this post was submitted on 27 Dec 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:

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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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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 39 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (7 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study#Public_trust

There's been a systematic undermining of public trust in health and safety instructions going on for decades.

Some of this distrust is earned as with Tuskegee, the bungled Anthrax vaccine, the Reagan Era response to the AIDS epidemic, scandals with weight loss drugs like Fen-phen and Redux, Oxycodone, etc.

Some of it is purely manufactured, with the CIA-sponsored agitation against the Chinese COVID vaccine being a major font of modern day anti-vax Truther Lore.

But to no-sell skepticism as just "you're a little baby who is scared of needles" really under plays the shift in attitude nationally. We used to be a country that whole heartedly embraced a preventative for small pox, polio, and influenza. Now we're more terrified of kids getting the shot that gives you bad grades in school than getting measels.

[–] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

America doesn't just do this domestically. They have interfered in other nations public health perceptions as well. The CIA undermined polio vaccination programs in Pakistan when global eradication actually seemed possible.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

America doesn’t just do this domestically.

They do. It's just tied up in the private sector. Tons of quackery on American TV and in news journals. Everything from "Head On, Apply Directly to The Forehead" to Dr Oz shilling ginseng as a panacea to the social media conspiracies about MedBeds that Trump himself retweeted.

The CIA undermined polio vaccination programs in Pakistan when global eradication actually seemed possible.

Can't let the wrong kind of people benefit

[–] vatlark@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

This was reported for misinformation but no counter information was given. I'm more likely to delete this whole post for being political than to pick a side when few people are giving sources.

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