be implemented right away?

Computer gaming seems to be a popular arena for 'zoning', but I would think it will depend on the individual; whatever excites you is a good starting point. Playing music and doing graphics are two more popular areas. Group zoning is most often reported by computer gamers, military operatives, dancers, acrobatic teams and musicians. I've experienced it in music and it feels as though rather than playing the music you are all experiencing the music playing itself through you.
Best,
AR