this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2026
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Showerthoughts

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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.

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Not like, a poisonous ant or anything, I mean how many times has a singular ant domino effected itself into killing a human. Like knocking a napkin off the table that someone then slips on.

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[–] uenticx@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

OP writing for the next Final Destination.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 hours ago
[–] Staff@piefed.world 4 points 3 hours ago

I'm thinking what are the odds of someone asking this question.

[–] BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Oh, quite a few. There's a colony that kills animals and people for their bones, then the ants basically build themselves around the bones like muscles. They act like one living creature. There's a whole documentary on it.

The Bone Snatcher

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 hours ago

a singular ant

[–] xep@discuss.online 6 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (2 children)

Anaphylatic shock from ant bites is surely a thing.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Yeah my first thought was do allergies count.

[–] CluckN@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

I saw a TV special about a doctor who healed someone with mouse bites.

[–] Karmanopoly@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Someone somewhere probably tried to poison some ants and their dog ate the poison and they felt so bad they did suicide probably

[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 hours ago

I don't know. AskLemmy.

[–] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 39 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

I'm not 100% sure, but my Aunt Carly probably killed her ex on holiday in 2014. They were engaged and she came back alone afterwards, and no one ever heard from the boyfriend and she refuses to talk about it to this day.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

Ok this made me chuckle. I read it in Chris Pratt’s voice for some reason.

[–] CluckN@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

She inherited the rights to the ski mountain he owned right? She turned that laid-back cozy mountain into an exclusive expensive resort?

[–] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 hour ago

Hah, nope. Nothing like that. She's actually very homely. She had all these books on myrmecology, but got rid of them after the trip. I think she may have put a fire ant in his food to cause his throat to swell up and asphyxiate him.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 13 points 9 hours ago

An ant not an aunt 😂

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 13 points 9 hours ago

Carpenter ants can take a house down just like termites. Do that at the wrong electrical socket or load panel and it will cause a fire.

I bet it’s happened a number of times.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 34 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

I'm really leaning toward zero, but I could see someone overreacting to the presence of the ant and hurting themselves in the process.

[–] Blander_Rurton@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

I also feel like if it's a likely enough event to happen once, then it might have also occurred multiple times.

[–] yottle@kopitalk.net 21 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

In a court of law, the most the ant could get for this is manslaughter. Very likely though he would get off with a mere wreckless endangerment charge

[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 9 points 13 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Master@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

is it a red ant or a black ant?

[–] actionjbone@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 hours ago

All ants are black in the dark.

[–] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 17 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

As others have already said, it’s probably very low or even zero. However, if we allow a chain of events to count, then that number should go up. In that case, you could say that an ant was among the many factors that contributed to the death of a human.

Let’s say you’re tired, driving in the middle of the night, it’s raining sleet, your car has worn-out summer tyres, etc. It’s a recipe for a disaster already, but then you realise an ant has sneaked onboard and is now walking up your leg. You swipe it away, get distracted, and hit oncoming traffic. A truck carrying huge steel beams plows through your 1986 Nissan Micra like it’s made of thin cardboard. Did an ant kill you? Kinda, but not really.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

This was my second thought. Some very complicated “sliding doors movie” Rube Goldberg situation…

But your story is like super specific. Are you really a murderous ant?

[–] Squirrelsdrivemenuts@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I think spiders in cars cause quite a few accidents due to distracted drivers. There must be some people who freak out over ants the same way.

[–] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 hours ago

I know I freak out no matter what kind of creepy crawler I find on my leg. Usually I just slap first and look at it later.

[–] lauha@lemmy.world 8 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Ants could have made a nest under the road causing a small pothole to form which cars tire could hit and cause it to spin out of control on wet road.

Singular ant? Not really

[–] phonics@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

But what if 1 particular ant didn't contribute to the nest enough stopping the pothole from occuring. If it works that way it should work the other way too.

[–] lauha@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

Then the supervisor ant and inspector ant didn't do their job properly or the ant society failed every ant because there wasn't systems in place to prevent that from happening.

[–] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 1 points 6 hours ago

They’re all partners in crime. It’s a shared responsibility.

[–] tiptoes@sh.itjust.works 10 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Vex_Detrause@lemmy.ca 1 points 57 minutes ago

I thought the ant colony acted like a soft landing spot. It's the bite of fire ant and the resulting adrenaline that help her.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 15 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Like strictly a single ant or a whole colony? Because using ants as a torture and execution device was a thing.

Would allergies count as poison? 🤔 There was a woman in Georgia that died after being bitten by a fire ant due to a severe allergy in 2023.

[–] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 7 hours ago
[–] Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 12 hours ago
  1. It got close to 13 but the guy survived.
[–] smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Zero.

So go ahead, use an ant as a bullet to assassinate your foe, they'll rule it misadventure.

[–] Godort@lemmy.ca 2 points 13 hours ago

Instructions unclear.

Bullet ant stuck in dick

I think none times

[–] Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 2 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 25 minutes ago) (1 children)

I'm pretty sure there is some evil ant species in Australia that has killed a person or two

[–] StickyDango@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Can confirm, ants in Australia are evil.

Though I haven't done research on this topic, I do have a first hand account of how freaky red bull ants are.

I've gone hiking and sometimes I come across them. I usually hike with poles, so I always look before I plant. I planted by a red bill ant once, and it really took offense. It kept facing me no matter which direction I was from it, like it was waiting for an opening to climb my shoe, sock, and get my leg. I have been "stalked" when taking small steps away.

I don't think they sting, but their mandibles, though. 💀 Not sure if there's any documented deaths caused by this ant, but it sure would hurt being bit. Same with bull ants. Deaths from anaphylaxis probably, though.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

........uhhhhhhhhhh, zero? I fully believe in the butterfly effect, but I'm really struggling to come up with a realistic set of events that kills a person which all originated from one ant.

The closest I can come up with is an ant walking on the ground, and sn animal gets spooked. Then ???? and ???? followed by ????? which results in someone dying.

[–] mech@feddit.org 1 points 5 hours ago

Accidentally breathing in a fire ant which then bites the inside of your windpipe, causing it to swell shut.

[–] OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

I cant find any real life examples of everyday normal ants, but considering how many of them exist on this planet - imagine if they wanted to...