Forgetting ourselves in flow: an active inference account of flow states and how we experience ourselves within them
Darius Parvizi-Wayne, Lars Sandved-Smith, Riddhi J. Pitliya, Jakub Limanowski, Miles R. A. Tufft, Karl Friston
Frontiers in Psychology June 3, 2024 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1354719 (opens in new tab)
The journal has published a correction to this paper. Read the correction (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Active inference Embodied cognition Consciousness Self-awareness Predictive processing |
| Citations | 20 |
| Key points | Proposes that the phenomenology of flow is rooted in the deployment of high precision weight over expected sensory consequences of action and beliefs about sequential action, leading to minimized expected free energy and loss of the sense of self-as-object while preserving pre-reflective bodily self-awareness. |
Abstract
Flow has been described as a state of optimal performance, experienced universally across a broad range of domains: from art to athletics, gaming to writing. However, its phenomenal characteristics can, at first glance, be puzzling. Firstly, individuals in flow supposedly report a loss of self-awareness, even though they perform in a manner which seems to evince their agency and skill. Secondly, flow states are felt to be effortless, despite the prerequisite complexity of the tasks that engender them. In this paper, we unpick these features of flow, as well as others, through the active inference framework, which posits that action and perception are forms of active Bayesian inference directed at sustained self-organisation; i.e., the minimisation of variational free energy. We propose that the phenomenology of flow is rooted in the deployment of high precision weight over (i) the expected sensory consequences of action and (ii) beliefs about how action will sequentially unfold. This computational mechanism thus draws the embodied cognitive system to minimise the ensuing (i.e., expected) free energy through the exploitation of the pragmatic affordances at hand. Furthermore, given the challenging dynamics the flow-inducing situation presents, attention must be wholly focussed on the unfolding task whilst counterfactual planning is restricted, leading to the attested loss of the sense of self-as-object. This involves the inhibition of both the sense of self as a temporally extended object and higher–order, meta-cognitive forms of self-conceptualisation. Nevertheless, we stress that self-awareness is not entirely lost in flow. Rather, it is pre-reflective and bodily. Our approach to bodily-action-centred phenomenology can be applied to similar facets of seemingly agentive experience beyond canonical flow states, providing insights into the mechanisms of so-called selfless experiences, embodied expertise and wellbeing.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- A beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2025
- The paradox of the self-studying brain. Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025
- Reframing the lived experience of persistent dizziness: insights from active inference Frontiers in Psychology October 14, 2026
- Judging Passage and Passing Judgment: From Distrusting the Present to an Error Dynamics Account of Passage of Time Judgments Review of Philosophy and Psychology June 17, 2026
- Strange attractors: purpose, synchronicity, flow, and the neurodynamics of meaning. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2026
and 2 more in the library
Cites 69
- The Brain's Default Mode Network Annual Review of Neuroscience May 4, 2015
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- An Interoceptive Predictive Coding Model of Conscious Presence Frontiers in Psychology 2012
and 64 more in the library