...what the social environment told them to want...

Wealth, status, and power have become in our culture all too powerful symbols of happiness. ... And we assume that if only we could acquire some of those same symbols, we would be nuch happier.

...the concentration is usually possible because the task undertaken has clear goals and provides immediate feedback.

...they make us dependent on a social system that exploits our energies for its own purposes. ...If a person learns to enjoy and find meaning in the ongoing stream of experience, in the process of living itself, the burden of social controls automatically falls from one's shoulders.

The essence of socialization is to make people dependent on social controls, to have them respond predictably to rewards and punishments.

But anyone who has experienced flow knows that the deep enjoyment it provieds requires an equal degree of disciplined concentration.