this post was submitted on 29 Dec 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:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Also sometimes it actually just is good to know maths. Engineers, researchers, actuaries, accountants...there's a huge range of practical applications for maths that's more complicated than basic arithmetic in a very direct fashion, before you even get into jobs that more indirectly use abstract reasoning learnt through high school maths.
Sure. And for the 90% of kids who correctly say they won’t use math, it doesn’t matter. We are doing math so they can learn to navigate formal systems of reasoning. We could honestly teach deductive logic instead, or set theory, or group theory, or finite field topology. It doesn’t have to be algebra or anything remotely practical.
All of these are maths, though?
Abstract versus applied math. It looks different. More like studying numberless patterns and proof methods.
Who doesn't use maths on a day to day basis?
Beyond the simplest arithmetic? Lol sure bro.
A couple weeks ago I used pythagorean’s theorem to calculate the maximum size of tv my friend could buy to fit in their entertainment center based on the vertical space they had.
Every time I drive I’m mentally running through calculations on where each car around me is going to be based on their current speed, current acceleration/deceleration, and position relative to other vehicles that may cause a change in acceleration/deceleration. Having learned calculus that’s a lot more intuitive and easier to do than if I hadn’t.
I would be a less functional person if I had not learned anything beyond basic arithmetic.
Youd be supriced how much simple everyday things use maths and you dont even notice. When you look at the speedometer and calculate im your head how long its going to take to arrive you are doing supricingly complex math. Add how much it will use gas and how far you can get with full tank.
Same when you compare two different sized packages of the same product and try to asses which one is more bang for your buck.
Or if you are trying to calculate is it legal to drive after night out now or should you wait for an hour.
After a weekend trip with your friends when you start to tally who brought what stuff and how expensive it was and who is the vegan who did not eat the steak but brought case of wine that everybody was drinking exept Steve who was the dedicated driver. Then there was Sarah who was only one night at the rented house while everybody else was there two nights, but she bought the steaks and other meat that the rest of the crew (not counting the vegan) ate the whole weekend.
Also almost anything done with building or renovations.
More closely you understand the calculations the less it becomes math and more to just how things work. Math is funny like that.
Yeah maths is just the world written down and understood
I agree, that is more advanced.
But still 4th grade at best (in our school system).
Nothing like the advanced math theory we learned close to graduation.
If we keep redefining maths to not include the bits of maths that are inconvenient to people's arguments it all sort of becomes pointless.
Most professions don’t require mathematics, and we’ve automated so much of it anyway.
Honestly I don't know anyone who doesn't use it on a fairly regular basis.
You know people who use the unit circle on a regular basis? How about conic sections or the quadratic formula? These topics take months if not years to learn in school. We do so not because they’re useful in any practical sense for most people, but because they instill intuitions about how the world works.
I've never touched on the unit circle or conic sections as part of formal education, so I can't really comment. The quadratic formula - occasionally. Almost all of the maths I learned at school until age 16 was practical or useful in some sense. In the UK maths is optional after the age of 16.
I'd argue my maths education at high school level gave me a sturdy understanding of day to day maths, the building blocks for more advanced topics and the knowledge that certain tools exist and how to use them should I need them. I won't remember the specifics of everything, but a quick refresher is usually enough.
Again, most of the more advanced stuff in the UK is optional and mostly not done by anyone who won't want to carry that on to a more advanced level - usually a degree with a STEM adjacent subject.
You do know that addition and subtraction are also mathematics, right?