Quote Originally Posted by atlantic View Post
It's a good point. I don't know that the real problem is the autopilot, though.

There is a good reason for having an autopilot to begin with. When you learn any new skill, at the beginning it takes conscious control to exercise it, and therefore it absorbs most of your conscious attention. For example, learning to walk is a big effort to begin with, requiring a deliberate effort to move various muscles in coordination, maintain balance, etc. Driving is also the same kind of experience, operating the clutch, looking at the road signs, etc.

The final part of the learning process for any new skill is to automate it, meaning to let the unconscious deal with the details, so that your conscious mind is freed up to learn new stuff.

I think the problem is not the automation mechanism, but the fact that you stop learning new things. You carry out existing tasks in an automated way using your acquired skills, and you learn nothing new, because you are lazy, lack curiosity, are tired, whatever. In that case you go through most of your adult life in a daze, since your conscious mind is not occupied in any way.

What is the solution, though? To go backwards, returning to manual mode in relation to tasks that are already on auto-pilot? I don't think so. The solution is to become curious again about the world, as you were all during childhood, and in that way your conscious mind becomes engaged again throughout the day.
I completely agree.

You wouldn't want your driver or your pilot to have to spend precious conscious moments on every single action required to operate their vehicle.
Our conscious mind can only make one decision at a time (all be it very quickly), but if we stop using our motor skills - then we loose the ability to multitask.