Automatic-Habit

Reflections on the Challenge

The first time you notice the sun this month, be aware of any thought; thereafter, recall what you thought about the last time, deliberately try to think of something different, and if you succeed, make a Eureka gesture and notice how you feel afterwards.

• Experiences

  L described several occasions during the month when he noticed the sun and worked with the challenge. About a week after the meeting, during a cloudy period, he noticed the sun appearing while writing his morning journal. As this was the first instance, there was no previous occasion to recall. On the next clear day, he saw the sun and remembered that earlier moment and deliberately thought of something different, making the Eureka gesture. He noted a feeling of increased energy and a sense of promise. A few days later, while using a virtual reality environment, he again noticed the "sun". He recalled the previous instance, made the gesture, and felt anticipation connected with his creative work. Another day, on his way back from an art session, he noticed the sun once more, remembered the virtual reality occasion, and repeated the Eureka gesture. He observed that the challenge required sustained continuity of attention, both in recalling previous instances and in consciously registering what he was doing at the time.

  T described an instance that occurred while she was waiting at a railway station in the late afternoon. As the setting sun shone along the railway lines and illuminated the railings and ramp where she was standing, she recalled her earlier thought on first seeing the sun blazing across the scene. That earlier thought had arisen from something she had recently read: that the Sun, in relation to other stars, is a yellow dwarf. She noted that this felt ego-crushing, particularly given her human inability to look directly at it. On this occasion, she deliberately thought something different. She reflected that although she loved to see the Sun, it exerted power over her physical being, as it was too bright and blinding to look at without damaging the very sight through which she perceived the world. She then made the Eureka gesture.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  And they did not know this, as I later understood, simply because no one had ever applied to them for this permit, and on this account these unfortunate beings had not acquired the customary for them what is called ‘automatic-habit’ for the manifestation of such a ‘being-duty’ as theirs of this kind.

• Discussion

  T suggested that people entered bureaucratic roles in order to earn a living and, in doing so, gradually lost their own sense of agency. She described this as a process by which individuals became increasingly automatic, almost zombie-like.