this post was submitted on 10 Sep 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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[–] CazzoBuco@lemmy.world 69 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Non-vegans have a really hard time understanding veganism, huh?

[–] zrst@lemmy.cif.su 22 points 1 week ago

It's like explaining free software to someone who only uses apple products.

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[–] Gold_E_Lox@lemmy.dbzer0.com 59 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

looool

how do you know if someone hates vegans?

don't worry they'll tell you

[–] anakin78z@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

OMG I'm totally using this from now on. 😆

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 43 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Interesting thought, but humans didn't harm the life that became fossil fuels, most of which came from plant matter anyway. I'm not in a position to unilaterally declare something vegan, but I'm pretty sure fossil fuels are vegan by default.

Sure, its use can harm animals. Still, I could kill a mouse with a cucumber, but it wouldn't change the fact that cucumbers are vegan.

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hmmm… but taking your argument to the opposite end; the normal consumption of a cucumber may not typically harm animals but I think there is an argument to be had that the normal consumption, and production, of fossil fuels typically does.

[–] lalo@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 1 week ago (16 children)

It's a common viewpoint among vegans that systems that depend on animal exploitation should be abolished. On the other hand, systems that contain animal exploitation should be improved.

I'll give two examples with human animals so it can be clear: Slavery? Should be abolished. People getting ran over and killed by cars? We should improve that.

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[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 week ago

Vegan has always been about doing the best you can in reducing the harm you do onto others and the environment as much your able to. Some vegans absolutely will refuse the use of petrol but most will see it as a current necessary evil they have to deal with and just reduce when able to in their current modern lives.

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

people fucking love to do these gotchas against anyone for even fucking trying, don't they

well congrats, you did it, you convinced all of us to compromise on our principles

[–] zrst@lemmy.cif.su 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I love vegans because they're usually pretty normal people that have see front-and-center how collectively stupid most people are.

The majority of people are proud of their ignorance because it makes them fit in with others.

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[–] vk6flab@lemmy.radio 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is like banning H₂O, NaCl and C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ from your life because "you don't like chemicals".

(Water, Salt and Sugar)

[–] Krudler@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

My sister had a freak out and told me she would never allow chemicals on her lawn. I said what about nitrogen?

NO FUCKING WAY

I followed up by asking her what she thinks our breathable atmosphere is made of, and what is captured by the rain and falls on her grass?

YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

I told her no, I don't, because when you just make up imaginary definitions for words, no one can ever know what you mean.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 6 points 1 week ago

This is a pretty dumb hill to die on. If someone says "chemicals on their lawn" it's pretty clear they mean lawn treatment services.

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago

You sound fun

[–] zrst@lemmy.cif.su 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Oil is vegan, though.

It's made from the remains of dead plants.

Also, I'm not sure how vegans view corpses of animals.

[–] bigfondue@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Oil is from plankton and algae, and coal is from terrestrial plants. It's all vegan

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[–] adaveinthelife@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago

I'd argue the extraction, refinement and typical uses of petroleum oil are somewhat not-vegan.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Also, I'm not sure how vegans view corpses of animals.

Like a dead cow, chicken, or pig? Probably not favorably.

[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oil is actually primarily formed from algae, not dinosaurs, so it should qualify.

Coal is plant matter, so it also qualifies.

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[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 14 points 1 week ago (4 children)

This is shifting blame. Fossil fuels are vegan in the sense of origin, however the harm done to the biosphere in using them is not vegan. Therefore a vegan using fossil fuels in a dependent society is to blame.

Sure. It's not the much higher percentage of people participating in this, it's the vegans. At least they're making attempts to change, unlike the rest of us.

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[–] unknown@piefed.social 13 points 1 week ago

We do the best we can to reduce harm and suffering.

Modern life is not vegan by nature, human infrastructure destroys animal habitats, human pollution is destroying the planet. Our species is responsible for the deaths of trillions of animals. Our existence is complicity.

Doing what I can to avoid consuming products of animal suffering is never going to be enough to counteract the majority of humans who revel in it. Especially as it's them who've built/control/condone the broken systems this world is running on and will be ending due to.

[–] mvirts@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Labor exploitation isn't vegan. Vegans are doing the best they can, better than me.

Bacon vegans are the most nonsensical

[–] Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I drive an EV and my electricity's 100% renewable.

Your move. :)

[–] essell@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] SkyNTP@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The plastic (including polyester fabrics) in your car was most likely derived from petroleum. The car parts were most likely shipped around during manufacturing using combustion engine vehicles. The energy to cast those car parts, probably some of it comes from non renewables. The labour to build the car almost surely comes from other people who consume gas (for example to drive to the EV factory)

That "100%" renewable energy? The installation and maintenance of it was/is almost certainly done with large industrial equipment and vehicles burning fossil fuels. (Similar issue with production of parts).

Look, I'm not saying you aren't making positive choices by choosing renewable options. What I am saying is, while they are more renewable, they aren't truly 100% renewable when you factor everything involved in it. Fossil fuels are so pervasive in society, it's virtually impossible to both function in a modern society and not contribute to the consumption of fossil fuels.

[–] Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 week ago

Ugh.

Well, at least I can say I didn't buy new.

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[–] harsh3466@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If the baseline vegan precept is no animal products of any kind, then I would agree nobody is actually vegan

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

The commonly accepted definition is summarized by the Vegan Society:

Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

[–] KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Depends on whether you're talking about oil/gas or coal. The former is dead marine fauna (edit: and flora), the latter is dead terrestrial flora.

[–] prex@aussie.zone 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Coal is from woody (containing lignin) plants. I think oil/gas is from algal mats.

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[–] Zier@fedia.io 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Vegan? Probably. But it is 100% Organic.

Actually 🤓, the refining process for many fossil fuel products requires the use of inorganic chemicals AND are proven to be hazardous to human health meaning they can’t even fit the US “Organic” certification. (Though I suppose the oil industry has enough money to ~~bribe~~ lobby the regulators)

Now if you meant “organic” strictly as in “the final product is a purely hydrocarbon compound” then you’re correct, assuming you’ve entirely distilled out any metals or other inorganic compounds of course.

[–] toiletobserver@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can a vegan eat a carnivorous plant?

[–] Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They probably won't because I think they'd taste disgusting.

I'd try one if I knew it wasn't poisonous tho.

[–] minnow@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Bladderworts have medicinal uses.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3353273/

3.2. Potential as Medicinal Crop Utricularia is recorded to be edible and high in nutrients. Some species used as folk remedies are mildly astringent and diuretic. U. caerulea is used to dress wounds while U. bifida is used to treat urinary diseases. Although yet to be widely researched, the medicinal potential of this species-rich genus is immense. In Peninsular Malaysia, U. bifida and U. minutissima are pioneers of open disturbed wetland and are often locally abundant, although U. caerulea is increasingly rare. U. bifida is highly suited for acidic damp soils. Neither chemical nor organic fertilisation is necessary. It can be cultivated without having to modify bad drainage or liming the soil to increase pH, therefore, it is a suitable alternative for small-scale herb cultivation on nutrient-poor, waterlogged soils.

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