If you drive the same route every day, for instance commuting, your mind doesn't bother storing events it has experienced hundreds of times before. So, twenty minutes into the drive when you happen to try to think back to what has happened recently, you get nothing. Because, nothing of interest to your mind happened.
this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
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me_irl
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Yes, I forget what the phenomenon is called but you wete actively driving and engaged. Your brain just didn't bother to take any notes because nothing note worthy happened during the commute you take nearly everyday, in the same car you've been driving for years.
Yeah I've often stared into my rearview mirror to make sure there wasn't a massive pileup and there are still vehicles driving behind me as normal and not twelve cop cars chasing me down.
Hopefully not staring for too long
One of the reasons I like hypermiling. Every drive I'm actively engaged with the car and my surroundings, and in a fun way too.
Driving a manual helps with that.
This is one of the reasons I hate driving. Its a crazy dangerous thing to do. Its insane to me it became the standard because convenience.
Not just standard, but a load-bearing component to keeping your job, which translates to food, shelter, health care, social connections, maybe residency…
And many workplaces have very low tolerance for being late.
So every morning, you’re surrounded by thousands of people who — in order to avoid life-threatening unemployment — woke up 10 minutes ago and immediately started operating heavy equipment beyond safe parameters.
I'm stunned there aren't more wrecks. OTOH, about the same amount of people die in car wrecks vs. guns in America, and the vast majority of guns deaths aren't random. I'm far more afraid of dying behind the wheel.
im more afraid of killing behind the wheel.
Me too! I can kill you with a gun, but I won't. One slip and I could take out a whole family. Shit's scary!
Are you sure you don't have epilepsy?
This is me comming out of a focal-discognitive seizure; where I'm effectively blacked out for 3-10min, but still mobile and making decisions.
You just kind of snap out of it, confused where you are, and wondering what you've been doing the last few min. It's not fun; especially when you make dumb choices during, like running across a busy highway :/
Note; I don't drive because of this.
This is me comming out of a focal-discognitive seizure; where I’m effectively blacked out for 3-10min, but still mobile and making decisions.
Can I ask if during the 3-10 minutes you have the same personality/would make the same decisions were you aware?
That's a hard question to answer; as I'm not conscious and remembering said decisions. I have to go on what I've been told of my behaviour, which is really odd in itself.
Generally I'd say no. I kind of drop into a self-preservation mode where I try to calm myself and find a quiet cool place to do so. I've made poor decisions there though, like the running across a highway, or leaving the building I'm in and wandering to a random empty lot.
I've been told a few odd things like my voice gets deeper, and I often go for water to drink but have on occasion grabbed something else (like a bottle of rubbing alcohol for example).
Seizures suck, and not just the classic movie seizure where your muscles are spasming on the floor.
That’s a hard question to answer; as I’m not conscious and remembering said decisions. I have to go on what I’ve been told of my behaviour, which is really odd in itself.
Gotcha, so those around you can tell by your behavior change that this is occurring.
I'm very sorry you suffer from this. Thank you for sharing your personal experience. I know it will help me if I'm every with someone that needs support for these kind of challenges.
Are you sure you have epilepsy?
Given 8 years of this and multiple diagnosis from several neurologists; yes.
What I don't know is why it started, why it's continuing, or what causes/triggers them.
We have at least found a set of meds that supress them sufficiently, so it's not as much of a daily problem.
Damn, DID or DDD?
Maybe highway hypnosis
There really isn't enough context to know what those TLAs (three letter acronyms) mean