
Ask HN: I am going into autopilot mode What do I do? - phekunde
This may sound strange, but I have been going into autopilot mode quite frequently in recent months. What do I mean by &quot;I am going in autopilot mode&quot;? Well, I a software engineer. While thinking about a software solution to a problem, I struggle to come up with a solution and then all of a sudden &quot;I&quot; solve the problem without &quot;me&quot; realising how &quot;I&quot; reached at that solution! This has happend so many times that I thought I would ask here, how do I get out of this &quot;autopilot mode&quot;?
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hcta
For all we know, this is how everyone actually solves problems all the time,
the difference being that when most people are asked how they solved a problem
they confabulate something after the fact. If you want to gain this skill,
perhaps you could consciously practice coming up with a story for how a
solution could have been found after you do it. Maybe look at a book like
Polya's How to Solve It and construct a sequence of hints like those in the
book ("consider special cases", "solve a simpler problem", etc.) that could
conceivably lead a less intuitive person to the answer.

~~~
phekunde
Well, I was previously able to recreate the "path" of how I solved the
problem. Recently it has been becoming difficult for me to recreate that path;
it is as if like magic that I get solution with me being disconnected from the
problem solving process. The feeling is like I become zombie with no awareness
when solving a problem and something inside me takes over and does the work.
And when the work is done I regain my humanness as if I become conscious again
and there is in front of me the solution to the problem, and then I have to
start thinking how did I get to this solution?

~~~
LeonB
It could be “recognition” which is a more meaningful word for what is often
called intuition or experience. You draw on the many patterns embedded in your
mind from your growing experience to “recognise” the solution, and thus can’t
completely explain how you recognised the solution.

Analogous to the way that you recognise the face of a friend without being
able to explain any set of logical steps you followed to perform that
recognition. You brain matched input to a pattern.

~~~
LeonB
(Could also be dissociation, or temporal lobe epilepsy or other problems.)

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m33k44
Well, even Ramanujan claimed that the Goddess of Namagiri use to give him
mathematical solutions. You are in a good company!

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AnimalMuppet
I'm not sure you should want to. You have expanded your range of what you can
solve by intuition (or just by "seeing" the answer). Rather than being a
problem, this is part of your professional growth.

~~~
phekunde
> I'm not sure you should want to.

Then how would I be able to quickly solve the same problem the next time if I
am not in control of the process?

~~~
AnimalMuppet
Think about learning to drive a car. You come to an intersection, and you
check _very carefully_ to make sure that there aren't any other cars moving in
a way that you have to avoid. Then you proceed.

After a while, you don't drive that way. While you should still maintain
caution, you just _see_ the other cars. You are now a _better_ driver, not a
worse one.

In the same way, you grow as an engineer partly as you grow the number of
situations that you can just "pattern match" on. It doesn't mean that your
logic is somehow failing you! Instead, it means that when you see that
situation, you "just know" how to solve it (typically, by seeing similar
situations a few times). The logic still works for the situations you don't
know how to "just see" the solution to.

If you're solving _all_ your problems on autopilot, it means you're ready to
step up to harder problems.

And, a caveat. "Autopilot" can produce wrong results from time to time. It's
worth taking a bit of time to think through whether the solution is actually
right (the more important the problem, the more time is appropriate).

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otras
This sounds similar to the natural way your brain works and transitions
between "diffuse" and "focus" modes (to use the jargon from Learning How To
Learn). Highly recommend the course!

[https://www.coursera.org/lecture/learning-how-to-
learn/intro...](https://www.coursera.org/lecture/learning-how-to-
learn/introduction-to-the-focused-and-diffuse-modes-75EsZ)

------
JSeymourATL
> how do I get out of this "autopilot mode"?

Take daily walks like Einstein >
[http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170612-what-you-can-
learn-...](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170612-what-you-can-learn-from-
einsteins-quirky-habits)

~~~
phekunde
I already walk for 1 hr everyday.

