The importance of consciousness

Human consciousness is one of the main factors, if not the most important, for acquiring happiness.

Consciousness over time has developed the ability to override genetic instructions depending on the course of action. Through it, it is possible to change genetic or social behaviors, which seem to be predetermined and certain to happen.

The function of consciousness is to interpret information about what is happening outside and inside the organism in such a way that it makes the body act as it intends. It sets priorities according to the information it has, at the sensory, sentimental, ideal and other levels… Without awareness, the person was still aware of what was happening, but acted by instinct, not by conscience.

Creativity is related to it, as it is what allows us to gather information that is often different and that at first sight seems to have no relationship, thus creating something different.

A person can change their state of mind or feeling, through consciousness, regardless of the environment in which they find themselves.

When a person interacts with a technological system it might act by instinct. If that doesn't happen, then it'll be conscious about it.
If it's a hard system to predict, then the experience will not be the most smoothly. Internalizing a system that's hard to predict, might result into frustration. The same it's happening when someone is watching a film that's hard to understand, because we can only predict when we find patterns, otherwise it seems random.

“This simple truth – that the control of consciousness determines the quality of life – has been known for a long time; in fact for as long as human records exist.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Attention

Consciousness absorbs information when a person focuses his attention on something, or when it is the result of biological or social habits.

Attention is in charge of determining which relevant bits of information matter. Attention is what determines the person's choice, depending on their memories and the evaluation of the event.

This whole process of gathering information, comparing and choosing the best way focuses your attention on yourself. As the processing of the human mind is limited, if the person is attentive to something and is trying to determine the best solution, it is unlikely that he will be focused on other things.

Therefore, attention promotes the search for a consciously solution and focuses the person entirely on that, thus removing their focus on other things.

Attention determines what will appear in consciousness and this mental process involves different events, such as remembering, thinking, feeling and deciding. Because of this, attention can be perceived as psychic energy. The return on investment of that energy is mentally perceived in many ways, but it is the control of choosing where to invest that energy that is most beneficial to the quality of the experience.

“Attention can be invested in innumerable ways, ways that can make life rich or miserable.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Self

The Self is one of the strands that make up consciousness. It is not concrete information, but a set that contains everything that has already passed through consciousness, from memories, actions, desires, pleasures and pains. Above all, the Self is a hierarchical representation of personal goals that have been developed over the years.

One of the main reasons that inadvertently affects consciousness is psychic disorder, which is the conflict of information with intentions that make us distracted.

When information is received and contributes to personal goals, psychic energy flows freely without effort.

Flow

Flow is the state of mind you need to have to get a great experience. The concept was created by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly who was also involved in creating the concept of positive psychology.

It is the state in which energy flows effortlessly to achieve one's goals, with no clutter and no need to protect against.

“Flow helps to integrate the self because in that state of deep concentration consciousness is unusually well ordered. Experience is in harmony. And when the flow episode is over, one feels more ‘together’ than before, not only internally but also with the respect to other people and to the world in general.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The flow is very important because it allows a person to enjoy more of the present and consequently increase their self-confidence, which will be reflected in the development of skills that end up contributing with great meaning to humanity.

Improving the quality of life

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, there are two main strategies when it comes to improving the quality of life.

The first is to try to make external conditions in common with personal goals. The second is how to experience these external conditions so that they can better fit personal goals. According to the author, none of the strategies is successful if used alone. Changing outer conditions at first glance may seem to work, but if one has no control over consciousness, soon their old fears and desires return, thus returning to the initial anxiety.

Money, status and power have gained a dimension in today's culture of powerful symbols of happiness. When people see someone rich or famous, they assume their lives are rewarding, even though there might be evidence that their lives are miserable.

People assume that if they can acquire some of these symbols their happiness will increase and if for a moment there is an improvement in these symbols they think that life has also improved.

But symbols can be deceiving, as they tend to distract people from the reality they really represent.

The reality is that quality of life is not directly dependent on any of these symbols, nor on what others might think about what people hold.

The most important thing is what people feel about themselves and what happens to them. That's why your experiences are so determinant in your quality of life and if the symbols of power don't help bring that same happiness, then there is always the chance to try to access directly what these symbols represent and not just the symbols themselves .

“To improve life one must improve the quality of experience. …instead of worrying about how to make a million dollars or how to win friends and influence people, it seems more beneficial to find out how everyday life can be made more harmonious and more satisfying, and thus achieve by a direct route what cannot be reached through the pursuit of symbolic goals.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The difference between pleasure and happiness

“Pleasure is an important component of the quality of life, but by itself does not bring happiness.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Although these are terms that may initially appear to be similar, there is a big difference between them.

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, when people are asked about the rewarding moments in their lives, they tend to recall memories and events that simply go beyond pleasure. This kind of memories are about experiences that end up superimposing the feeling of pleasure, being then considered as 'happiness'.

Happy experiences occur when a person not only meets their previously created expectations, but also ends up achieving an even greater satisfaction than what they had previously planned, resulting in something unexpected. Happiness is characterized by this sense of discovery and accomplishment.

Although they are two different sensations, they can be originated through the same experience, however for the sensation of pleasure, an investment of psychic energy is not necessary, while for happiness to be originated through an experience it is necessary an investment of psychic energy.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi concludes that when people reflect on these positive experiences they at least always mention something in common. After sorting the results, he came to the conclusion that at least one of these reasons is always mentioned:

- The experience usually occurs when we have a chance to complete the tasks we face

- We have to be able to focus on what we are doing

- Concentration is usually possible because the task being performed has well-defined goals and an immediate response (feedback)

- Acts in a deep but practically effortless way that removes your everyday worries and frustrations from your awareness

- Happy experiences allow people to exercise their own control over their actions

- The perception of time is shifted

The combination of these elements creates a deep sense of joy that is so gratifying that it lets people know that it's worth giving up a great deal of their energy just so they can feel that same feeling.

Technological systems can carry emotional rewards, but not all systems are able to contribute to happy experiences, although most of them contribute to momentary feelings of pleasure. However, ultimately the most important thing remains is happiness and the more the system contributes to this feeling, the more rewarding is the emotional reward in the life of the person.

When there's a good balance between boredom and anxiety, that's when happiness surges.

Although these types of experiences (flow experiences) seem to be easy to perform, the truth is that they are not, as they usually require a great amount of mental discipline. They don't happen without the use of performance skills. In spite of everything, consciousness works fluently and the flow of actions takes place effortlessly, although a lapse in concentration is enough to stop this feeling.

“In flow there’s no need to reflect, because the action carries us forward as if by magic.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

When the feedback and goals are clear, it's one of the main reasons why it is possible to get such a big involvement in these kinds of experiences. In the most creative activities, these parameters are usually not so clear, that's why it is necessary to develop a strong sense of what you want to achieve or accomplish.

The ability to have control over the situation, is one of the sensations that makes risky activities to contribute to the flow.

While happiness directly contributes to enriching life on a personal level, pleasure is an embedded response in human genes that contributes to the preservation of the species.

“It is important to realize that seeking pleasure is a reflex response built into our genes for the preservation of the species, not for the purpose of our own personal advantage. The pleasure we take in eating is an efficient way to ensure that the body will get the nourishment it needs.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

How to construct an activity that enables the flow?

“…one must be aware of the potentially addictive power of flow. We should reconcile ourselves to the fact that nothing in the world is entirely positive; every power can be misused. Love may lead to cruelty, science can create destruction, technology unchecked produces pollution. Optimal experience is a form of energy, and energy can be used either to help or to destroy. Fire warms or burns; atomic energy can generate electricity or it can obliterate the world. Energy is power, but power is only means. The goals to which it is applied can make life either richer or more painful.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

What distinguishes an activity that allows flow is that they are designed to be easy to achieve. They have rules that require the learning of a certain type of skills, they have set goals, provide feedback and enable control of it.

Any type of activity that alters our perception of reality is satisfying, however awareness remains the most important, as it allows control over the activity.

During the studies carried out by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his team, they came to the conclusion that all flow activities had something in common.

They provided the sensation of discovery, the creation of a feeling that transported the person to a new reality and an increase in the levels of performance (performance) that led to new states of consciousness previously undiscovered.

It basically transformed the Self into something more complex. It is in this search for growing the Self that the key to flow activities is.

As previously mentioned, when there is a balance between challenge and skills, the activity leads to discovery and growth. This dynamic development is what explains the reason for the flow.

If this dynamic growth did not exist, a person would end up doing the same thing during that level (related to skills), which would not lead to progress, so they would end up being frustrated or tired (boredom).

It is the desire to continue to progress that makes an advance in the current skills that are later reflected in the search of new challenges.

“The challenges of the activity are what force us to concentrate. Leisure that uses up external resources, however, often requires less attention, and as a consequence it generally provides less memorable rewards.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The best experiences in life are not just derived from sensory means. One of the most striking ones is generated by the mind, through the ability to think about new things that have been unfolded by new acquired information. Also known as the eureka moment.

The normal state of consciousness is entropy (a condition in which it is neither useful nor pleasant). To counteract this condition, people look for multiple ways to absorb different information that keep them distracted, thus not focusing their attention on inner problems or negative feelings. This explains why there are many activities that don't require a lot of processing on the person's part, they just provide a distraction, even if they're rarely enjoyable, like watching television.

After all, it is best to develop habits that improve mental control of awareness, regardless of external stimuli.

“Compared to other sources of stimulation – like reading, talking to other people, or working on a hobby, - TV can provide continuous and easily accessible information that will structure the viewer’s attention, at a very low cost in terms of psychic energy that need to be invested. While people watch television, they need not fear that their drifting minds will force them to face disturbing personal problems. It is understandable that, once one develops this strategy for overcoming psychic entropy, to give up the habit becomes almost impossible. The better route for avoiding chaos in consciousness, of course, is through habits that give control over mental processes to the individual, rather than some external source of stimulation, such as the programs of network TV.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Time mismanagement

According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the entertainment industry has grown so much in recent decades due to the attempt to develop ways that can occupy people's free time satisfactorily. This causes most people to spend vast amounts of hours each week watching celebrities and athletes.

He also mentions that instead of creating our music, we listen to platinum records made by millionaire musicians; instead of creating our own art, we look at and admire paintings that have been sold at auction in huge quantities; we spend hours daily watching actors who pretend to have adventures and to be involved in significant actions. These ways manage, at least temporarily, to fill the void of 'free time' and make it perceive it as useful.

It turns out that it is a poor substitute for how to invest our attention in the problems and challenges that are real (reality). The author reinforces the idea that the results of applying skills in flow experiences lead to the growth of the Self, while passive entertainment does not lead anywhere.

According to him, every year we are collectively wasting the equivalent of millions of years of human consciousness. This wasted energy could be focused on solving complex problems and bringing happiness to the only 'reality' that matters, reality.

Mass entertainment and mass culture are enemies of the mind. They tend to need a great deal of focus (energy) and in return offer nothing of substantial value.

As Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi points out, they leave us more exhausted and discouraged, and unless a person really wants to change something, both work and free time are likely to be disappointing.

“Most jobs and many leisure activities – especially those involving the passive consumption of mass media – are not designed to make us happy and strong. Their purpose is to make money for someone else. If we allow them to, they can suck out the marrow of our lives, leaving only feeble husks. But like everything else, work and leisure can be appropriated for our needs. People who learn to enjoy their work, who do not waste their free time, end up feeling that their lives as a whole have become much more worthwhile. ‘The future’, wrote C.K.Brighbill, ‘will belong not only to the educated man, but to the man who is educated to use his leisure wisely.’”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi