How do our brains go on “autopilot” when going somewhere familiar, to the point where you don’t even remember most of the trip?

Question

Sometimes I’ve gone “on autopilot” and ended up in the completely wrong place. Like going all the way home and parking before realizing I was supposed to stop at the store. How is it possible to do all the complicated things needed to drive, but be mentally in a completely different place at the same time?

In: 3

Answer 1

In the same way that you don’t really think about the keys as you type, or a musician doesn’t think about their fingers while playing, or an athlete doesn’t think about how to move every body part while they compete. The nervous system is lazy- it will repeat whatever you did before as much as it can. When you do something the same way enough times, it becomes automatic (and hard to change!)