Autopilot Thinking

TL;DR: Generating thoughts can be done on autopilot even while cognitively impaired (say, tired or drunk), as long as the serial mental depth is low. I speculate that this is basically because System 2 is System 1 + working memory. You may find it useful to try tasks on autopilot instead of assuming you cannot.You may want to skip directly to the "In Practice" section. In short, tell yourself this: "you can do a lot more on autopilot than you think, even if it feels like you couldn't possibly get anywhere right now". Next, try to think on autopilot anyways. If it seems not to work for you, you should stop.Epistemic Status: Many weak lines of evidence, with overall medium certainty.Basic TheorySystem 2 is System 1 with Working Memory. System 1 is atomic action.There's a theory that there are two reasoning systems in the brain:Type 1 processing is “efficient, unintentional, uncontrollable, and unconscious”Type 2 processing is “inefficient, intentional, controllable and conscious”.There's also a theory that the second system is really just the first system augmented with working memory. At each step, the working memory is read, a System 1 operation occurs, and a result is written to working memory. As an example, when I play chess, I have some immediate sense of what makes for a good move. I will also "calculate" in advance, by imagining making a promising move, then imagining various promising responses by my opponent and seeing how good they seem (or iterating, to judge their responses by how promising my responses to their responses look, ad infinitum until I run out of ability to keep track of stuff in my head or until I feel like it's not worth thinking for longer).As another example, when I write a couple paragraphs of argument in a text to a friend, it feels like I am constructing sentences in my head, writing them in my mind or to my phone, and then I either: Continue to write the next sentence.Rewrite the sentence I just wrote.Reorganize the overall structure.