Scientists Reveal Most of What We Do Each Day Happens Without Thinking

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

You probably didn’t think much about brushing your teeth this morning. Or making that cup of coffee. Or scrolling through your phone before heading out the door. That’s because, according to new research, nearly nine out of every ten actions people take each day are automatic and performed with little to no conscious thought. A team of behavioral scientists from the University of South Carolina, Central Queensland University in Australia, and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom tracked 105 people for a week. Using real-time prompts, the researchers discovered that 88 percent of daily behaviors were “habitually executed,” while 65 percent were “habitually instigated”—triggered by environmental cues rather than consc