It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all…
It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are do-ing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. -Alfred North Whitehead¹
— from Expanding Your Range (Growth/Change/Education/Learning/Habit) · Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious by Gerd Gigerenzer
In the book
It is an automation. As Whitehead observed, civilization itself advances by extending the number of important operations we can perform without thinking about them — and the same is true of a life, because every task you automate frees up energy for the tasks that still need your full mind. That is the gift. — Expanding Your Range (Growth/Change/Education/Learning/Habit)