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Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner, also thought about dividing the brain's work into “routine” — automatic and “for complex calculations” — requiring effort. In his view, our brain is divided into two systems: System 1 works in a constant mode and works very quickly and relies on previous experience, System 2 works at a time of high mental effort, when previous experience is not enough.
For example, after reading this question, I immediately remembered about Kahneman — system 1 worked, but to write the answer, I had to turn on system 2 — before that I had not had to write about Kahneman and his systems.
It is quite possible if you bring this action to full automatism. Prepare everything you need. Repeat the same thing over and over again. And in the process, gradually learn to think about some other topic. It is advisable not to “wander in the clouds”, namely, to reflect, solve questions.
Before answering the question, you need to define the terms:
The unconscious is something that is performed automatically, reactively-instinctively.
Consciously – something that is performed by calculation and logical reflection.
Unconscious instinctive activity is most economical and effective in the wild. The brain tends to act effectively, which is why almost all human activity is unconscious and motivated by instinctive behavior.
You can go even further into the “autopilot” by adopting various meditative practices. Of course, going this way in life you will not create anything, but you will be happy.
Being conscious requires a lot of energy and may well bring pain and suffering, but there will be a chance to fill your life with interesting ideas and possibly create something new that no one has created before you.
Cuba. Provided that I would have some source of income in foreign currency – without currency, you can't really buy anything there, the deficit is terrible. But there are wonderful cheerful people there, they speak Spanish (I love Spanish). And the rum is cheap.
Not in the eyebrow, but in the eye! There is such an idea that everything that we do not invent and invent in Nature has long existed and is successfully applied in practice. And not only in the animal world. It turns out that the person himself is in an autopilot state for most of his life. Much of what he does is nothing more than an acquired set of honed and automatic movements. Our movements, gait, behavior, way of thinking – all this was once studied by us and recorded in the registers of subconscious movements. We don't always think about how we walk, how we run, we just do it. How we eat( think again about our posture and elbow position), how we move the cup to our mouth, or how we react emotionally to this or that event. Often, all we need is just to want to do something, and our brain decides how to do it. And if the task is not difficult and we have performed it more than once before, we do it without hesitation. That is, most of the simple tasks we solve in life are not consciously realized. Our brain is a huge biocomputer, it is able to remember a surprisingly large number of patterns for our motor and thought processes. We constantly use these templates. Does it look like autopilot? Very complex and multifunctional, but autopilot.
We are part of the chain of evolution, and Nature has given us this ability. This was done for our own convenience, due to the fact that our active attention has certain limits and can be expressed in a certain amount. Our subconscious mind also partially performs the functions of an autopilot, so as not to overload the active part of consciousness. But fully trusting this autopilot feature can play a cruel joke on us. In such a comfort zone, without special requirements for increased attention, we can be absent-minded and inattentive, which can lead to serious and not always reversible consequences. What is commonly considered in society “senile diseases of the mind” are the negative consequences of a long existence on autopilot.
And only when we are faced with some new task for us, if it cannot be completed by compiling old templates that we have already acquired, do we have to leave our comfort zone and focus on solving it. Focusing on one object clears our mind, so we temporarily “wake up”. When we solved the problem and ran it several times, that's all, the new template is in our “pocket”.
Emotions, illnesses, ignorance, laziness, illusions – these are all obstacles to our “awakening”, clear unclouded consciousness.
Being unaware of what we are doing is a never-ending dream.
The philosophy of Buddhism is based on this concept. The person is already asleep, he occasionally wakes up when he is faced with a difficult task and begins to solve it not according to the standard, then falls asleep again. This has been described many times in philosophy, literature, and film. Is it worth retelling the scenario of the well-known “Matrix”?
Let's try to look at it from the point of view of modern psychology. Science also does not stand still:)
So, from the point of view of modern psychology, our consciousness can be divided into two peculiar response systems: they are responsible for fast and slow thinking, or “intuitive” and conscious thinking. Daniel Kahneman, in his book Think Slow, Decide Fast, calls them System1 and System2.
The “intuitive” System1 influences what happens more than we know from experience, and secretly influences a lot of our choices and judgments. System1 always works automatically and very quickly, requiring almost no effort and giving no sense of deliberate control. But System2 highlights the attention needed for conscious mental effort, including complex calculations. System2 actions are often associated with a subjective sense of activity, choice, and, of course, concentration.
Try to compare the performance of these two systems by solving two calculations in your mind. First, multiply 3 by 4! The solution was given to you easily, you almost did not need to put in extra effort.
Now try to calculate at least approximately the result of multiplying 17 by 23. Another example, try adding two three-digit numbers in your mind. If you decided to complete this task, then you could feel all the difference between these two systems. System2 engages large amounts of attention. A conscious rush of attention is also felt if you are caught off guard, System2 comes into action when an event is detected that violates the model of the surrounding world in the System1 view.
When we think of ourselves, we mean System2 – a conscious, intelligent self that has beliefs, makes choices, and makes decisions about what to think and do. Although System2 considers itself the main actor, in reality our “hero” is an automatically responsive System1.
Often, it is the System1 that effortlessly generates impressions and feelings that become the main source of beliefs and conscious choices of the System2. In other words, paradoxically, our choices and beliefs are sometimes based on illusions created by reproducing our thinking patterns when we don't realize it. And our “intuition” is sometimes just a complex set of attachments and preferences.
Daniel Kannemann was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries in this book. But that doesn't make it any easier to read. In fact, the entire book is written for System2.
Sometimes, when you're driving around a city in heavy traffic, with traffic lights, you think about your own business and don't notice how you've driven a few blocks. That is, all this time, the brain automatically gave commands to monitor traffic, slow down, accelerate, stop at red and start at green traffic lights.
Don't you remember when you were a kid walking home from school, mumbling to yourself, buzzing and banging, working with your imagination, and then suddenly you were in front of the house? I think this is quite possible at a more conscious age, the main thing is to get very involved in something and decide on your destination in advance. By the way, such “autopilots” work only on the usual routes, when everything is already familiar and does not distract your attention from immersion in the nonsense that is happening in your head.
The brain naturally works on autopilot, controlling the activity of all organs, regardless of your desire and will. You don't order your heart to beat or your stomach to produce gastric juice. Everything happens automatically, rather it wakes up when you solve external tasks.
in order to control the autopilot shutdown, some part of the brain must be awake.
as a spontaneous process, switching is possible, but will this moment be “right”? there will be no one to track this.
There is an opinion that our brain is in this state all the time 🙂 What we consider a “normal state” is just “autopilot”. And only a very few people are able to “wake up” their brain to a really active state.