Do you ever just completely zone out?

[matthyaouw]

Apparently my brother came round for half an hour or so today. When I found out (having been upstairs in my room at the time) I asked why no one told me. Apparently they shouted up to tell me, and I answered. I really have no recollection of this...

 

[Astronuc]

I have driven miles through a city and not known if the traffic lights were green or red. I was probably fatigued and on auto-pilot.

I do zone out - probably more often the most folks.

 

[Pengwuino]

I do that whole traffic light thing to. I'll drive through the city and as far as i know, i was only "zoned in" at the beginning and end of the trip. I wonder if our brain knows how to take over in common things like this. Like, could a professional chef cook 20 meals for customers while being zoned out simply because their brain knows how to do it so well?

 

[matthyaouw]

I've done the traffic light thing too, but only on a bike. It's one reason I don't want to learn to drive- I don't think I have the attention span to be trusted with 2 tonnes of metal traveling at 30 or 40 mph.

 

[Danger]

It used to happen to me several times a day. Not often now with the ADD meds. Still, I'll occassionally start thinking about something such as a new design feature for something while I'm in the middle of a conversation or whatnot and go vacant for a spell.
I regularly drove the 25 miles or so from the city to my town (which is at the bottom of a 2-mile long 8% grade S-curve hill) at 6:00 in the morning and 'come to' half way down the hill.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Have I ever zoned out...

 

[Evo]

You do tend to go on auto-pilot. I would often drive the 26 miles to work in the morning and have almost no recall of the drive.

 

[Gale]

driving is definitely one of those times i zone out most. its scary sometimes actually. especially cause when I'm driving around my home, its all back roads, and you forget about stop lights, then you get to one, and you're like "aw, a red light, that's nice... ****!"

when i read books, i sometimes zone out too. i can just keep readind, and then all of a sudden, i realize i have no clue what's going on, even though I've been reading. so i have to go back and reread everything i don't remember.

 

[SpaceTiger]

Do you ever just completely zone out?

Sure, it's practically my job.

 

[JasonRox]

driving is definitely one of those times i zone out most. its scary sometimes actually. especially cause when I'm driving around my home, its all back roads, and you forget about stop lights, then you get to one, and you're like "aw, a red light, that's nice... ****!"

when i read books, i sometimes zone out too. i can just keep readind, and then all of a sudden, i realize i have no clue what's going on, even though I've been reading. so i have to go back and reread everything i don't remember.

When I zone out while reading, I actually forget I am reading, but I am reading. It's not until I reach the end of a chapter that I snap out of it.

That's how deep I get into it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have driven miles through a city and not known if the traffic lights were green or red. I was probably fatigued and on auto-pilot.

One of the most demanding episodes in my career found me working something like 36 hours straight up to hours before I had to catch a plane to Peru. I had to get this job done before I left. So, I remember that driving home at about 2AM was a bit of a blur, but I felt safe to drive, barely, and right up to the moment that I saw the flashing lights in the mirror. The cop said that he followed me all the way from the freeway and through the city of Gresham - a good number of miles and posted at 35-45 MPH max - with me doing about 80 MPH most of the way.

He could tell that I was so genuinely shocked that after explaining the situtation he let me off the hook.

 

[meL]

driving is definitely one of those times i zone out most. its scary sometimes actually. especially cause when I'm driving around my home, its all back roads, and you forget about stop lights, then you get to one, and you're like "aw, a red light, that's nice... ****!"

when i read books, i sometimes zone out too. i can just keep readind, and then all of a sudden, i realize i have no clue what's going on, even though I've been reading. so i have to go back and reread everything i don't remember.

have You noticed??

monkeys shouldn't drive cars

 

[franznietzsche]

You do tend to go on auto-pilot. I would often drive the 26 miles to work in the morning and have almost no recall of the drive.

I drove 50 miles to work.

same 50 miles every day...yeah, I remember every inch of that freeway, but I'm on complete autopilot when I drive it. Traffic, cop hideouts, all exactly the same, every time. Whats scary is when I brake before a turn because I know that CHP is around the corner, without even thinking about it.

 

[matthyaouw]

I wonder how aware of our surroundings we are when we are on autopilot. I've done it so many times on my bike, and never known myself run a red light, or drive into the back of a parked car that isn't normally there, so I think maybe we are just as self aware as normal, but we just don't remember it. It's a bit like when I'm going out, and I alway have to check I've locked the door because I don't remember doing it, yet every time without fail I have done.

 

[Artman]

I think I live outside the zone and occassionally zone in... What was I saying?

Done the car thing, done the daydream thing to the point that teachers told my parents about it, done the wife-tells-you-something-and-you-miss-every-single-word thing.

I once zoned out so completely in school that I sat with my hands over my ears humming out loud while the rest of the class was reading. I didn't notice I was doing it until the entire class turned and looked at me and the kid in front of me tapped me on the head. It's hard to be weird.

 

[Just some guy]

I zone out from time-to-time. Once my freinds thought I was on drugs because I seemed so detatched from reality