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It's a bit disconcerting when you catch yourself zoning out while doing something. Seconds, maybe even minutes go by as your mind drifts off, and your body, hands and perhaps even feet just keep going. Hopefully, this happens while you are doing something safe or unimportant, but fortunately, internet users have compiled the times' something a bit more silly happened.
People were asked to share their own stories with mental autopilot in a Twitter thread that went viral. So make sure you are seated somewhere comfortable, scrolling through and upvoting your favorites. And if you want to learn about more bizarre things people have done, you can find more stories on this topic here and here.
Image credits: UberFacts
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Firstly, you might wonder why our brains decide that we shouldn’t be concentrating at a given time. Scientists refer to this feature (or bug) as Default Mode Network or DMN, though the less-specific mind-wandering can also be used. Basically, if the correct circumstances are met, like doing an activity you have ample experience with, your brain will “push” the taste to the background, allowing you to start thinking about something else, even when you don’t actually want this to happen.
Driving is one of the most common activities that causes people’s minds to wander. If the individual is an experienced driver and isn’t generally stressed while on the road, they may quickly enter an auto-pilot-like state. This isn’t necessarily a danger to other drivers or pedestrians, but the individual might end up driving to the wrong location or missing an exit or turn. But some studies indicate that up to half of road accidents are the result of one or more parties not paying attention behind the wheel.
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As people age, their mind tends to wander less, as researchers have found evidence that older adults are more conscientious than younger adults. This is directly linked with less mind-wandering, however, other personality traits can still influence how “present” or not a person is when doing a familiar task. For example, people with ADHD are more prone to spontaneous mind wandering.
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Pheonixvatoreii 1 year ago
Am I the only one who finds it irritating when your glasses steam up, and then some person goes 'your glasses are steaming up!' No genius I just thought it was foggy inside!
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Edgar Rops 1 year ago
I did that while talking on the phone. And the guy I was talking to was giving me tips where to look.
But this shouldn’t be construed to mean that one’s mind wandering is a sign of attention deficiencies in general. We spend almost a quarter of the time thinking about things that are completely unrelated to the task or situation in front of us. This is somewhat frightening, considering the amount of time we spend, driving, cooking with fire and knives, and other activities where even a minor slip-up can have grave consequences.
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Brocken Blue 1 year ago
Oh I feel this. My spouse and I had a bad round of Covid in March 2020 and were sick for months. Our tv remote was lost for 9 damn months afterwards and we *still* occasionally run into movies we 100% forgot we watched while sick.
Similar to mind-wandering, many people also have stories of general absent-mindedness. During this time, their body starts to do something automatically. These processes are called automatisms to reflect how the body performs them naturally. Interestingly, when we make a mistake during automation, we tend to blame the body part, not ourselves. So if you are daydreaming about a vacation while sorting papers and get a papercut, you might consider your hand, not your lapse in attention, responsible.
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SuperChicken 1 year ago
When I used to wear contacts, sometimes I'd forget that I already took it out. So there I was pinching my eyes, trying to remove it.
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FrostMoon Willow 1 year ago
I once put a plate in the fridge (empty plate) but I don’t remember doing it. Not really autopilot because I may have been having an absent seizure lol
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troufaki13 1 year ago
I'm picturing your stomach giving you instructions "turn left, now right... aahh I see the arches! We are here! hehehe"
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meowi.anne 1 year ago
I do this sort of thing regularly. Most of the time i forget what i just said and have to ask, "wait what did i just say"
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JoJo Anisko 1 year ago
Well, if that wasn't a common occurrence, they wouldn't have built in the safety feature.
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meowi.anne 1 year ago (edited)
Once i put my remote in my purse and took it to work. Took me forever to find that damn remote later that night
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What do you think ?
🧶𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕂𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣🪡 1 year ago
I keep on trying to "swipe" to turn pages on books and magazines these days, not realizing that I'm actually interacting with something tangible and not just my touchscreen 😄
Brocken Blue 1 year ago
I had the irrepressible urge to “pinch” a physical map to zoom the other day and I still haven’t stopped laughing at myself over it
Load More Replies...
Pheonixvatoreii 1 year ago
I have one. Went to bed early and woke up an hour later at 10pm, thinking it was morning. Walked downstairs, let the dog out of the kitchen, then stood looking at the clock on the oven for about 5 minutes confused about why it said 10 o'clock on it. Got a plate out for my breakfast etc. Then went back upstairs, realised what the hell I'd just done, and went to put the poor confused dog back to bed!
Full of Giggles 1 year ago
A few months ago, I got up around 3:00 AM to feed my infant twins. I usually leave one in the crib while I feed the other. On this particular night, I went to put Twin B back in her crib only to find it was already occupied by Twin A. I look over at Twin A’s crib and it was empty. I panicked and woke my husband up thinking someone had stolen one of kids from their crib. My husband rolls his eyes and grabs Twin B out of my arms. I put Twin A in the wrong crib. Didn’t even realize there were two babies in one bed when I picked up Twin B.
🧶𝔹𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕂𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣🪡 1 year ago
I keep on trying to "swipe" to turn pages on books and magazines these days, not realizing that I'm actually interacting with something tangible and not just my touchscreen 😄
Brocken Blue 1 year ago
I had the irrepressible urge to “pinch” a physical map to zoom the other day and I still haven’t stopped laughing at myself over it
Load More Replies... Pheonixvatoreii 1 year ago
I have one. Went to bed early and woke up an hour later at 10pm, thinking it was morning. Walked downstairs, let the dog out of the kitchen, then stood looking at the clock on the oven for about 5 minutes confused about why it said 10 o'clock on it. Got a plate out for my breakfast etc. Then went back upstairs, realised what the hell I'd just done, and went to put the poor confused dog back to bed!
Full of Giggles 1 year ago
A few months ago, I got up around 3:00 AM to feed my infant twins. I usually leave one in the crib while I feed the other. On this particular night, I went to put Twin B back in her crib only to find it was already occupied by Twin A. I look over at Twin A’s crib and it was empty. I panicked and woke my husband up thinking someone had stolen one of kids from their crib. My husband rolls his eyes and grabs Twin B out of my arms. I put Twin A in the wrong crib. Didn’t even realize there were two babies in one bed when I picked up Twin B.
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