As a part of my daily commute, I remember experiencing “Highway Hypnosis” on more than one occasion. It is a little startling to arrive home and realize you don’t know how you got there. So I can understand why people think of it as dangerous. There’s the assumption that I must have been unconscious of my surroundings if I don’t remember the act of driving home; but I don’t believe that’s true.
I believe what’s really happening is far simpler. Your brain is a master at multitasking. There are many things your brain can handle simultaneously without consciously focusing on them. You can breath, stay within the lines and even brake and exit without ever focusing your attention on these activities. You are free to daydream about tasks you have upcoming or the argument you just had with your boss or coworker.
I believe that what enters your short term memory is what your attention is focused on. So if you spend half your commute daydreaming about something, that is what you’ll remember; rather than the details about drive home. Later, you think there’s a gap in your memory because you have no new memory of the drive.
This simply couldn’t happen if you were driving somewhere that was unfamiliar. Taking a new route would of course demand your attention, and create lots of new memories. But when a drive is familiar, so familiar that there are no questions (do I take this exit or that?), your mind is free to relax and wander.
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