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Life On Autopilot

Did you know, when you think you know you know something, you will act on it automatically without knowing it?

This is In Search of God. I'm Your host Deloris Johnson.

Belief is an excitingly motivating part of our lives. Belief is not just religious; it is innate. We believe in the day, which makes us get up in the morning, not really knowing what the day will hold. We believe that our cars, buses, bikes, or whatever mode of transportation we have will get us from point A to point B. I don't know anything about cars; well, except that mine will get me where I'm trying to go, faster than walking. But I confidently set out on my various adventures in my trusty Honda Accord.

According to the definition, belief is a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.

Let's focus on the habit of mind for a moment. Every notion we have is checked by what we believe in or what we believe is possible. For example, I have found that routines are good for me. So, I make a conscious effort to go to bed and be asleep by 10 pm at night and be up no later than 5 am in the morning. It's not like going to bed after 10 pm and getting up after 5 am means all hell will break loose. But I believe that my day goes better if I go to bed early and I work more efficiently first thing in the morning.

This is a belief built on experience. I know from experience that I don't function as well in the afternoon or evening as I do in the early hours of the morning; I've also learned that working well in the morning requires rest. So, it follows that I should consciously form a habit of going to bed early and getting up early if I want access to my full potential.

I did just that several years ago, and I found that once the habit was there, the signals for going to bed and getting up formed automatically. That process is now on autopilot, so I can focus my attention on other things, like accessing that potential.

I just finished a book called Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. Blink is all about making snap decisions. According to this book, we run most of our lives on autopilot. We run our routines throughout the day, making unconscious decisions based on experiential information that we've been collecting since the day we were born.

The book is filled with examples of the jewels and pit-falls of our automatic reactions to circumstances. It starts with a story about a statue that scientific investigative evidence suggests was genuine, but several art curators' gut feeling accurately judged as a fake. Here he also discusses how the trained eye can accurately judge the state of the relationship between two people in three minutes by simply observing how they relate to one-another when asked a neutral question. Lastly, and I think the most impactful part of the book, he highlights the state of race relations in America through the lenses of learned behaviors and automatic response on both sides of this discourse.

The fact is that we are built to take action automatically based on our belief in the knowledge we have, whatever that knowledge may be.

Let's talk about this physiologically. Most of us start learning to read at a very young age and building our vocabulary over time. But before you know it, and really without you knowing it, you begin to mentally replace the letters A P P L E, for example, with an image of an apple. If you like them and you're hungry, you may even begin to salivate.

So when you see the word apple mentally, you see an apple or know that that collection of letters represents a piece of fruit that you recognize by its appearance, texture, and taste. Because of your experiential knowledge about apples, your brain does all the translation in a split second.

Let's take this a step further—athletes practice, practice, practice. Sometimes, they repeat the same actions or shots or run the same distances over and over again to build what we call muscle memory.

Merriam-Websters defines muscle memory as the ability to repeat a specific muscular movement with improved efficiency and accuracy acquired through practice and repetition.

According to an article from Oxford University, we have several different memory systems: facts memory, life event or episodic memory, and skills memory, just to name a few. The article says that while we are learning something new, various parts of the brain are engaged. While learning is occurring, our brains are changing and reshaping to help us achieve the goal we're striving for.

White matter can be thought of as information highways in the brain. These pathways connect one area of the brain to another. New routes are created as more information needs to be transmitted. For example, when learning a new activity where hand/eye coordination is essential, the brain creates multiple pathways between the brain regions responsible for vision and areas reasonable for movement. As we practice, the brain will create as many of these pathways as it needs to make the activity easy and efficient.

Grey Matter presents the area of the brain where information is processed. According to studies, grey matter increases so that we have more capacity for information processing. So our brains literally get larger as we learn.

When learning a new motor skill or anything that takes action, the motor Cortex also receives an upgrade. The cells in this area of the brain connect with other neurons that travel down the spinal cord to send our muscles information.

The article also suggests that brain activity changes when we transition from acquiring new skills to perfecting them. Scientists use tools, such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation), to measure activity in the brain and muscles. They have discovered an increase in activity across the brain when we learn something new, specifically in the pre-motor cortex and the basal ganglia. After the skill is acquired, brain activity in these areas decreases. But if we continue to practice, we began to experience heightened activity in the motor cortex and the cerebellum, which help the actions to become automatic.

I found a great example of this in a movie called IP Man. IP Man is a martial arts movie based on the real-life story of a man named Yip Man. He loved his martial arts style of Wing Chung; He talked about it when asked, he graciously accepted challenges when posed, and he practiced, practiced, and practiced. His discipline was impeccable, and his practice tireless.

He had a Wing Chun dummy, which is a wood contraption, basically comprised of a thick poll bolted to the ground and large wooden pegs that protrude horizontally from all sides. He practices by performing open-handed strikes and kicks at the pegs. Each strike would flow gracefully into the next, moving from pegs to pegs up and down the Wing Chun dummy. The image was powerful and rhythmic.

He had a Wing Chun dummy, which is a wood contraption, basically comprised of a thick poll bolted to the ground and large wooden pegs that protrude horizontally from all sides. He practices by performing open-handed strikes and kicks at the pegs. Each strike would flow gracefully into the next, moving from pegs to pegs up and down the Wing Chun dummy. The image was powerful and rhythmic.

At the end of the movie, when he's in combat with his main nemesis, he gets the guy in a corner, and then that muscle memory kicks in, and he just starts working the guy's body like it was that Wing Chung dummy. No thought, his hand and feet flowing gracefully from movement to movement; he went on auto-pilot.

The current science suggests that muscle memory resides in the muscle;

That our cells remember these complex tasks, this means, once the message is sent from the brain, the muscle runs the entire routine from its memory.

Building faith is like building up muscle memory or intentionally creating a habit. I started a routine of reading one Proverb a day every day.

For example, on the 30th of each month, I will read these verses as a part of the 30th Proverb:

…give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD?
Or lest I be poor, and steal, and the name of my God in vain.
Now, I will think about that sentiment all day that day and try to understand what it means in my life. There are 31 proverbs, so it takes about a month to read them all.

I also read Matt 5-7 over and over again. Matthew chapters 5-7 contain the Sermon on the Mount, which is a historical event where Christ sits down and talks with a multitude about how to live life by faith.

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

… and that's just a few verses from chapter five. But, I read these passages, all the while telling myself, this is the person I want to be. I am consciously shaping my mind to think a certain way about my life; I am deliberately shaping my personality; I am creating muscle memory to guide my daily snap decisions.

Mustard Seed living is only gained by intentionally reading scriptures and talking to God and making it one of the things we do in our everyday lives. King David played his harp and made songs about God while tending to sheep. Daniel took time out every day three times a day at specific times to pray to God. When they encountered their nemeses, these two men automatically shifted into autopilot without fear or doubt, using the skills and weapons that they'd acquired by spending time with God, and they prevailed.

As I said in the beginning, my belief in God determines what I eat. It also determines what I do with specific days of the week, how I view holidays, treat other people, and conduct business. These behaviors are automatic; they are a part of who I am. It began with a desire to know God. Trusting in God and accepting the Bible as my owner's manual or Life's User Guide will guide me to what I need to know. So I read it daily to find the parts that tell me how to be the person I want to be. Now I lean on those words and precepts to guide me through life's challenges: raising my children, choosing a career, inactions with my husband, and when my life's nemeses appear, I'm armed with the weapons and maneuvers to help me to prevail.

I'm Deloris Johnson, and This has been In Search of God.

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