We all have a few moments of self-awareness when we’re not on autopilot. We can also create moments of self-awareness when we’re engaged in the activity. Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be self-aware when we’re simply thinking or feeling, or when we are using language in ways that are consciously or subconsciously taking us into the present.
For instance, in the last six months we’ve talked about how being in the present causes us to remember what we said, or how we said something, in other words using our mental and physical abilities as we would use them in real life. These are moments of self-awareness because we are actively using our mental and physical abilities as we would in the present. You can call these moments of self-awareness “moments of autopilot awareness”.
Our autopilot awareness is what keeps us on autopilot for so long. We forget that we’re on autopilot and don’t realize that we’re doing it.
Of course, this is also why we sometimes do stupid things. When we’re on autopilot, we have no control and are unaware of it. It’s a form of the unconscious. The unconscious is a self-awareness that keeps us from being totally unconscious.
Autopilot awareness is a state where we are aware of our actions but unable to stop them. This is like when you fall asleep and you don’t realize you are asleep. You wake up to see your surroundings and a familiar light fixture, but you do you know not what you have been doing. Autopilot awareness is a state of complete unconsciousness in which we can do whatever we want without making a conscious decision to do so.
Autopilot awareness is the state when a person is not aware that they are driving, jumping off a bridge, or doing something. For example, a person on the subway who doesn’t know they are in danger is unaware of their surroundings and is therefore considered “autopilot”. But someone coming out of a car accident is not considered “autopilot” because they are aware that something is wrong, but not aware that they are in danger.
The main reason being that we are truly, truly, fully immersed in our lives. We don’t need to be aware of a situation before we act. We are fully immersed in our actions and, because of that, we are not aware of everything around us.
But we can be aware of some things, so you can’t just say “well, I’m aware of my surroundings so I’m not aware of everything around me,” when saying “I’m not autopilot, so I don’t need to be.
For instance, I am not supposed to be on the floor doing the shooting and killing the party-lovers, I am supposed to be playing with my friends. The last thing that should be a concern is that I should be in the background, so I don’t need to be on the floor.
We are aware of our surroundings. This is a good thing for our self-awareness. We have to be aware of our surroundings to be able to take a picture of them, so that we can remember them later.