AutoPilot
So, I recently drove to work without actually consciously driving to work. I mean, I got in the car, and I really don't know what I was thinking about, and I don't remember making conscious decisions to turn here or there or to take this exit or that. I was on auto pilot. Is that possible? How can I not be wary of neighboring drivers? It was raining today, how could I not have noticed the rain, and have a heightened sense of awareness? I somehow knew it was raining. I had a waterproof jacket on and an umbrella in my hand. But how is it that 25 minutes could have passed completely undetected by my conscience radar?
I wonder if some people go through their lives on auto pilot? Like Adam Sandler's character did in Click? Do you think our mental state could be that disconnected from our physical presence? I guess that may be the point of 'daydreaming'. But the most known cases of daydreaming occur when the body is in an almost immobile state (e.g. sitting in class staring at the white board, lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, etc.) but not when you're actually performing multiple behaviors.
Maybe it is possible. Some can listen to music and study at the same time. Some can drive and talk on the phone (maybe not safely, but still without accident), and some can drive home and end up in a Walmart parking lot unphased, undisturbed, and completely at a loss as to what they came there for. I do know some people who have difficulty drinking a soda and walking, so maybe it's not the end of the world.
But, it's like putting the cereal box in the fridge and the milk gallon in the pantry, or throwing away the candy and putting the wrapper in your mouth. We perform these set of behaviors until they become automatic, and then we need someone to just put a quarter in us, and our contraption gets that jolt, and follows through until completion, unless prematurely interrupted. No I'm not referring to intercourse here, people! I'm referring to the ability for us to LEARN. Our neurons become stronger and stronger the more automatic sets of connections (or behaviors, or sequences) become. In essence, we're driven to become automatic.
Imagine if we had to re-learn the alphabet every time we wanted to write something. That would be nearly impossible. We had to automatize the alphabet, ingrain them in ourselves so that we may improve ourselves further. Is that how we reach enlightenment then? By automatizing our material world to a point where we are completely unphased by any occurrence, and only are aware of novel experiences in the spiritual or enlightened realm?
Does any of this make sense, or is it all humbug?
3 comments:
It makes sense, and it happens. Happens to me quite a lot. As a matter of fact I can consciously take myself into an "unconscious" state of mind while driving to a place where I have been a thousand times. I somehow phase myself out of the surroundings, focus on thinking whatever I want to think about and the car drives itself, the exits and turns happen and before I know it I am there. But I wonder if we would be in automatic phase if we didnt have much to think about.
if we weren't logically programmed we'd be walking into walls and falling down a lot more...
I guess you're right. As a baby, we haven't learned yet how to walk, and as we begin to, our brain begins to automatize (by the way, I think I made up that word... I get the royalties... ) the mechanics, and perception of it all. Balance, distance, direction, the whole shibang gets wired somewhere somehow, so we can pick our noses while we walk, quite easily without any hiccups.
It'll be cool to see if we evolve into beings that can tie our shoes while we walk.. hahah That's a toughy.
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