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This chapter engages with the question of whether musical absorption is not some kind of "flow" experience. I analyze Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow to draw a twofold negative conclusion to the question. Firstly, the theory is so general and conceptually underspecifying, especially with regard to the nature of self-awareness, that more or less any pleasant experience might instantiate flow: as such it is not falsifiable. Secondly, in spite of its generality, a number of DSQ experiences are incompatible with the theory as its predictions on the relation between challenge and skill do not hold.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-00659-4_7

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