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Comment by aaarrm | Hacker News Reader

Flow state relies on a constant information inflow that holds your attention perfectly, often hinging on competency and challenge. You can't enter it in AI coding because you need to wait for replies. It's incompatible.

I just watch YouTube in the downtime these days, or movies that I don't care too much about

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> Flow state relies on a constant information inflow

Does that mean when I'm in deep thinking without any external "information inflow" I'm not "in flow state"?

I'd agree that waiting for replies kind of pulls you out of flow if you just sit and wait, but I'm not sure why you'd do that. You can continue working along-side, validate, or continue iterating on the design while the agent does other things.

When you're deep thinking you have a constant information inflow that's coming from your own thoughts. This is different from relying on an exterior tool because in that scenario your brain is blocked from thinking by relying on that tool giving it a breather to wander off a garden path. That isn't necessarily a bad thing (it's nice to give your brain a stare off into the distance break every once in a while) but if you've adapted your thinking and working style to the constant inflow and outflow of information it can be highly disruptive.

Meditation teacher Michael Taft recommends "dropping into awake awareness" whenever you're waiting for a response. [1]

It's the opposite of watching YouTube, pretty much.

[1] https://x.com/OortCloudAtlas/status/2062208343192769004

Interesting. I still don't get what that means. Ironically, he suggests you just watch his YouTube.

Not sure what the OP or the person in the videos means but a direct, fast way I have found to “drop in” is to stop thinking and intensify my awareness of everything. Takes about 5-10 seconds to transition into a nonthinking timeless presence.

Attention is on the full body, and the field of perception, then field of awareness, all at the same time.

A bit like shavasana practice, but instead of scanning part by part, expand presence to everything.

The thinking analytical mind stops, the nonthinking mind activates and softly intensifies.

don't forget the love :)

The feeling of gentle content / blissful love emerges automatically as the grip of thinking convulsions releases the body.

It’s direct, effortless, always available, takes no time.

Easily done in any situation of passivity including meetings. Recommended during stand ups ;)

Yes this would be one “provisional” method among many, maybe hundreds of techniques but they all seem to lead to the same place as one gets familiar. In Buddhist Vajrayana schools this is called “non-meditation”. The ultimate instruction is to simply do nothing, but this requires a bit of initiation (and paradoxically, concentration) to get right.

Michael Taft has many different guided approaches to this on his channel but there are many other teachers as well, e.g. Adyashanti, Angelo Dillulo, Loch Kelly, Shinzen Young (specifically his Do Nothing and Auto Focus techniques) and expanding the gamut to traditional Vajrayana teachers, Lama Lena, Mingyur Rinpoche, Lama Dawai Gocha, all with accessible online teachings. Also Sayadaw U Tejaniya and Christopher Wallis who are less conventional, so to speak.

Not familiar with the infinite gamut of techniques, and yes sounds right.

It is possible, there are many ways, some people are curious about this state and lean into it, most are not. Who does, or doesn’t, and when, in my experience, is matter of grace. So no need to worry about it.

I see it as something that happens to me rather than caused by willpower. Much like a memory or a flashback that then transports you.

That's also my experience. It's absolutely a letting go rather than a doing; one of Michael Taft's analogies for it is "dropping the ball".

The provisional techniques are great because different techniques click for different people. Once they've seen what it is, it's easier to drop in more directly. If there's any willpower involved, it's more a subtle dropping of discursive mental commentary (especially on the process itself: I've got it - almost there - why can't I get there today - ah so this is what works, etc).

Once you're there, it feels like the most familiar and comfortable place in the world. As one of my teachers said, this is real rest.

There's an XKCD for that, "Compiling" : https://xkcd.com/303/

The difference is your boss isn’t going to fire the middleman so he can talk straight to the compiler

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