system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What brain function takes over when I'm able to zone out while driving and still navigate turns and make stops without incident?

While driving to work today, I began thinking about something completely random but it took over my conscious mind and I wasn't actively concentrating on driving.  When I "came to" I had driven miles down the road.  Why didn't I wreck and how can I exploit this in other areas of my life?
gpt
The brain forms neural connections based on common activities. The more often you do the activity, the more connections are formed, thus improving the throughput across the 'ol synapses. The reverse actually occurs as well: if you don't do something for a long time, the brain scavenges some of that material, and downgrades the path in favor of something you do MORE often.

The practical upshot of this is that, if you do something constantly, and it's reasonably repetitive, you don't have to put much attention into it...The channels are so optimized, that it's not conscious anymore.

The problem is when you break the habit. When you get up in the morning, get in the car, and *don't* go to work. When you're driving down the road, and something unexpected happens. This is basically the same across all learned behaviour.