this post was submitted on 23 Feb 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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  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

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As opposed to the northern/southern hemisphere that has:

  • a clear reference point (equators)
  • traditionally we don’t model a rotation north/south

Western/eastern hemisphere

  • doesn’t have a clear reference (Greenwich?)
  • traditionally we model rotation on the north/south axis so western/eastern would depend from the time
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[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Phrases like the the West or Middle East make sense when all relative to Great Britain in geography.

The British had colonies all over and the terms like middle east and the west stuck. It's also a reason for the most common world map, the Mercator projection.

[–] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

In UN proceedings the Middle East is referred to as West Asia.

Middle East is very much a colloquial anglo/euro-centric term. We'll see if it'll stick around outside of the West, where 80% of humanity resides.

To add to your comment: The Middle East is called „Naher Osten“ (close east) in German. „Der Osten“ (the east) on the other hand refers to the ex-GDR States.