this post was submitted on 18 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.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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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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We pretty much always need an outside force to get us to stop.

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[–] daannii@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

Sunk cost fallacy

Being aware of it can help. Ask yourself. "Cut my losses or risk more with unlikely win?".

[–] Darcranium@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Buddhists call this samsara or samskara. Our habits (whether good or bad) are the most difficult thing to break and breaking these cycles is also the most important skill to acquire

[–] codewizard@hear-me.social 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

@Darcranium @Krauerking@lemy.lol the two are different words, LOL

[–] Darcranium@lemmy.world 1 points 33 minutes ago

The terms are used almost interchangeably in Hindi. And used to describe something similar in Buddhism. I wonder why there's so much overlap

[–] angrystego@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

So, how long have you been in the shower? Have you left yet?

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 3 points 8 hours ago

Oh shoot. I knew I forgot to do something

[–] kbal@fedia.io 25 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 3 points 17 hours ago

That's how inertia be. We want to keep things the way they are, unless we have no other choice.

[–] Zealotte@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also, continuing.

I'm tired, boss.

[–] Bgugi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Round out the set with refraining

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Yeah, as I kept showering that though came up too. We struggle with physics, we need help getting moving and then stopping again. We are a bunch of bouncy balls.

[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 1 points 17 hours ago

That's physically accurate tho. Anything with mass needs external force applied to change their state. Our minds are built of physical matter, so it makes sense they behave like physical matter.

[–] UninvestedCuriosity@lemmy.world 4 points 22 hours ago

Can't stop, won't stop baby.

[–] AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 22 hours ago

Newton’s first law applies to virtually any dynamic system, including the actions and thoughts of organisms.

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 3 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

I see this every day. I try to stop and just take in the moment. But I can't. I can't stop. I can't take in the moment. And it was only for a moment, now it's gone. And now that it's gone, I can't stop thinking about it. I try to stop. I can't stop stopping. But I also can't not stop stopping. It's my struggle. It's what I struggle with the most. Stopping.

[–] fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago

You also started thinking about it, you started trying, and with some practice you'll learn how to stop when you need to. It's not about stopping, it's about... a bunch of complex stuff because nothing in our brains has a simple straightforward explanation as much as we like to pretend it does.

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

god damn! that's a really nice grill...

[–] RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Equally true of every animal? Ever try to get a mole to stop digging?

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 4 points 1 day ago

Yeah, true. Or even worse, stopping a dog from eating something it shouldn't?

[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Having seen how a ton of folks in my city drive, can confirm.

[–] SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 17 hours ago

Walking to the supermarket today I saw a guy on a scooter who was using the soles of his flip-flops as brakes ... perhaps like him, they have no brakes?

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 1 points 23 hours ago
[–] aviationeast@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I can't stop stopping. Help me!

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Never stop never stopping.

[–] aviationeast@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

As a kid my dad had a game called gnome, where you controlled a mech. You could spam the stop button for the robot lady voice to say stop stop stop stop stop stopping.

[–] IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Respect goes a long way. Too many people try to "help" people stop something without respecting or understanding them. And that makes wars.

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 1 points 1 day ago

Respect and TCB.

[–] smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I dunno, inner forces are extremely effective. Depression is even harder to overcome than inertia.

"stop being happy!" -depression

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 1 points 1 day ago

Mmm I would say that depression by nature is a suppressed ability to gain inertia. It makes it hard to get the dopamine response started to a point where you get the feedback loop.

And also to an extreme it comes from a place of not being able to imagine stopping the life you live so it is easier to imagine a stop of everything.

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Until you realise it only takes one decision and we have stopped doing everything we wanted to stop.