The accomplishment of winning a marathon turns into more of a chore. The enjoyment and the flow are lost and, instead, dread has been gained. So, is there a limit? Yes, there is a maximum to what the human race can achieve in terms of making things “better.” “Better” becomes “the best” and that is all it really can be. And once this maximum has been reached, all individuality is lost. What makes the human race, the human race, is gone. In the books, “Enough” and “Jimmy Corrigan”, the future of our race is compared in many ways. To the author of Enough, Bill McKibben, the human race will soon merge into one identical race. There will not be a difference among individuals nor their abilities. In the comic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, the author predicts the future in a more humorous way. The future of our race is, simply put, a very gloomy one. These two books help portray the idea of the loss of individualism among our race if we continue at this pace.
But what exactly is the “flow”. According to Mark Strand, the flow can be described as “You're right in the work, you lose your sense of time, you're completely enraptured, you're completely caught up in what you are doing... When you are working on something and you are working well, you have the feeling that there's no other way of saying what you're saying” (Finding Flow). Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the founding father of the idea of the flow, describes flow as having three parts. These parts include the merging of action and awareness, a sense of control, and an altered sense of time (Csikszentmihalyi). But there are certain criteria that must be true, for the flow to arise. These criteria may include the individual must have goals that are predetermined or “a balance between perceived challenges and perceived skills” (Csikszentmihalyi). The purpose of the research of Csikszentmihalyi is to “suggests that the phenomenological experience of flow is a powerful motivating force. When individuals are fully involved in an activity, they tend to find the activity enjoyable and intrinsically rewarding” (Csikszentmihalyi). The purpose of the flow and motivation is essentially to make the human race happier. So, by eliminating the flow, the human race looses all happiness as well. But isn’t the purpose of human race is to reach perfection? What is perfection without happiness? Without the criteria of the flow, it is impossible for the phenomenon of the flow to actually occur. The research of Csikszentmihalyi and others have paved the way for understanding the flow and the end product of motivation. Both McKibben and Jimmy Corrigan also contributed to the understanding of the flow, only in a more satirical sense.
In Bill McKibben’s book, “Enough”, an example of a rock climber is used to explain the “flow” an athlete enters when they are concentrated on one particular thing. He states, “If he were genetically altered to have stronger fingers and forearms, he would be able to climb harder routes- but he wouldn’t go ‘deeper’ into the flow state” (McKibben 52). The piece of mind that a rock climber is in disappears. The rock climber no longer feels a challenge, just something to keep his body moving. The flow and self discovery are no longer things the rock climber looks forward to at the start of the task. The rock climber reaches for the next groove in the rock without hesitation and sense of a challenge. McKibben also states, “So an upgrade won’t multiply your joy. Instead, it might as well sap joy, because forgetting the self seems to be a key part of falling into the flow” (McKibben 52-53). The "knowing" of what you are capable of (which in the future, if this continues, will be everything) throws away the flow. The process of the "flow" is almost like an out-of-body experience. But it is not so out-of-body when the task is no longer a challenge but an ego boost. "I think I can" turns into, "Ha, yes, so, I knew I could climb that rock without even flinching." The human race will have nothing to look forward to, nothing to strive for. There will no longer be a separation between world class athlete and honor roll student. Actually, everyone in the race will be that combination and more.
But there is a time when an end has to be met. If everyone is the best then what happens? The answer- the sense of individuality- is lost. We no longer have an identity but a mere number to distinguish one from the other. The human race blends into one, identical species. Once the human race becomes all it can be, there will be nothing left to achieve. In the comic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, a young boy is portrayed with a dream to be like Superman. Now let’s look ahead to the next one hundred years when every human being is just as strong, just as smart, and just as handsome as Superman. Who is the superhero then? Do we have one? The answer is “No.” The human race will have no one to look up to as their savior or their hero. The desire to become just like Superman does not exist if you already are just like him, or even better than him.
However like anything in life there are two sides to a story. On the other side of the spectrum, is Lee M. Silver, the author of the book “Challenging Nature”. This is where McKibben is challenged. Lee Silver believes in not only expanding genetic engineering, but also, enhancing the flow, not eliminating it. Everything that human race makes or does genetically to themselves will be nothing but beneficial. The flow that we know of right now may be eliminated, but a new flow will be created, one that will be far better than the old one. Changing our chemical makeup may be able to stimulate our minds and our bodies not to eliminate the flow, but to enhance it. This new flow will be so enhanced that the old one will no longer be in comparison. There is no maximum for human achievement in human genetics. The best will keep on getting better. To help enhance this flow, steroids were made. Steroids can achieve the ultimate “in the zone” feeling and can lead to complete self accomplishment. But steroids can also lead to an increase in ego and therefore loss of any sort of “underdog” feeling. This “underdog” feeling often leads to motivation in any sort of task or event. Without it, motivation does not exist. In a recorded clinical study, a group of men were given testosterone to observe the change in muscle mass and strength. The article, “The Effects of Supraphysiologic Doses of Testosterone on Muscle Size and Strength in Normal Men” states “The men in the testosterone groups had significant increases in the cross-sectional areas of the triceps and the quadriceps” (NEJM). Already, just from appearance, the ego of these men has gone through the roof. The results of this study are incredibly dramatic. "The combination of strength training and testosterone produced greater increases in muscle size and strength than were achieved with either intervention alone. The combined regimen of testosterone and exercise led to an increase of 6.1 kg in fat-free mass over the course of 10 weeks; this increase entirely accounted for the changes in body weight"(NEJM).
Based on the results, it is safe to say that with the legalization of steroids, all individuality will be lost. The sense of not always be on top, will be eliminated. No possible flow can be achieved because one of the criterions is not met. This specific criterion states “a balance between perceived challenges and perceived skills” (Csikszentmihalyi). If the perceived challenge is eliminated, it is not possible to achieve the flow, no matter how enhanced it might be. The results of this experiment prove that every man that is on this steroid will look just like the other. The muscle masses and the strength will all be the same. Originating to the concept of the human race being ideally perfect, but perfect in a way where there no there is no distinction among the individuals. If steroids become legal and ever player abuses it, the sport, or any, will forever be changed. There will no longer be any world class athletes, for every athlete will be world class. That means no record breaking Michael Phelps or Lance Armstrong. This again brings us back to the idea of loss of individuality. The human race will all become one big, record-breaking, honor roll, mess.
Sometime in the future, a line has to be drawn. A vote needs to be cast on the reality of the situation. Someone needs to stand up and say, "Is this really what we all want? Let's look at the consequences if we continue with the way we are." Well, if that never happens, I urge that we climb all the rocks we can now. Enjoy the very last of the challenge that is put forth. Enjoy the flow of "not knowing" and of self discovery. And enjoy all the superhero's you idol. Because soon, they will all be gone.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, Sami ABUHAMDEH, and JEANNE NAKAMURA. "Flow." 28 Mar. 2009 http://academic.udayton.edu/jackbauer/CsikFlow.pdf.
"Finding flow: the psychology of ... -." Google Book Search. 26 Mar. 2009 http://books.google.com/books?id=bzmziLphHMQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=finding+flow#PPA62,M1.
McKibben, Bill. Enough Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2004.
"NEJM -- The Effects of Supraphysiologic Doses of Testosterone on Muscle Size and Strength in Normal Men." The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on Diseases & Clinical Practice. 01 Apr. 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment