What happens when your brain goes on auto pilot?

Question

I drive a lot, and sometimes I just “scare” back into reality and I realize I wasn’t even paying attention the last few seconds, and it feels weird. Why and how does this happen?

In: 2885

Answer 1

This happens so often to me when doing routine drives like to and from work, and if I decide to stop somewhere and grab something after work, it has to be close or I have to just enter it into the GPS, otherwise I’ll be almost home and then remember, “Oh crap! I wanted to stop at [X] on the way home!”

Answer 2

This happens so often to me when doing routine drives like to and from work, and if I decide to stop somewhere and grab something after work, it has to be close or I have to just enter it into the GPS, otherwise I’ll be almost home and then remember, “Oh crap! I wanted to stop at [X] on the way home!”