this post was submitted on 27 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:

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  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
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    • 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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Take that (not) Einstein!

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[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 42 points 3 days ago (2 children)

If you're practicing the exact same way over and over you're doing something wrong.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago

You must not be a bowler.

[–] kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

That's not always true. Finding the optimal way to do something is only one potential aspect of practice. Another is getting to a level where you can do it consistently and on demand, over and over and over, without missing a beat.

And even once you've reached that level, that skill can be lost or degrade over time if you dont keep at it, so repeatedly performing the same motions in the exact same way becomes pretty much necessary in order to maintain your skill level.

[–] stephen01king@piefed.zip 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

If you were looking for consistency, that is by definition you looking for the same result, which is not covered in the definition of insanity.

[–] kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Oops. I appreciate you clearing up the confusion. You ever just feel like a big dumb idiot sometimes? Cause I sure do.

[–] stephen01king@piefed.zip 2 points 3 days ago

I do feel like that sometimes, so completely understandable.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not necessarily. If you are learning a skill that requires accuracy (e.g. darts), you will sdo the same thing ovre and over. In the beginning the result will be that you will hardly be able to hit the board at all, and after a ton of practice the result will be that you will hit where you want to hit.

So by doing the same thing over and over again you will get a different result.

[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If your results are different, then by definition what you did was not exactly the same.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Ok, let's try this a different way:

"I'm gonna get a drink." - "I'm gonna do the same."

Is the second person going to immitate every single motion of the first person?

Or will the second person just also get a drink, maybe not even the same drink?

[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Every time I go to the park, I'm able to knock balls right out the park with my favorite bat. Am I more likely to get a career in major league baseball or arrested for animal cruelty?
Your argument is on par with arguing that because you saw an article about people playing base that you think we should arrest everyone in the stadium for animal cruelty.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There's a saying in German: "Nicht alles was hinkt ist ein Vergleich".

Roughly translated: "Not everything which is flawed is an analogy."

People do say "I'm going to do the same" when doing something that has the same kind of outcome without being an identical copy of an action.

People do not use a bat (animal) as a replacement for a bat (sports equipment) because usually people understand the concept of homonyms.

That's really not the comeback that you think it is.

[–] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

People also understand degrees of meaning and hyperbole. The fact that you seem to think that my response was a comeback shows exactly why you are struggling with this entire argument.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

So your point was that your argument was just hyperbole and thus doesn't make sense?

Ok, we can go with that.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Finding? How are you going to find it? Since you're arguing to never change what you're doing in practice the very first attempt at practice must be the thing you always repeat right?

[–] kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Why are you pretending I said things I didn't say? Finding the optimal way of doing something involves getting it wrong before you get it right. We all know this. What I was talking about was not greenhorn entry-level practice, but the practice of an expert who has already figured that much out. Obviously, you have to learn the right way to do something before you can do it the right way.

Ask literally any half-decent guitarist if trying to do the same exact thing in the same exact way helps or hurts their skill. Now ask a martial artist. A dancer. A singer. A painter. An engineer. A carpenter. Even a bowler, as someone else already mentioned. These are all skills that are honed through repitition.

In the spirit of the dialogue, I am going to repeat myself because it seems like I might need to; none of them got it right the first time. But after they did get it right, I guarantee you, their practice became about doing it again in exactly the same way. And then, once they were happy with their newly refinded skill, they learn something else and start that cycle again.

What's that Bruce Lee quote? "I do not fear the man that has practiced a thousand moves once. I fear the man that has practiced one move a thousand times". Skill comes with understanding and understanding comes with focus. At first, you focus on placing your fingers on exactly the right frets at exactly the right time, and then, after you've figure that out and can do it correctly, you focus on doing it over and over again until you're sure that can always do it exactly the way you want to, whenever you want it done. This isn't esoteric lore. It's common sense.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Finding the optimal way of doing something involves getting it wrong before you get it right. We all know this. What I was talking about was not greenhorn entry-level practice, but the practice of an expert who has already figured that much out. Obviously, you have to learn the right way to do something before you can do it the right way.

Congratulations that was the point.

[–] kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If that's the point, then I had it right the first time, and only seemed to lose you when I followed the idea to its obvious next leg. After you figure out how to do it right, then the rest of that initial comment comes into play.

You not following along well enough until it's been reiterated and fed to you as directly and simply as possible is not the dunk you seem to think it is.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Oh look you lost the point again.

[–] kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago

You said that practicing something the same way over and over is wrong, fullstop. I said that's not always true because after a certain point, that is the exact kind of practice that keeps the skill ready. I miss, lose, and never find many points, but I see this one clear as day. Your absolute statement was not absolutely true, and it's really just not that big of a deal.

While I don't appreciate that you misconstrued what I said earlier, wilfully or otherwise, I also don't think that's a rightful excuse for me to get as rude with you as I chose to. So, take it or leave it, I offer my apologies for that.