this post was submitted on 30 Jul 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.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- 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
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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.
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How can you have awareness of time if you have no memory of 1 second ago?
Perception of time is part of memory that "now" is different than it was 1 second ago.
Time, as experienced by a human is a product of sensory processing and memory. Short term and working memory. There is bit of research on manipulating the perception of time by different tasks and events.
https://www.popsci.com/how-time-seems-to-stop/
It's the experience of change.
This is why the speed of time can be altered based on tasks and attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronostasis
Time , as defined by physics , is its own thing independent of an animal's perception of time.
Like how vision is from light. But light is not vision.
We do have a circadian rhythm. So do all animals.
This is an internal clock that regulates the body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_perception
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm
Likewise , basic small time tracking appears to be largely done by the brain stem, limbic system, but probably the cerebellum. But not the cortex (higher function brain regions)
It is generally believed "consciousness" is a process of the cortex as this is where complex cognitive tasks are done.
"Experiments have shown that rats can successfully estimate a time interval of approximately 40 seconds, despite having their cortex entirely removed.[25] This suggests that time estimation may be a low-level process.[26]"
There is also a human disorder where the loss of time estimate ability can occur. Not completely independent of memory disorders. Short term memory is impaired.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyschronometria
Yep. Like you said/contradicted yourself. You don't need memory to perceive time.
Two forms of time perception.
But my point was memory is impaired in all forms except the one only measuring tracking estimates. Because you won't have any higher brain function with a cortex removed so they can't evaluate autobiographical memory because it won't exist.
And making short time estimates is done by the brain stem.
Even with no cortex. Likely because circadian rhythm is somewhat controlled from brain stem.
No cortex makes one essentially brain dead in many ways. No language. No sensory processing. No vision hearing or touch perception. No internal thoughts. Nothing. (Look up "default mode network, and why internal thoughts won't exist without a cortex).
Brain stem mostly regulates things like heart beat and breathing.
I understand your point, and I consider it irrelevant. One of those fun side effects of having me define consciousness twice, and never contesting either definition directly....only indirectly implying that consciousness requires a human brain.