this post was submitted on 17 May 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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Cars don't empower people. We've had "super human" travailing abilities long before the car. Cars take away freedom. I don't understand how being forced to use one method of travel for daily commute is empowering.
I've come to dislike the word empowered. In recent times it is, more often than not, used to gaslight people into accepting something that has far more negative consequences than positive.
So obviously you don't like cars, that's fine, I respect that. But your comment makes no sense. It's like if I said, "I don't like cake, I don't understand how being forced to eat cake every day is enjoyable."
Having a car does not force you to drive it. Not having a car forces you to NOT drive it.
You can hate cars, hell, you can hate me just for having one, but saying it FORCES you to drive it everyday is just nonsense.
I don't hate cars, I like mechanical shit. I hate not being able to commute without one because that's how my country has built its towns and cities. The buses are shit, there are no trains and walking is out of the question because the pedestrian infrastructure is unsafe or non existent.
It's not your or any others singular car forcing anyone to drive. It's the expectation that an adult person can drive and needs to use a car that forces or at least pushes everything towards driving.
If the design and soundscape of almost any space weren't impacted negatively by cars I wouldn't think they'd be forcing anything onto me. But that is reality even in nominally not car dependent inner city Germany. So that's why I hate cars.
You're.. what? You're not forced to work where you work; you can change to a closer workplace. Cars made it possible at all to go as far as you can for work. How do they remove freedom if they increase your options for where you can go?
I wonder if the most objective viewpoint is just that of neutrality; it's not better nor worse but just different. EVs sourcing from nuclear energy are probably objectively better.
What? I should just change jobs? What the fuck? I feel so empowered.
What's the problem? Unless you got forcibly relocated to a different branch or something midway through your career at a certain workplace, you knew exactly what the distance was from your home when you first applied, no? Alternatively, you could move closer to work, which is literally what I did and cut my commute by ⅔s. I wish my infrastructure had better public transit, too, but all I'm saying is there are usually ways out there to reduce the pain that you can try.
You have absolutely no idea what my situation is. I moved as close to work as I can.
The car has taken away my ability to get to places however the fuck I want. As it stands, you either own a car or you are stuck were you are, and this is supposed to be empowering? I can't just walk to the shop because a) it's a 30min drive and b) there's no pedestrian entrance. Want to experience nature? 1h30 drive, want to see a movie? It's in a mall with no pedestrian entrance. I feel so empowered being allowed to use a single method of transport to live life.
Cars are fine in moderation, but we've gone far beyond that.
", in theory." Should probably be added to the statement that you can change workplaces. Cost of living, availability of good paying jobs, and a variety of factors work into that flow.
Fair...