Another Step in the Routine

On p. 308, Highmore mentions the way that Chaplin's character brings his "automated response", a routine developed by his industrial workplace, outside the factory. To me, this seems to embody two different ideas. Firstly, the barriers between work and life appear to have been dulled to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish between them. Simultaneously, we may have been experiencing the comfort of our routines for so long that we choose to replicate those routines even in situations where there is no need to, causing us to react to events in a subconscious, repetitive way rather than engaging with them on an individual level. This latter effect could effectively be seen as a dumbing-down of society due to modernization, which the essay seems to address partly from various perspectives.

Recently I watched a video essay on neorealism, and it made me think of some similarities between cinematic portrayals and analyses of everyday life. What exactly is it that makes an experience stand out from the routines of the everyday? Do we focus only on the things that matter and cause change in our everyday lives? Or should we also pay attention to the absence of change, as well as the empty spaces left behind by change? After all, routines do not develop in a vacuum.