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: 1

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It's weird that we enjoy stimulating our fear response (lemmy.ca)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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What would aliens think if they leaned we evolved fear as a survival mechanism, but we intentionally seek out situations that trigger our fear response, for fun?

Horror movies, extreme sports, thrill-seeking, it's all weird.

Edit
Changed the title and added an extra line to make it clear I'm talking about the fear response, and not specifically about extreme sports

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think you're looking at it the wrong way - triggering the flight or fight response won't make you able to fight or flight by itself. You have to practice the responses or they're useless - detrimental even, like a deer in the headlights

Play is a way to exercise those instincts and practice responses, but in a safe way. We even creep into the danger zone a bit sometimes, but most people (and animals) keep the danger measured

Fear isn't pain - it's not meant to be an absolute deterrent. It makes us think twice and go into fight or flight mode to handle a challenge - it doesn't discourage behaviors, it moderates them. Sometimes you do have to face off a rival, or need to take a risk for a reward. It releases endorphins if we come out of it better off

So it's not weird that we are drawn to it - horror stories/movies/games trigger it artificially, but so does fighting each other or tests of courage

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

But in those cases, isn't fear supposed to be balanced by some reward? Competing instincts/motivations?