I think we all understand this at a simple, pragmatic level. For example, we all want to become so comfortable with the keyboard that when we think of the variable "bar" our hands automatically type it. I read the point of the article as saying that this applies at higher and higher levels of function as well: if we make things automatic we can spend more time thinking about and accomplishing the higher goals. And as the article mentions flow, again, I think we all know this to some degree.

And I was amused, if not surprised, to see that the confucianist writers had twisted this to support obedience to the power structure. We're lucky Plato had never heard of them!