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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  –  psychologist
Click for larger image " I... have a naive trust in the universe –– that at some level it all makes sense, and we can get glimpses of that sense if we try."
       
 
How were you originally motivated to become a psychologist?
  As a child in WWII Europe, I was dismayed to find out that grownups had no idea what was going on, and were helpless to extricate themselves from the mess they had created. I resolved to figure out how one could live a better life, and tried many things –– art, fiction, philosophy, working in youth organizations, etc. I discovered psychology through the writings of C.J. Jung, and thought that perhaps this was the best way to understand behavior and history. I can't say I have, but in the process I learned a lot and had a good time.   Click for larger image
       
 
What can you share about your creative process?
    Not much, except that I seem to have a synthetic approach to experience (seeing similarities between events and things even when there aren't) and I get interested in figuring them out. I have large doses of that "naivete" that Goethe thought was important for creativity –– e.g. I don't understand a lot of things others take for granted, and I am left cold by fads such as postmodernism, etc. This makes it seem that my ideas are "original" because they diverge from whatever is popular at the time. I also seem to have a naive trust in the universe –– that at some level it all makes sense, and we can get glimpses of that sense if we try. I also love to write, and my ideas develop as I try to make myself clearer in the process of writing.  
       
 
What ideas do you have for a future human community on Mars?
  I think it would be neat. I understand, however, that some of the physiological (e.g. deterioration of muscle in zero gravity) and psychological problems (e.g. getting along with crewmates after being cooped up for an at least 6–month flight, etc.) are still rather untractable. But hey, if Columbus made it, I am sure we can too (though don't count me in –– at the age of 94 I'd prefer to sit in a Barca–lounger sipping mulled wine and reading a good book).  
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