this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025
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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:

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.

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[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I’m so tired of this rampant paternalism across society. It’s exhausting.

[–] meliaesc@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How do you propose to counteract the spread of facism through the internet?

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

The same way we fight it in the physical world. With debate and education and engagement.

Wild that you would express concern with spreading of fascism while advocating for technocracy. You don’t oppose fascism- you just have a preferred flavor of it.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

With debate and education and engagement.

the algorithms will not show them to nearly as many consumers as it does with fascist content

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, we need more regulation of companies, and what they push. Not people.

[–] Doctor_Satan@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This I agree with. However, I disagree with debating fascists. They don't debate in good faith. Their aim in any debate is to wear you down by spewing more lies than you have the time or energy to debunk.

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

The point isn’t to convert the fascist. It’s to humiliate them and expose them in front of everyone else.

[–] Doctor_Satan@lemm.ee 0 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

You can't humiliate someone who has no shame. And with their firehose of falsehoods, you'll only expose a small portion of their lies by the time they've already moved on. Nothing productive comes from waging a war of words with people who don't believe in the words that come out of their own mouth.

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

The point isn’t to make them feel humiliation, nor convert them. It’s to make an example of them. This is also why people should physically assault any Nazis they see in public. Make being openly fascist an embarrassing & dangerous lifestyle.

[–] nickiwest@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Debate, education and engagement take time.

The algorithm is instantaneously ready with the next easily digestible bit of content to send you further down the rabbit hole into radicalization.

I worry that we need a more instantaneous cure in our current information environment.

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

“Instantaneous cure” sounds like you’re suggesting something super fucked up.

[–] nickiwest@lemmy.world 0 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not, really. I just don't think we have the luxury of taking the amount of time that we would need to educate people thoroughly enough to counteract the algorithm.

Probably what we need is a limitation on free speech where blatant misinformation is involved. In the same way that shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre is harmful, so is repeating false claims to stir political discord.

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

The eagerness to censor people, and not the companies pushing the shit, is such peak fascist bootlicking behavior.

[–] gamer@lemm.ee -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

paternalism

Whenever I see someone complaining about this on the internet, I imagine they're an angsty teenager mad that their mom doesn't let them get a face tattoo.

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeah, you’re aware of the definition of paternalism then. That’s the whole point of authoritarianism. The leadership does not believe the people can trusted to run their own lives, and treats the entire population as disobedient teenagers.

[–] gamer@lemm.ee 0 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

That’s the whole point of authoritarianism.

Lol no. You could say paternalism is authoritarian, but not the other way around. Authoritarianism is just about power.

But as an aside, would you mind sharing your age? You don't need to be specific, just say if you're over or under 18. I have a... theory about people who obsess over the concept of "paternalism".

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

All paternalism is authoritarian. Not all authoritarianism is paternal.

Middle aged. Your theory sounds bunk.