Flow. Or lack thereof.

emillionth wrote:

naps wrote:Wondering what you mean about the 'specific activity you engage in'.

One word: video games.

Two words, but I can certainly understand that. I don't play, but I would assume flow in necessary when you are gaming.

Why even read the synopsis. The title is enough. I assume the only reason why it has such high ratings is because most people who would expect to find anything more profound than the title inside the book probably wouldn't buy it in the first place.

Haha. True. I still may read it.

emillionth wrote:

Also, I've been meaning to add that I realized that there's one activity where I can achieve what I would call "intense flow" easily, but that activity is masturbation, and for the purposes of this thread, I don't think it counts.

Well that's kinda gross. Still, why wouldn't it count?

Because it's pretty much a purposeless activity, like eating. It yields no tangible results. People do it because they have to.

One issue I have is that I always feel like I have to have something to show for everything I do.

naps wrote:Two words

Yep, the dot-dot-dot represents the crickets and their disapproval, so it counts as one.

One issue I have is that I always feel like I have to have something to show for everything I do.

Well that sentence right there sounds like maybe six months worth of money for therapy saved.

emillionth wrote:

naps wrote:One issue I have is that I always feel like I have to have something to show for everything I do.

Well that sentence right there sounds like maybe six months worth of money for therapy saved.

I could write a paragraph and still have no idea how to function normally.

naps wrote:I could write a paragraph and still have no idea how to function normally.

That's the other six years.

By then it won't matter.

naps wrote:By then it won't matter.

But does it really matter if it matters?

naps wrote:Also, I've been meaning to add that I realized that there's one activity where I can achieve what I would call "intense flow" easily, but that activity is masturbation, and for the purposes of this thread, I don't think it counts.

naps wrote:I don't play, but I would assume flow in necessary when you are gaming.

It looks like someone out there noticed the connection and decided to turn it into a kind of interactive art. Look up "Deep Space Waifu" (I'm not going to link it because it's NSFW). It's a simple game, but it's not an easy one. It demands focus and skill.

After reading more about the musician who made the soundtrack (which is by far the most professional part of the game), I believe he's the person behind the project. They managed to make something that fits so well together that it's one of the 15 highest-rated games of the entire store, despite the subject matter and the amateurish elements. I think it's exactly because it's pretty effective at inducing a sense of flow in people who often have none in their life, by combining demanding gameplay with sexual motivation.

I think this has everything to do with SPD, by the way. Sexual motivation is behind a lot of things in life. And when it's absent (the inner motivation itself, I'm not talking about gratification), the rest of the motivation system falls apart. Also I think the specific object of your motivation has a lot of influence on your behavior. If you're more attracted to fantasy than you're attracted to real people, then you'll act very differently because of it. But the bottom line is, as a rule, some form of sexual or near-sexual pursuit (real or imaginary), with subtle mental connections to what you do day-to-day, is necessary for a sustained sense of purpose and identity.

emillionth wrote:It looks like someone out there noticed the connection and decided to turn it into a kind of interactive art. Look up "Deep Space Waifu" (I'm not going to link it because it's NSFW). It's a simple game, but it's not an easy one. It demands focus and skill.

After reading more about the musician who made the soundtrack (which is by far the most professional part of the game), I believe he's the person behind the project. They managed to make something that fits so well together that it's one of the 15 highest-rated games of the entire store, despite the subject matter and the amateurish elements. I think it's exactly because it's pretty effective at inducing a sense of flow in people who often have none in their life, by combining demanding gameplay with sexual motivation.

Who is the musician?

I think this has everything to do with SPD, by the way. Sexual motivation is behind a lot of things in life. And when it's absent (the inner motivation itself, I'm not talking about gratification), the rest of the motivation system falls apart. Also I think the specific object of your motivation has a lot of influence on your behavior. If you're more attracted to fantasy than you're attracted to real people, then you'll act very differently because of it. But the bottom line is, as a rule, some form of sexual or near-sexual pursuit (real or imaginary), with subtle mental connections to what you do day-to-day, is necessary for a sustained sense of purpose and identity.

I disagree. Plenty of people identify as asexual and they don't necessarily lack a sense of purpose or identity. If the lack of motivation that can occur with people with SPD was due to a low sex drive, wouldn't matters pertaining to sexuality be more prevalent within the diagnostic criteria?

Sexuality is really just a biological function. It's purpose is to ensure we procreate. Therefore, while it's necessary for survival of the species, it's not necessary for the survival of the individual.

naps wrote:Who is the musician?

Someone who goes by the name "Funny Death". I'm not actually sure he's the one behind the game though. It's just speculation.

I disagree. Plenty of people identify as asexual and they don't necessarily lack a sense of purpose or identity.

But you won't find a person who goes out of their way to identify as asexual but doesn't have a particular interest in the subject of sexuality. There's no reason to divulge or discuss those matters when you truly feel no attraction to anything or anyone. And as far as I'm aware, people who identify as asexual don't usually claim to feel no attraction.

I guess I wasn't clear on what I mean when I talk about a "near-sexual" pursuit. I don't mean something resembling or approaching a sexual act. I mean something experienced with some sort of sexual feeling, conscious or not, in a very broad sense. "Romantic feelings" in their own right probably count even more than an anticipation of actual sexual contact or activity.

To be clear, the object of desire doesn't even have to be a person, real or fictional. It can even be an ideal. As long it evokes more or less the same types of feelings (and associated behaviors) that a desired person would. It's still essentially the same thing (the drive to "be good enough [for a mate]"). It's just one more level of abstraction removed from concrete reality.

If the lack of motivation that can occur with people with SPD was due to a low sex drive, wouldn't matters pertaining to sexuality be more prevalent within the diagnostic criteria?

It's really not low sex drive that I'm talking about though. It's the mental orientation of whatever sex drive is there (or "romantic drive", if you will). If it's not there, then there's not much to do about it, and maybe it's not a problem anyway. But if it's there and it's not mentally oriented toward something that you feel you can work torward, then it's a problem.

But it's not impossible to use fantasy as a way to trick yourself into feeling like you're working toward something and being rewarded for it by your object of desire, with (perceived) gestures of both appreciation for what you do and appreciation for what you want. It has caveats like anything else, but I don't think it's impossible as a practical motivational device.

Sexuality is really just a biological function. It's purpose is to ensure we procreate. Therefore, while it's necessary for survival of the species, it's not necessary for the survival of the individual.

That's a philosophical consideration though, which is fine, but isn't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about my understanding of how the human brain and body are wired. Without specific medical conditions, it's very unlikely that someone will have none of the underlying mechanisms that compelled their ancestors throughout the ages to defy all logic in order to find and "earn" desired mates. It may not be the meaning of their life, but it's arguably the reason why they exist.

The point is, you can survive without "flow", but it's dreary. If you want to talk about the "survival of your spirit", so to speak, then literal survival is only the tip of the iceberg.

Fair enough.