NB: Originally published on Map and Territory on Medium. This is an old post originally published on 2016-10-04. It was never previously cross-posted or linked on LessWrong, so I'm adding it now for posterity. It's old enough that I can no longer confidently endorse it, and I won't bother trying to defend it if you find something wrong, but it might still be interesting.

A lot of folks these days talk about “flow” to mean some kind of mystical state where they experience something like automatic decision making where they get out of their own way and just do. Less mysteriously, other folks use “flow” to describe periods of focused attention. More mysteriously, some folks talk about something similar but as the Daoist idea of action through non-action. Let’s see if we can make some sense of what’s going on here.

As far as I can tell we talk about flow because Daoist philosophy explains virtuous behavior (de) as being a mind like water. Chapter 78 of the Daodejing reads:

Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.

Therefore the Master remains
serene in the midst of sorrow.
Evil cannot enter his heart.
Because he has given up helping,
he is people’s greatest help.

True words seem paradoxical.

And Chapter 15 reads:

The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.
Their wisdom was unfathomable.
There is no way to describe it;
all we can describe is their appearance.

They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-over stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water.

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.

Though this is not necessarily the direct lineage of the modern usage, this gives a sense of what metaphors of being liquid-like are trying to imply. In flow a person acts naturally, takes the most direct path, and problems yield before them. It’s reported to feel from the inside like achieving withou...