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

You have two cognitive processing systems: system 1 (fast, emotional, largely unconcious) and system 2 (slow, deliberative, largely conscious).

When we first learn a task, we do it through system 2, which is why you never clicked into autopilot when you were first learning to drive. After we practice a task a shit-ton, under various circumstances, we learn it to “automaticity,” and then that task can be controlled by system 1 (after driving for a year you can weave in and out of traffic at 100mph while you fiddle with the radio station and drink your latte). If the task gets more difficult than system 1 can handle, we pivot back to system 2 (which is why you turn the radio down when you’re looking for a new address the first time).

We usually have conscious access and the ability to override system 1 (you can refocus on driving whenever you want), but not always. One explanation for “choking” in athletic performance is that athletes try to take conscious control over system 1, but they’ve forgotten how to do the task consciously (try to consciously think about where every letter on the keyboard is as you type and watch what happens to your typing speed).

Answer 2

You have two cognitive processing systems: system 1 (fast, emotional, largely unconcious) and system 2 (slow, deliberative, largely conscious).

When we first learn a task, we do it through system 2, which is why you never clicked into autopilot when you were first learning to drive. After we practice a task a shit-ton, under various circumstances, we learn it to “automaticity,” and then that task can be controlled by system 1 (after driving for a year you can weave in and out of traffic at 100mph while you fiddle with the radio station and drink your latte). If the task gets more difficult than system 1 can handle, we pivot back to system 2 (which is why you turn the radio down when you’re looking for a new address the first time).

We usually have conscious access and the ability to override system 1 (you can refocus on driving whenever you want), but not always. One explanation for “choking” in athletic performance is that athletes try to take conscious control over system 1, but they’ve forgotten how to do the task consciously (try to consciously think about where every letter on the keyboard is as you type and watch what happens to your typing speed).