Pages

Monday, October 27, 2008

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, Fulfillment and Flow

Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (pronounced [ˈmihaːj tʃiːkˈsɛntmihaːji]) (born September 29, 1934, in Fiume, Italy - now Croatia) is a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now he is at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College. He is noted for his work in the study of happiness, creativity, subjective well-being, and fun, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology. He is one of the most widely cited psychologists today, in a variety of fields related to psychology and business.

He received his B.A. in 1960 and his Ph.D. in 1965, both from the University of Chicago. He is the father of MIT Media Lab associate professor Christopher Csíkszentmihályi and University of Wisconsin at Madison professor of philosophical and religious traditions of China and East Asia, Mark Csíkszentmihályi.

More great videos at TED

No comments: