system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What happens in our brains when we realize we've driven miles/minutes and don't even remember consciously driving them?


Side note- doesn't this happen in dreams? You go places and can't remember how you got there...is there a relation?
gpt
This happens when your subconscious mind starts handling processes that you normally control consciously. Normally, you're paying attention to the road and staying alert. When you're an experienced driver, you can pass the task of staying between the lines to your subconscious, and stop being alert for hazards. Because you're performing subconsciously, your mind doesn't bother to record these times to memory, so you won't remember more than a hazy idea of driving those minutes/miles. When something snaps you out of the subconscious routine, you realize you haven't been alert for hazards, which is a decidedly unsettling feeling.