At our second physical meeting post Covid 19 lock down the club was pleased to have Dr Diva Cohen join us by Zoom. Diva, an ex Pakuranga College student who the club supported to attend RYLA and the Model United Nations in the Hague, and who went on to become a “Young New Zealander of the Year" introduced the club to the Neuroscience of Flow. Diva who is now employed by Google to lead the “hyper-local problem” which deals with issues around accurate location for such services as ride sharing.
If you have ever felt completely immersed in an activity, really creative, with high levels of energy and with time seeming to just disappear then you are likely to be in a state that psychologists refer to as flow. It can result in a 500% increase in productivity, 200% increase in creativity including lateral thinking and a reduction of 50% in the time it takes to learn.
Flow is a concept that societies have recognised for thousands of years, but it is only in the past one hundred years that science has started to provide more understanding of what it actually involves. There are three key characteristics of situations of flow. The task needs to involve a stretch goal with a reasonable chance of completion. The goal will feel very clear and as you perform an action towards the goal there is feedback as to progress.
While it might be logical to expect that our brains are more active during flow, Diva explained that exactly the opposite occurs. Our neurons move increasingly from beta waves to alpha and gamma waves. Those parts which are involved with ego and sense of self, and act as a brake on us taking intellectual risks shut down. All five of the neurochemicals that stimulate the brain fire at once giving us a burst of energy and an intellectual high. Meditation and “mindfulness” can help us achieve a sense of flow, but the research also has implications in employment where the tasks that are set and environment provided can increase the chance that people will be in the flow.
Diva finished with some comments on life in the USA where she is based.
Recently married life is great, but she is also aware of the increase in social tension resulting from Covid -19 and the Black Lives Matter movement.
With an increased sale of guns and the concern that many people have about how they might fare in any interaction with the police, Diva noted, we are lucky to live in New Zealand.