this post was submitted on 09 Apr 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:

Rules

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  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
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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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At least, you'll have an idea of what's going on in your new dimension

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[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 week ago (2 children)

you'd probably have to find several by different tyoes of people, to make sure you aren't reading a biased account :p

[–] batdad90@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Exactly, depending on the world/kingdom/government you’d find yourself in, the local history books may be propaganda.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Even so, you may not have the real truth, but you'll know what you need to navigate the society you are currently in.

[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

Hot take, but the propagandized version would likely be better, since your goal is to find out the present day conditions rather than actual history. What a government wants its citizens to think (and more importantly, how it expects them to behave) is probably more important than finding out actual details of history that early in your stay.

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

Perhaps even written by Victoria.

[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The idea traveling to a other demension and reading something that is dramatically different there your dimensions history only to later find out, no, that guy was just a moron, and now you look like one too, is very funny to me.

[–] ItsMeSpez@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I'm imagining our intrepid hero coming off a bender and to the conclusion that they're in a different dimension. In their efforts to educate themselves about their new world they unwittingly fall fully for conspiracy YouTube videos; what a magical and strange world they've found themselves in.

[–] GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (2 children)

First thing you do is find a public library. If the concept of a public library exists in this reality, you're likely not completely fucked.

If there is no public library, and no one has ever heard of one, you are DEFINITELY fucked.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

what if all they have are libraries, the concept of one not being public is alien to them

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

Then you've won the dimensional jackpot and you should immediately start trying thwart any misguided attempts from folks in your original dimension to "rescue" you.

[–] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Librarism is such a fun utopian ideal. Need a computer? Go check on out. Need a shovel, go check one out. Etc etc

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[–] toynbee@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

I always thought the library near where I grew up would be a near ideal environment during a zombie apocalypse. It was a repository of knowledge and entertainment, of course; it was in a fairly small city, meaning that while there might be more zombies than in the countryside, there wouldn't be as many as in a large city - but there would be resources nearby; there was an armory nearby; there was only one relatively-easily-fortified entrance (to my knowledge); and it had a fully enclosed courtyard which, while it ended up being kind of depressing in real life, could give you a garden in a theoretical apocalypse.

The first and last were most of what I considered when I was a kid.

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

Not sure how many people in this dimension have read one.

(Obvious comment is obvious)

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

I can think of 77 Million who haven't.

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I'm sure they've read the Bill Cooper collected works.

[–] sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

how you gon read alternate dimension language?

[–] Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago

That it's an alternate dimension doesn't mean that the language isn't semiinteligible

[–] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

How do you read anything in a dimension where oral tradition rules and writing isn’t even a thing.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Checks to see if it's titled Bearinstein Bears or Barenstain Bears

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Or Berenstain, like in this dimension.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

"Al, I need to leap again."

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

Can I come, too? There has to be one where Trump isn't president.

[–] emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yeah fuck food or clean water, let's read

[–] Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

An history book and common sense can help you get a place to stay.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

See, this is why the history book is important. Yeah in your dimension they have sex with the food and have to physically scrub the water clean, but here in our dimension for the most part people eat the food and just make sure the water is clean by boiling.

Like looking at a git log when you clone a new repo.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago
  • Go to an alternate dimension

  • Immediately look for a history book

  • Find one

  • It's in French

Most people wouldn't even know they are in a different dimension. If you aren't well versed in the history of your home, then you're just learning new historical facts.

"Huh, I didn't know Hitler and Einstein were married. Weird."

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You should read Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert Heinlein. This is basically the main theme

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

funny that Heinlein is mentioned. dude was a libertarian Nazi propagandist.

take all his works with a pound of salt.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Uh, curious where you got that from, especially since I didn't see how you can be both a Nazi and a libertarian. Did you misinterpret Starship Troopers to be straight endorsement of militant fascism?

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[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

Make sure to assume it's all propaganda as well

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 2 points 1 week ago

The printing press is a very new invention in our universe. Before then books were for the rich. Often too history is written by the victors and so it missing a lot of important details that might or might not matter.

Come to think of it intelligent life such as could write books seems to be new. (but we have no ability to detect life elsewhere if it exists so who knows)

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

Gray’s Sports Almanac

[–] DarkMetatron@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Reading history books is the right thing to do, in every dimension you are

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Don't forget to bring a towel.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago
[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

If you end up in an actual alternate dimension: read the future book.

[–] boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 week ago

Or a newspaper from a seemingly trustworthy source

Then you find out that it is a pseudo-rational populist newspaper (like WELT or anything in the US I guess) and you are fooled.

[–] JoShmoe@ani.social 1 points 1 week ago

I’d recommend holding your breath for as long as possible first.

[–] CombatWombat@feddit.online 1 points 1 week ago

Depends on how exotic the alternate dimension is, I suppose -- maybe a physics or chemistry book, or a local language to a language you speak dictionary, might be preferable in some cases.

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

Good idea. You should also figure out if the new universe is in the past. Could give you some nice foreknowledge.

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 week ago

The gambler!

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