this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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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 best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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Humans are similar to cancer cells (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by idunnololz@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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Cancer cells are cells that keep growing even when they are told to stop. They continue to grow even when they are a detriment to the body. They consume a large amount of resources and they have no regard for the future even though their unsustainable growth will always lead to the death of their host and to themselves.

Humans have a lot of these similarities. Nature has a lot of mechanisms to prevent the unbounded growth of any population either through finite resources (ie. Carnivores die when they are too numerous because they will run out of prey to hunt) or disease and crazy fungi that spread much easier when there is over population. Humans pretty much learned to circumvent these mechanisms, leading to essentially unbounded growth. Humans over consume resources and we don't stop even when we learn of our over consumption. And despite learning that our way will lead to either mass deaths or extinction we do almost nothing and keep going.

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[–] bartleby1@lemmy.ml 48 points 1 year ago (4 children)

did you just watch The Matrix for the first time

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Mr. Anderson...

(Who else heard it exactly like I did?)

[–] moistclump@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Probably but also matrix refers to humanity as a virus, extracting from its host. I remember finding that striking and chilling. Still do, I suppose.

[–] idunnololz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No. Did this get explained in the matrix? I haven't watched it in over a decade. I literally just thought about this in the shower lmao.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had. It came when I tried to classify your species, and I realized you’re not actually mammals.

Every mammal instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. Instead you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. Then the only way you can survive is to spread to a new area.

There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern: a virus. You humans are a disease — a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.

[–] lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I put forth that humans coalesing en-masse in cities are like bacteria festering in an open wound.

[–] LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Glad everyone immediately went to this.

[–] Perfide@reddthat.com 25 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Just gonna drop this here.

[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does capitalism exist without humans?

[–] dudewitbow@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Depends on how low you define it. Many have monetary like transactions for procreation (e.g male insects offering food, some wasps offering service to mix her eggs into the colony eggs, penguins offering stones to mate), so the idea of offering a good/currency for a service is not innately human.

[–] my_hat_stinks@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago

Paying for goods isn't capitalism in the same way breathing isn't speech. Currency makes capitalism easier but using currency does not make you capitalist.

[–] idunnololz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

My shower thoughts don't get this deep. Honestly this is prob more of a iam14andthisisdeep shower thought. Im pretty pessimistic about the future though, I think we're all fked.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

I will be happy thank you

[–] Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

And despite learning that our way will lead to either mass deaths or extinction we do almost nothing and keep going.

We haven't collectively learned to disregard heard mentality.

Herd Mentality: A behavior in human beings where they flock like sheep subconsciously following a minority of individuals.

minority of individuals.

1%

[–] Belzebubulubu@mujico.org 0 points 1 year ago

You just discovered the philosophy of most lazy boring movie villain ever made, congrats!

Yeah, let's ignore that most of humanity has 0 choice in the matter and only the absolute billionares with investments in every company doing wrong are the ones with the power to stop the damage and because they are encouraged to seek the fastest easy profit they just don't care.

The fact that ONE private jet trip contaminates more than a single US family does in a YEAR.

But yeah, humans are cancer cell, every human. Even the kids and the persons with Down. Sure buddy.