Chapter 04: Flow

The Channel Between
Boredom and Anxiety

In the 1970s, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied what happens when people are completely absorbed in what they're doing — athletes, musicians, surgeons, artists. He called it flow.

Flow happens when challenge and skill are closely matched. Too little challenge and you drift. Too much and you tense up. The sweet spot is a narrow channel — and the best experiences keep you in it.

You're about to play a simple pattern game. Watch what happens to the room around you as the system tries to keep you in the channel. It's adapting to you in real time.