Thank god this relatable to so many of us, I was wondering if this was a symptom of a larger disorder whenever this happens to me.
The worst is when I'm reciting word for word technical information about chemistry or physics, because I often like to explain how things work to friends and family while I work on stuff, and then I'll get interrupted or distracted and have no memory of wtf I was just saying for the last several minutes straight.
Back when I came into the office every day, it was a 45-minute commute. At least one day every week, I had no active memory of getting from the north side of the beltway to my house (about 20-25 minutes). I'd reach this point, and it was like someone flipped a switch, and I became aware that I existed.
I've done this with Audio Books. I've listened to 2-3 chapters, and they'll mention an assassin; Brain goes, wait, assassin? WHAT ASSASSIN? I start rolling back find out I completely tuned out 20 minutes of the story.
This is why I can't listen to audio books. I just get lost in the soothing voice and my mind wonders. Paper books are where it's at.
Yea but then you realize that you have now made the audiobook last 30mins longer, so it's a win... especially if it's a good book.
I think it could be argued for a state of hypnosis, like how people drive for miles but just don't remember how they did it entirely.
Difference is, you clearly drove and got there safely. You didn't read the words on the page, you just moved your eyes across ink blots.
I was a professional driver for 20 years. I can attest that autopilot is a real thing.
It’s easy to monitor traffic on either side but end up daydreaming and miss a turn.
I’ve been out of the transport industry for five years now and I still occasionally find myself auto-piloting to places I used to deliver to. It’s so weird.
This was a symptom of ADHD that I discussed with my doctor when I got diagnosed tbh
I could do this, reading out loud even. And not know what the fuck I just read for the last 10 minutes.
And yes, I have ADHD.
If it happens all the time I would say so. This happens to me when I'm tired so I just figured it's my brain lagging
Is it an actual ADD symptom? I do this all the time.
Yep. It was actually one of my diagnostic questions.
Yes, but many things are symptoms of ADHD, but no single symptom alone is a sign of ADHD.
Lucid Reading?
I did find this paper where somebody used the term “mindless reading”
Smallwood, J. (2011). Mind‐wandering while reading: attentional decoupling, mindless reading and the cascade model of inattention. Language and Linguistics Compass, 5(2), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818x.2010.00263.x
Seems that is the term used for it such as this talk in 2006
https://ies.ed.gov/director/conferences/06ies_conference/posters/readingtq_reichle.asp
Abstract: "Mindless reading" occurs when, during reading, our eyes continue to move across the printed page in spite of the fact that we are busy thinking about things that are often completely unrelated to the text.
I can sometimes do this without my attention even shifting. I'll mentally read every word individually for a while, but forget to put them together to actually understand them.
I do that stupidly often when reading stories.
I think we've got some drivers around here who drive like that.
Ambien
Surely there's a very long German word for it.
Aufmerksamkeitsdefizitsyndrom
It 's not that long, I think it is called "Leselücke" (reading gap).
If you want, you could call it "Lesegedankenwanderungsamnesie" (reading wandering thought amnesia) 🤔
I'll bet there is - some of my friends call it "Leseschlaf" (reading sleep), which seems fitting.
at least 35 syllables long and you'll forget what your reading halfway through the word.
Cruise control.
Autopilot, like Szeth said below.I use the term Autopilot
That's better. I think i mixed it up.
My brain goes into cruisepilot a lot.
I call it “ADHD” because I damn sure was thinking about 3 other things while I was reading-notreading.
Motor tasks like eye movement I think would fall under autopilot. I think it increases with age and adhd
I have to read out loud to myself to finish a book or an article.
It has made my reading comprehension go through the roof. And I didn't understand that about myself for my first 45 years.
I vary between spacing out, zoning out, or the already mentioned autopilot.
"School"
That's called "School".
Text-to-speech is your friend here.
I use a website called "speechify" but there are a lot of options.
Still helps to read along with it, but having that auditory input in tandem with visually reading will keep you on track like you've never experienced.
Now I know that when people say read something they don't mean read the words but not the meaning. They mean read it and comprehend it.
Good news! It doesn't matter. Your brain read it anyways.
I would like to unread this, please
Disinterest
No I’ve done this when I was interested. This happens to me when I’m stressed about something and my brain goes off to think about it even though my eyes are going through the motions with the words on the page. Then I have to start again.
