this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
247 points (95.9% liked)

Showerthoughts

40694 readers
1122 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 25 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 9 hours ago

sometimes, but weve seen them double down on the conservatism, which makes them more extreme than thier parents.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 11 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Recognizing danger is a deeply internalized ancient instinct. If you feel danger, there is almost always danger. Heed your brain's warning.

[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Also, the brain sometimes presents useful information like this in a not useful manner.

I am among other things a Private pilot, several years back I attended a seminar on this subject. The presenter was an accomplished pilot and mechanic who owned his own airplane. One day, he had just finished engine maintenance and he went out to fly. Just as he got out to the runway, he got a strong sense of dread, of 'my airplane is gonna kill me today'. So rather than take off he went back to the hangar to investigate.

He started walking around the airplane, running his hands over the metal, until he got to one specific spot on the engine cowling where his mind said 'there! Something in here wants me dead'.

So he starts disassembling the airplane in that spot and eventually gets to a thing called an oil separator. It's a simple device, just an empty box basically. A mixture of oil and air is pumped into it, the oil falls to the bottom and exits through a tube back to the engine, the air goes out the top.

Inside the oil separator he found a little loose bolt. It was right next to the hole that went back to the engine. If he took off, when the plane rotated the little bolt would have been sucked into the engine, causing massive mechanical damage. If he lost his engine on early takeoff that can be a very dangerous accident.

Obviously, he is not psychic. His airplane doesn't want to kill him. It's just a piece of metal. But, when he was doing maintenance the previous day, part of his brain remembered that he didn't secure that bolt correctly. And thus, the brain presented useful information (you didn't tighten the bolt and it's going to destroy your engine) in a non-useful way (your airplane wants to kill you).

The moral of the story here for pilots was if something feels wrong, don't assume it's just nerves. Look for a reason, look for a cause, trust your instinct.

This isn't limited to pilots though. Over a million years we have evolved it. It's the same reason why little noises at night freak you out, because a million years ago when we lived in caves a little noise might mean the saber-tooth tiger was trying to sneak up on you and eat you.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 17 hours ago

Like when you're leaving the house, and you have that feeling that you're forgetting something? You almost always are.

[–] baguettefish@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

does not apply to people with paranoid schizophrenia and persecutory delusions. as someone who now takes meds against it, sometimes your own brain works wonderfully against you.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 33 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, you get a huge bonus multiplier on your humanity score for that. Don't discount it!

[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

Similar but with religion intend of political insanity. I don’t remember ever believing in their bullshit, but even tried a few times (since it was my only choice as a youngster). Always annoyed by their stores that didn’t make any logical or scientific sense and as soon as I could have a weekend job I got one and left.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It often skips a generation, like red hair.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 4 points 1 day ago

I dk grandpa was way worst than dad.

Uh oh, keep an eye on your kids OP!

[–] expatriado@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

did the same, in my case i would say "needed" more than "worth it", it was not easy

[–] xSikes@feddit.online 9 points 1 day ago

Dude, same.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You got out before you got bit. Once a bite breaks your skin, you're done for. Then you're gonna become one of them.

[–] DaedalousIlios@pawb.social 8 points 22 hours ago

Cap. I was a formerly incredibly devoute conservative evangelical. I found my way out. People find their way out all the time, they just get buried under all the other discourse.