this post was submitted on 26 Jan 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: 1

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I don't know if I can actually pull this off, but it's been a thought that I'd like to sound off in the open for others to see.

I follow a lot of stoicism philosophy and I like to follow parables for life lessons. The dichotomy of control, the obstacle is the way, you have two ears and one mouth, Amor Fati, Memento Mori, etc. Most try to put it in every day examples and while I was commuting to and from work, I was constantly fighting the urge not to rage at other selfish drivers. Of course, that comes with the dichotomy of control. I can only control my feelings and actions. But it also occurred to me that no matter what lifestyle you live, what background, character, personality, financial or disability you may or may not have, everyone gets stopped by red lights. There is no competition on who's the fastest, selfish, richest, toughest, or luckiest person. If you're rich and own a private jet, you'll have a chauffeur drive you to where you'll be. If you don't own a car, bikes and pedestrians have to obey the intersections. Runners and wheelchairs, fast cars and slow cars, big ass trucks and mini models. Sometimes you get lucky and it's a green light, but eventually everyone has to stop at a red light.

We're all equal and it has me more grounded than ever before. We have sports competitions and favorite teams, and my needs versus your needs. Political views, be damned. I always think of the person cutting me off or squeezing and now I just let them. Wherever they are going and for how long, a red light will stop them too.

I wish I could be more profound or add so much more to make into a book, but there you go out in the open. Now people can poke holes in it if they like. Haha

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[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I get what you're trying to say. But the truth is, a red light doesn't stop anyone from doing anything. It just tells them that there will be consequences if they choose to do so and get caught.

For the sake of the metaphor that you were going for, we can say that some people know that they'll face no consequences if they're caught. So they feel entitled to not bother stopping. While some people know that, based on previous history, that they'll be stopped even if they just managed to squeak through while the light was still yellow.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I would posit that it could be based on something else entirely, a civic or moral obligation a person feels to abide by the spirit of the law to help protect fellow people, even if they would not be punished or could some how gain something - in this case, a finite resource - time, for violating the law.