Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention - Hardcover

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060171332 ISBN 13: 9780060171339

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

The author of The Evolving Self draws on the theories put forth in his best-selling Flow to explain the creative process and share personal anecdotes of successful people to show readers how to tap into their own creativity. $40,000 ad/promo. Tour.

About this title

From the Publisher:

This book is about what makes life worth living. The creative excitement of the artist at her easel or the scientist in the lab. It comes as close to the ideal fulfillment as we all hope to accomplish, and so rarely do. Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi interviewed more than ninety of possibly the most interesting people in the world -- people like actor Ed Asner, authors Robertson Davies and Nadine Gordimer, scientists Jonas Salk and Linus Pauling, and Senator Eugene McCarthy -- who have changed the way people in their fields think and work to find out how creativity has been a force in their lives.

In his bestselling book Flow, Professor Csikszentmihalyi explored states of "optimal experience" -- those times when people report feelings of concentration and deep enjoyment -- and showed that what makes experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called "flow." Here Professor Csikszentmihalyi builds on his flow theory, profiling individuals who have found ways to make flow a permanent feature of their lives and at the same time have contributed to society and culture.

Professor Csikszentmihalyi explores why creative people are often seen as selfish and arrogant (even though they are not) and reveals that the idea of the tortured genius is largely a myth. He argues that creativity needs to be cultivated not only in traditionally creative fields like sciences and arts, but also in business, government and education.

This book is not so much about the everyday "creativity" that we all experience but the kind of creativity of artists, scientists and others that can transform our culture and the way we look at the world. By studying the creative lives of exceptional people, Professor Csikszentmihalyi shows us how we can all enhance our everyday lives. His goal is to help us better understand a way of being that is more satisfying and more fulfilling.

From the Back Cover:

The classic study of the creative process from the national bestselling author of Flow

creativity is about capturing those moments that make life worth living. Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi reveals what leads to these moments—be it the excitement of the artist at the easel or the scientist in the lab—so that this knowledge can be used to enrich people's lives. Drawing on nearly one hundred interviews with exceptional people, from biologists and physicists, to politicians and business leaders, to poets and artists, as well as his thirty years of research on the subject, Csikszentmihalyi uses his famous flow 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 explains why creativity needs to be cultivated and is necessary for the future of our country, if not the world.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0060171332
• ISBN 13: 9780060171339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 456