It is the escaped control of consciousness that I'm interested in. I think more is automated than blinking and the pumping of blood. In fact, I think whole thought processes, personalities and cultures are based on that, which is familiar to us. I think we make very few choices, or at least original ones. I think many people are about as original as a mass-produced 10 cent shoelace - because they simply can't break out of any of these mindsets and patterns.Count Lucanor wrote:Well, the critique of the passive modes of consumption, especially of entertainment in media, will not go so far as to claim that people make no choices. They may be manipulated, but the whole point is that they are not forced, and they choose freely their ball and chain.Socrateaze wrote:
I've read that most of our actions are on "auto pilot," especially the television generation.
Not much, I think. Maybe the involuntary reflexes, like blinking, or the automated processes like breathing, pumping blood, etc.Socrateaze wrote:When we are confronted with things that are out of our everyday automation processes, then we start making real choices. We all have known what it feels like if your boss tells you to put the keys in a new spot and you've put them in the old place for years. So how much of what we do is automated?
The writing itself may have escaped the control of consciousness, but getting to the point of handling a pen and being ready to achieve the glory for Surrealism is a very conscious decision.Socrateaze wrote: What about automatic writing? The same applies for some forms of art. Rationality lives in different realms of the mind; sometimes they work together, sometimes they do no.
To be honest, pure choice is rare and rather creates discomfort and irritation in people when it actually presents itself.
-- Updated August 29th, 2017, 9:30 am to add the following --
I agree, but what about that which is not "much," but other than what you mentioned?Phorever wrote:A choice is what you picked. Much of that decision comes from your conditioning, culture, ideas, knowledge and philosophy about it.Socrateaze wrote:What is a choice? How do they come about? Why do people who are prone to make certain choices suddenly make a different choice? If you have a bad character, why do you sometimes make the same choice as a person with a good character and vice versa? If the environment plays a role, why does it not have the same effect on someone that has a similar personality?
Why do people suddenly change their habits with no apparent external influence? Why do others never change them? Does external influence alone have bearing on our choices? Why does someone sometimes wake up the next day and somewhere suddenly feel like they want to change their convictions? If nothing moved them to do so, what did?