Gaming Zone?

texchanchan writes "The BBC reports on a study by Dr. Costas Karageorghis, Brunel University (London): 'Recent research has suggested that it could be possible for a person immersed in a computer game to achieve the same level of meditative concentration' usually found in religious contemplatives and athletes in 'The Zone.' The article also quotes Dr. Karageorghis as saying 'It's a deeply pleasurable experience and it's something that's not very often experienced by people, rather it's something that often represents people's peak experiences in a particular area.'"

Comments

programming zone?

[Eil]

Does anyone here ever *think* they achieve this Flow State while coding? I can definitely see the common ground between sports and video games... both require strong mental agility, the constant evaluation of possible strategies and split-second decisions and whatnot.

And, in light of that, I guess I answered my own question. Programming is more about careful thinking than quick thinking. But then if the key element to being in "The Zone" is concentration, the perhaps coding would apply. Definitely something for me to ponder sometime.

Oh yeah, and while I do agree with their thesis, that article (not to mention their hideous "cutting edge" methods) sounded just a bit hokey, don't you think?

Re:programming zone?

[gwadej]

So many times I can't count them.

One of the more interesting effects of this phenomenon in programming is the measurable results. If you are not careful you generate horendous code that can only be understood whail in hack mode. It is possible, however, to generate really spectacular code in that state as well.

I, personally, think that the issue is not quick thinking or concentration as much as the ability to keep up with a large number of items/issues/concepts at the same time. This seems to have the effect of quick response when actually the person was already aware of something that others had not yet noticed. In code, this is more obvious because badly written hack mode code requires that you understand and keep up with too much to understand the code.

Re:programming zone?

[martyb]

Does anyone here ever *think* they achieve this Flow State while coding?

Most definitely... often 2 or 3 times in a day. Never before thought to associate it with meditation, but I can see similarities.

My own experience has been that when I am in the zone, there's a certain balance:

• I know [most of] the subject matter. There's only so much "new stuff" that I can squeeze into my head in a given period of time. There's a discomfort for me as I approach that limit (think cramming for final exams). The less knew stuff I have to learn along the way, the more room I have available in my short-term memory to keep track of the programming details.
• There's the right amoung of challenge. There's enough of a challenge so that I'm not bored, yet not so much that I'm overwhelmed. At either of those extremes, there's a feeling of discomfort.
• I'm making steady progress. When trying to develop a piece of code, there's a whole slew of decisions that need to be made each second. Variable names, language constructs (syntax), algorithms, interfaces, exception handling, etc. When I try something, and keep getting compiler errors, that'll zap me out of the zone pretty quickly. There's an element of risk-taking and success, time-after-time. Confidence builds. Anxieties fade and ultimately disappear.
• I'm free from interruptions and distractions.. One phone call or someone popping their head into my office for a "quick question" can blow it all away. It's KNOWING that I won't be interrupted that allows me to put my "guard" down and apply a bit more of my mind into it. I can stay focused.
• I'm physically comfortable. Not too hot or too cold. Not hungry. Helps to not be sick, too. When any of those are operative, it's a distraction from my concentration. The less intrusion from the "outside (physical) world" the better for me to focus on my "intellectual world".
• I want to do it! There's a hunger, a wanting, a desire... an openness and receptivity. There's a sense of hope and joy and happiness. When I feel FORCED to do something, there's generally a displeasure, resentment, anger, and probably some fear, too.

By no means is this an exhaustive list; it's just my own experience. Yet, I suspect many of these factors are true for others. Through it all is a sense that things are within my "comfort zone"; neither too much nor too little. There's also a sense of continuity whereby each small success builds on the next until there's a sense that the next challenge can be readily solved, too. When that happens, I have no sense of the passing of time, I can see the minute details along with the big picture and all the levels in between.

In short, I'm receptive to what's coming in, I'm experiencing pleasure in what I'm doing, and I'm successful in what I'm producing.

Playing Music

[ratamacue]

The "zone" is applicable to playing music as well. I think there are plenty of musicians who would testify to this. I play the drums and I have experienced it before (at least I'd like to think so).

Symptoms of the zone

[bedheading]

I don't know if I've been in the same zone the article speaks of, but some friends and I have come to a conclusion that the #1 symptom of being overly immersed in a video game is talking absolute nonsense without realizing it. You'll be staring into the screen, and you'll utter completely random phrases that may only loosely, if at all, tie in to anything that's going on around you. Anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Also, I've been in a state playing games where I repeat the same thought, image, or phrase over repeatedly in my mind until I accomplish the particular part I'm trying to beat in the game. This is pretty common, at least when I get to a point where I'm definitely "stuck" in the game. This thought doesn't necessarily have to do with the game, most often not, actually. Again, can anyone else relate?

Training with Video Games

[blazen1]

"If athletes use computer games, maybe to relax, and they do get into Flow, and they learn what that experience is all about, it may be that there is something they can extract from that experience and put into the sporting context,"

Good examples of this are NASCAR drivers, their racing series runs primarily oval tracks but about twice a year they run on a road course. Because many of them have limited experience with these tracks I know that some drivers use video games to help learn the layout, braking points, and passing areas.

On Meditation...

[Anonymous Coward]

Meditation isn't some practice to achieve some 'state'. Buddhists and those who meditate who aren't just empty nirvana-seekers know that the practice of silent meditation is the easy part.

True meditation is to have choiceless awareness of all things(self and otherwise) seep into your life so that you are fully Awake moment to moment. This is the real work.

Game playing and sports training are just (Pavolvian) conditioning. Real meditation is pure awareness without goal-seeking.

I meditate and have been in the 'zone'. They are not the same thing.

Well, which is it?

[Comrade Pikachu]

A previous story claimed that video games were bad for the brain because they repressed beta wave activity. This supposedly leads to lower cognitive activity and that's supposed to be a bad thing. Well, zen monks and atheletes lower their cognitive thinking in order to practice their craft and here we call it a good thing: getting in "the Zone".

All this proves is that data can be interpreted in different ways. It has more to do with political "spin" than science. I want to know who is funding these studies. Computer gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry, so there is a lot at stake.

The psychology of optimal experience

[ascii]

FYI - what Dr. Karageorghis is referring to is Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi's work on "Flow - The psychology of optimal experience" in which he describes the characteristics of enjoyable experiences. The following is an excerpt from the book, describing these characteristics:

1. the experience usually occurs when we confront tasks we have a chance of completing.
2. we must be able to concentrate on what we are doing.
3. - 4. concentration is usually possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.
5. one acts with a deep but effortless involvement that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life.
6. enjoyable experiences allow people to exercise a sense of control over their actions.
7. concern for the self disappears yet paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over.
8. the sense of the duration of time is altered.
(Csikszentmihalyi; p49)

What's interesting is the similarity of these characteristics to some works done on computergames by Greg Costikyan ("I have no words and I must design"), Chris Crawford ("The Art of Computer Game Design") as well as works on games in general, such as Avedon & Sutton-Smiths "The study of games".

Csikszentmihalyi's work is !very! interesting if you're into the epistemology of computergaming, which - humbly - happens to be the topic of my graduate thesis ;)

Zen of ... doing things

[magi]

In Zen buddhism, and many schools of martial arts, you can find the following concepts:

Isshin, "one mind", means extreme focusing on a single topic or a target. One archery master has written: "One life, one arrow. Use your entire life for firing one arrow."

Zanshin, cautious mind, means broadness of perception, being aware of everything that's happening around you.

Mushin, empty mind, is totally free of fear, distress, pain, and other distractions. "Mushin doesn't get entangled to anything, but flows as freely as a flowing water, finding its way in a riverbed."

The goal is to find a mental state where all three aspects combine.

Of course, martial arts teachers say that mushin can only be attained after years, if not decades, of practice. I don't know if that's true - they might be confusing superior mental state with actual superior performance, which is a combination of skill, physical prowess, and mental state, and might therefore not be relevant.

I believe these aspects are pretty common in about everything people do, not just martial arts, sports, computer games, or zen monk business. Some martial arts people, such as the sword master Mushashi, have said the same, when they have observed the same mental states in artistic performers, and actually in people of all professions.

Personally, I love computer games, and especially in first-person-shooters I often find moments where the game just "flies" with a deadly rhythm. There's definitely zanshin there, and possibly also isshin and mushin. Assuming that I'm right about the meaning of isshin and mushin, I might say that mushin is very common in playing, while isshin is less clear.

Such mental states do not of course quarantee success, because you're probably not the only good player there, and good skill, reactions, and especially items may usually give better results that any game Zen. ...maybe the "easily flying game" is just because I've managed to scrounge all the best weapons and armor...

Games do resemble stimulant drugs. I just finished Baldur's Gate, which I started playing two weeks ago. When I started, I played 30 hours straight with almost no breaks. I didn't feel any need for sleeping or eating or doing or thinking anything else. It's same thing with all new games, usually I play them through in a weekend.

As a side note, I must say that attaining such states might be easier for some people. For example, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is often associated with super-concentration, one which is often compared in psychological texts to "a mental state common with top athletes". Go figure.

Losing streaks

[xixax]

However, what about the losing streaks?

That would be the day I accidentally trashed a very expensive database that we were building by sorting a hash table that was never meant to be sorted. After getting the BOFH to restore it from backup (whew), I told my boss and went home. I am glad I was not piloting an oil-tanker that day in that state. Can tanker captains and jet pilots take the day off becauase they are too far outside the zone?

Xix.