: the moving or functioning (as of an organ, tissue, or a body part) without conscious control that occurs either independently of external stimuli (as in the beating of the heart) or under the influence of external stimuli (as in pupil dilation)
3
: a theory that views the body as a machine and consciousness as a noncontrolling adjunct of the body
4
: suspension of the conscious mind to release subconscious images
automatism—the surrealist trend toward spontaneity and intuitionElle
Recent Examples on the WebOther analysts countered that the defense would be successful in only a minuscule number of cases and that there is a difference between extreme intoxication and extreme intoxication akin to automatism. Amanda Coletta, Washington Post, 13 May 2022 But once humans traveling in this manner exhibited the automatism of the technology itself, any interruption entailed a catastrophic return of the anxiety initially repressed. Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 23 Nov. 2021 Founded by French poet, essayist and critic André Breton, Surrealism rejected the premise that culture and politics should be guided by rational principles, instead elevating dreams, automatism and psychoanalysis. Isis Davis-marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Nov. 2020 While painters like André Masson and Joan Miró practiced visual automatism, others, René Magritte, Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí among them, used meticulous technique to create optical puns and illusions. Teju Cole, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2016
Word History
Etymology
French automatisme, from automate automaton, from Latin automaton