Automatism

Automatism — what a person does automatically; situational actions that occur automatically and by themselves, without deliberation, without prior desire or intention.

This is how people usually breathe, bring a spoon to their mouths, habitually wash themselves, make joyful eyes when they meet, and shake hands when they say goodbye — without desire, without thinking, on the machine. Many people think and speak the same way.

Automatisms should be distinguished from automatic behavior (automatic response): automatism is situational and, in this respect, random, while automatic response is more of a system and a problematic way of life.

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What is behind automation? — A variety of things. Beliefs… reflexes, habits, up to lifestyle… Natural emotional reactions, stereotypes of behavior – all these are automatisms.

View of a neurophysiologist on automatisms, see →

How are automatisms formed? — Sometimes automatism can also be formed as a result of emotional imprinting, but first of all, automatism is formed as a result of repetition.

If we have been moving our legs for the past few decades, they take steps quite automatically for us. If you use a fork and knife several times a day, then the manipulation of these cutlery also occurs at the level of automatism.

Important: automatism is formed if a person has an internal agreement with what he is doing. If a person is forced to make movements against which he has an internal protest, then even hundreds of repetitions will not form automatism: more precisely, an automatism of internal protest against this movement will be formed.

Types of automatisms

Automatisms are diverse, like life itself, and only due to inattention to them we do not always notice how many of them and how many of their varieties: simple and amazing complexity, external and internal, automatisms of the body and spirit, with and without control, conscious and not.

Everything that we do often and without internal resistance turns into automatisms, and, of course, in the first place these are quite simple, and even primitive actions: brush your teeth, tie your shoelaces. If a person often, constantly, daily and hourly performs complex actions, then they also pass into automatisms.

To drive a car in a dense stream, tracking traffic lights and instantly changing lanes — for an experienced driver this is natural automatism, which is also the highest art.

Automatism can become not only external behavior, but also internal: someone is used to automatically flare up with indignation, for someone over the years of life, admiration and care have become natural.

Love as a joyful care can become automatic, like any other inner behavior, for this it is enough to take caring actions in relation to someone who is dear to us for many days and years, not forgetting to remind ourselves what happiness it is to love! Warm intonations, soft hands, the habit of thinking about something else become automatism… Everything that is a way of life becomes automatism. For those who practice this constantly, constructive thinking and remembering what is needed, free imagination and attentive awareness pass to the level of automatism.

Automatisms, as a rule, are not realized — why? However, there are no obstacles to automatisms being conscious — no, the yogic practice of conscious breathing is a vivid example of this. Moreover, the very awareness of certain actions in a developed person can move to the level of automatism.

For a believer, this is an intelligent prayer, for an actor — his monologues, for a writer — his texts — all this is accompanied by obligatory, automatic awareness, and sometimes even automatic sensitivity.

It is possible that it is the habit of awareness (or the lack of such a habit) that distinguishes people who can control their automatisms from those whose automatisms happen on their own, against their will and desire.

Automatisms in human life

As a rule, our automatisms do not attract our attention and therefore are not the subject of reflection until someone else draws our attention to our automatisms.

«What do you always object to?» “Why do you put your elbows on the table while eating?” «Stand up, don’t slouch!» — This is also a conversation about our automatisms.

Whether automatisms are good or not is generally impossible to say, everything is very specific. The automatisms of an educated person are joy, the automatisms of a neurotic and a psychopath are a disaster. If a person thinks before each action, his behavior is awkward and inhibited, and the transfer of part of the actions into automatisms frees the head from unnecessary work, makes reactions faster, and behavior more natural.

In sports, in war and in professional activity, there is no way without automatisms. Until the athlete’s blows are worked out to automatism, it is too early for him to think about victory. A recruit who does not own automatisms should not be allowed into battle. The necessary skills must be worked out to the level of automatism, see →

On the other hand, the other extreme is also bad, when a person loses the habit of thinking, is lazy to feel and desire, begins to live only by automatisms: yes, his life is simplified, but it becomes poorer. Automatisms replace responsibility, a person becomes less flexible: unless, of course, automatism was built into him every day to abandon old habits and develop new ones.

Probably, all the same, it is not the quantity of automatism that is more important, but their content and quality: if a person has automatism to think, love and develop, this is a good acquisition!