Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#61

Post by QuestingElf » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 3:06 PM UTC

fallat wrote: post #49

Tangential question: Could someone tell me how you're supposed to read "Csíkszentmihályi" ? To me it seems that names are supposed to be broken up into their syllables, but I could be very wrong: Csiks-zent-mihal-yi Essentially the same as: Sixzent-mehalyee

I remember a cassette set from 2 authors who referred to his works on creativity. They eventually met him and occasionally consulted.

The audio said, "His last name is pronounced Chick-SENT-me-high-ee. We call him Mike!"

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#62

Post by Koshkin » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 3:59 PM UTC

pronik wrote: post #46

Koshkin wrote: post #42

(OT) One big problem of completely different languages sharing the same alphabet is the tendency to keep the spelling of names in the original language rather than convert it to reflect the way it may be read off in your own. For the life of me I can’t even guess how to pronounce this post’s title. (Or, when you have to call a guy whose last name - in English - is Chrząszcz, what do you do?)

I can wholeheartedly recommend languages which do not care about original spelling, either by having different alphabets (was it "Хрящ" you wanted to know? Easy-peasy in Cyrillic) or just imposing their own rules (e.g. Latvian: "Mihājs Čīksentmihāji"). Elsewhere, if you are e.g. learning German, you have to at least master German, English and French pronounciation with some bits of Latin grammar.

Proper pronunciation is, of course is a completely separate topic, because Chrząszcz, for instance, might end up sounding like “crotch” in English, even though in the original language it sounds different but uses phonemes that are difficult to approximate.

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#63

Post by dang » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

rob74 wrote: post #17

The correct name is Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (never mind the diacritics, but the "i" appended to the first name is definitely wrong). Explanation for language nerds: Mihály is the Hungarian version of "Michael", Csíkszentmihály is a Hungarian village in Romania with a name derived from St. Michael ( https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mih%C4%83ileni,_Harghita ), and the "i" at the end denotes a toponymic surname ( https://e…

Fixed in title now. Thanks!

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#64

Post by romanhn » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 4:31 PM UTC

djrockstar1 wrote: post #28

romanhn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it was these three: Daniel Kahneman, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" Susan Cain, "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" Daniel Pink, "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" So, maybe not entirely unrelated, but I certainly wasn't looking for a specific theme. Just working down my non-fiction list.

Might be a strange question to ask, but do you "get" anything out of reading non-fiction? Like, is there a substantive benefit you gained from reading these books?

It is an interesting question, and one I think about once in a while. My recall of specific facts from books I've read is pretty terrible (not sure if this true for others, or if it is related to my aphantasia in any way). That's true both for fiction and non-fiction I read. That said, I do feel that a certain amount of knowledge does remain, somewhere below the surface. I can carry on a conversation on a variety of topics, concepts that I have encountered before are processed faster, my worldview shifts and expands. I have general awareness of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his work :) Is the benefit substantive? Hard to say. But I enjoy the process and get to be a slightly more well-rounded person, so why not.

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#65

Post by AccountToUse » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 4:45 PM UTC

kevinmgranger wrote: post #44

stavros wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to describe flow as "when an hour passes in three minutes".

"...and you're happy with the time spent", to exclude time blindness, zoning out in a meeting, etc.

Strategy video games (Civilization series, SimCity, Total War series, Tycoon games) are right on the knife edge of this. I love the process. I love playing the game. Especially total war. I love conquering my neighboring nations and living out historical fantasies. But the next day, I feel awful.

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#66

Post by pmdulaney » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 4:48 PM UTC

ramenator wrote: post #32

djrockstar1 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be a strange question to ask, but do you "get" anything out of reading non-fiction? Like, is there a substantive benefit you gained from reading these books?

That is an odd question to ask, lol.

I agree -- it is an odd question to ask. One might as well ask, "Do you derive any benefits from this life thing?"

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#67

Post by kashyapc » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 6:12 PM UTC

akkartik wrote: post #56

kashyapc wrote: post #31

One of my favorite quotes from his book, Flow : "The ultimate test for the ability to control the quality of experience is what a person does in solitude, with no external demands to give structure to attention. It is relatively easy to become involved with a job, to enjoy the company of friends, to be entertained in a theater or at a concert. But what happens when we are left to our own devices? Alone, when the dark…

I wonder if future generations will totally misunderstand "left to own devices." No, it doesn't mean with your phone, tablet and watch.

Yikes ... I didn't even consider the "devices == gadgets" angle when I was writing it (I'm old enough to have lived a decent portion of my life without any gadgets and gongs). I'll be charitable and hope that a sensible future reader will situate the book in its time and place.

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#68

Post by kashyapc » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 6:22 PM UTC

DocTomoe wrote: post #40

kashyapc wrote: post #31

One of my favorite quotes from his book, Flow : "The ultimate test for the ability to control the quality of experience is what a person does in solitude, with no external demands to give structure to attention. It is relatively easy to become involved with a job, to enjoy the company of friends, to be entertained in a theater or at a concert. But what happens when we are left to our own devices? Alone, when the dark…

> Csíkszentmihályi's Flow also introduced me to Seneca and Marcus Aurelius (although, I prefer Epictetus to Aurelius). Flow led me down the rabbit hole to philosophical Daoism. It is astonishing how closely intertwined philosophy and psychology turn out to be.

Not at all astonishing. :-) Modern cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) originates[1] from the 2000-year-old work of Epictetus. Cicero memorably called philosophy as "the medicine of the mind". Going back to Socrates and Epictetus, philosophy was "a way of life", and not tying clever knots in thin air and untying them.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_emotive_behavior_ther...

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#69

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 7:15 PM UTC

neogodless wrote: post #53

fallat wrote: post #49

Tangential question: Could someone tell me how you're supposed to read "Csíkszentmihályi" ? To me it seems that names are supposed to be broken up into their syllables, but I could be very wrong: Csiks-zent-mihal-yi Essentially the same as: Sixzent-mehalyee

If you look through the few dozen comments here, there's several threads about this. In fact, it seems to be the primary topic of conversation. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28940355 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28944034 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28943790 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28941100

[deleted]

Re: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi has died

#70

Post by troppl » Thu, Oct 21, 2021, 7:39 PM UTC

Tangentially related, but has anyone here read his other book, "Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention". I loved "Flow" (his main book) so I wanted to read something else from him, but somehow it was just not the same. In the Flow book, I understood which concepts I should understand as a reader and the background of them, including individual stories, was very coherent. I can't really say the same about the other book. I would be interested what others think about this.