States of flow involve a loss of the critic and a profound sense of absorption.

“So during episodes when you are experiencing a state of flow, I used to have this when I wrote computer code, when I was way younger. You can totally get absorbed by it, right? Or you read a book, or you read an engaging movie, or you play some sports or something, or you're Alex Holub and climb, right? And partly these states are so addictive because it's such... You've just realized you spent the last 20 minutes in this heavenly state doing something, but again, the critic is gone.”