The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance Hardcover – March 4, 2014

I have read a lot of books about flow. Of course, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience, is the classic, but I found it lacking in a number of ways. It's value is in introducing the concept of flow to a broad audience, including me. But it lacks in detail, in practical use, and it bypasses the importance of community.I had grave doubts about Kotler's book, since, though active (hiking, biking, bikejor, horseback riding, etc.), I am not interested in extreme sports. They have always struck me as a show-offs "thing". Although I still believe that there is great truth to that, in many cases, I am now able to appreciate what extreme sports participants are getting internally and via community from their sports. But, far above and beyond knowledge of and appreciation for extreme sports is what Kotler has to say about flow. Flow, not extreme sports, is the real topic of this book. Extreme sports are just used as an example. Kotler does state that extreme sports are the only reliable way to experience flow, which I strongly disagree with. But I'm glad I continued on with this book after reading that line. There is so much great stuff in here!Kotler's own summary, in the preface, is good: despite the unusual "them" at the center of this story, this book is really about us: you and me. Who doesn't want to know how to be their best when it matters most? To be more creative, more contented, moare consumed? To soar and not sink?... Towards these ends, this book is divided into three parts. Part One examines just how far action and adventure sports athletes have pushed the bounds of the possible and explores the science of why (this work is based on over a decade of rearch...). It's here that we'll see how flow works in the brain and the body, how it massively accelerates mental and physical performance... Part Two of this book probes the nature of the chase: how these athletes have mastered flow, how they have redesigned their lives to cultivate the state, and how we can too. Finally, Part Three looks at the darker side of flow, wider cultural impacts, and the future.The beginning of the book covers the neuroelectricity, neuroanatomy, and neurochemisty of flow in a useful and interesting way. Detailed, but not too complicated. Kotler discusses Csikszentmihalyi, of course, but points out that Csikszentmihalyi missed the important element of decision making as an aspect of flow. Brainwaves are discussed, covering what is happening in the brain when different brainwaves are occurring, and how these relate to achieving and being in flow.Kotler discusses the work of Leslie Sherlin, an expert on the neuroscience of high performance. From the book: "That's the secret," says Sherlin, "extremely fluid brain control. Most people can't make it through the whole cycle. They get hung up somewhere. They either can't generate all the necessary brain states or they can't control them. Elite performers can produce the right brainwave at the right time, vary its intensity as needed, then smoothly transition to the next step. Mentally, they just take total charge of the situation." Flow states, which can be considered elite performance on overdrive, take this process one step farther. "In the zone, " says Sherlin, "you still see this same fluidity in the transitions between states, but you also see even more control. Instead of producing all these other brainwaves, really good athletes can transition smoothly into the zone, creating that low alpha / high theta wave, and then hold themselves there, sort of in suspended animation, shutting out the conscious mind and letting the implicit system do it's stuff." I found the rest of the book to be very helpful in actually achieving it. Kotler gives details on how to do so, not just theory. Theory is great, and can certainly be applied, but to learn what top researchers have discovered when studying it is very helpful. That all in here.The interrelationship between flow and creativity is well covered. Kotler tells us, "In flow, we are out resourceful, imaginative, ingenious best. Better still, the changes stick. According to research by Harvard Business School Professor Teresa Amabile, not only are creative insights consistently associated with flow states, but that amplified creativity outlasts the zone. People report feeling extraordinarily creative the day after a flow state"Learning about transient hypofrontality was very helpful. Kotler has a lot to say about it, but here's a good summary of why it is relevant, "In flow, parts of the PFC (a brain region) aren't becoming hyperactive; parts of it are temporarily deactivating. It's an efficiency exchange. We're trading energy usually used for higher cognitive functions for heightened attention and awareness."I also found the insight that flow isn't like a lightswitch to be very helpful in maintaining/obtaining flow. There are stages and degrees of flow. These are described in detail and are very useful in a practical way.While reading this book, I kept saying to myself, yes, but what about the social/community side of flow. Csikszentmihalyi seems to use it in examples, but bypass it in discussing the aspects of flow. The book, Trying Not To Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity, by Edward Slingerland, is another wonderful book on flow. It is quite different from Kotler's book, as it focuses on what Eastern philosophy has to teach us about flow. One important aspect it covers well is the social side of flow. Anyway, then I reached chapter 8 in Kotler's book and was delighted to discover that he does cover the social aspect of flow. Some overlaps what Edward Slingerland says, and some is new inslght.I've already given this book as a gift once, and will be giving it to at least one other person as well. It can add so much to a person's life to understand and achieve flow regularly.Highly recommended!!

I picked up Rise of Superman because I would like to spend more time in flow states. I believe in hustling hard and hustling smart but I know that I don't actually spend that much time in flow. Flow states are a result of evolutionary psychology that drastically increases awareness of the world around us. The book does a great job of illustrating flow state science by telling stories of superhuman feats accomplished by action & adventure athletes in flow. for these kinds of athletes reaching flow states is literally a matter of life and death, so they make great case studies of something that for everyone else is kind of nebulous. However, sometimes it's difficult to visualize a complex skate boarding trick, if you are not a skater. It would have been neat if the kindle version of the book linked to Youtube videos. It would have been interesting to see the book say more about addicts and flow states. As flow states naturally recreate the cocktail of neurotransmitters that addicts chase. You always hear that addicts need to replace one addiction with another, it would be really fascinating to see some research done on training addicts to enter flow states. I've said before that I think that the human capacity for invention, creativity, collaboration and generosity multiplied by the steep growth curves in technology have a real chance in the next 50 years of eradicating: poverty, war, hunger, disease, environmental issues, lack of education, even aging and death. If we can harness the power of flow, 50 years from now we will be able to look at the world and see these demons vanquished from the world.

We may have heard in our youth that we only use 10% of our brains. David Eagleman gave us “Incognito” to teach us that the other 90% (our subconscious) is very much in use and quite literally controls much more of us than we think. Nassim Taleb showed us in “Antifragile” that the most resilient and productive things become so when subjected to extreme variation in stressors. Norman Doidge in “The Brain That Changes Itself” helped us understand that our brains are not simply software running on top of hardware, but can actually be rewired with experience throughout life.To me, Steve Kotler gives us a first glimpse at what it might look like to rewire our brains to become hugely more productive by intentionally triggering stressors that take us into a scientifically based new mental state of ‘flow.’ This book is not about a metaphor, it’s about a relevant field of study in human neuroscience. Reading it, you will understand how when stressed under the right conditoins, the brain produces cocktails of key chemicals like norepinephrine to tighten focus (data acquisition), dopamine to enhance pattern recognition (data processing), and anandamide accelerates lateral thinking (widens search by pattern recognition system). These 3 chemicals mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD and marijuana, but so far no one has been able to mimic the balance and timing of the cocktail that internal generation creates.It also ties in the work of Charles Limb at Johns Hopkins who I had seen talk once on how jazz musicians experience deactivatation of their ‘dorsolateral prefrontal cortex’ when they go into flow. This means that going into flow requires turning off those parts that handle self-monitoring, control and thus inhibition. Some of these effects can now be triggered intentionally with electromagnetic pulses – something I first saw in the work for Allan Snyder at the ‘Centre for the Mind’ in Australia, but this integrates those observations with a broader view.It helps us begin to understand why freedom from rules and flexibility of action are key to innovation. It helps us understand how Taleb’s ‘skin in the game’ is actually important neurologically, and why humility, not arrogance, is key to breakthrough innovation.Although cast using a breadth of examples of extreme action sports, I agree this book signals the possibility of a whole new world of human productivity and creativity ahead. If there is a ‘new world’ of human productivity ahead, this book is the beach on a small island in the Caribbean.This book may be the most important book for innovation since Clayton Christensen’s “Innovator’s Dilemma”, and can’t wait to see where the seemingly emerging community of ‘flow hackers’ might take us? If we figure out how to trigger ourselves into flow in a wider array of tasks, I expect an avalanche of innovation for otherwise seemingly insurmountable problems – very exciting to think about!