Well, the jerk store called, and they're running out of YOU!
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:
- 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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Why does my brain think I still need counterpoints for arguments I had ten years ago?
(discuss.tchncs.de)
I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!
You eat shit for breakfast?
……No
Because, naturally, it works on improving itself. This is just normal behaviour. As far as Darwinism goes, you'd be pretty undesirable if you made it this far with a brain that shutdown every time it could idle.
Dictionaries call this "contemplating" and it's an incredibly powerful thing you ideally want your brain to do a lot of.
With the caveat that it can be easy for some people to trigger a stress response in themselves when ruminating on past events, at which point any benefit of contemplation may become outweighed by the negative effects of anxiety. Developing the ability to set aside a thought that's causing you distress in the moment and learning to approach it from a more neutral or objective perspective are also powerful tools.
It has to be ego. I set my ego aside constantly and try to be open minded, and I am very open minded, but sometimes in privacy it's just so goddamn big for no fucking reason... Like when rehashing a 10-year-old argument in the shower.
Fuck you dad! This spiked collar is a lifestyle not a phase!
Alternatively, imagining arguments you could have, and coming up with responses in the shower.
I had a roommate that bitched at me for how I washed a pan poorly 20 years ago.
I still imagine arguing with him when I wash dishes maybe 30% of the time. It's extremely stupid.
To prepare for the next time. Whatever they said to use affected us and so the defense mechanism is to not let that happen again. Also regrets.
I'd probably try to reflect onto how this topic or that person are relevant to you right now. There're random chances to just remember stuff, but if it drove you to post it, you think that's important, and this argument is probably unresolved or led to a less than enjoyable results.
In my experience if there's a negative emotion (fear or shame usually) associated with a past situation which I don't want to feel I think about it again and again in seach of a perspective that basically makes me look better. It's futile. Best to just accept it as it happened, feel the feeling for a moment and then let it go.
Because you're not having enough interesting arguments now. Perhaps you have an instinct to want to grow and improve, but you're not able to easily access that in the here and now.
I sympathise. Sometimes it's not necessarily even about "winning" an argument, but just articulating your point well enough that things can move forwards. I find I am more likely to dwell on arguments where the other person was arguing against a point different than the one I was trying to make. In those cases, going over the argument in my head is usually me trying to think about how I could have better communicated my point in a manner that would allow the other person to engage with my actual points; perhaps then we could move forward productively and some change happens: either one of us causes the other to yield some ground, or I'm able to fortify my stance and come up with responses to new arguments. Either way, lack of closure sucks, especially when it feels stagnant.
Dwelling on past arguments isn't healthy, but I suspect you already know that, or you wouldn't have asked this question. Try not to beat yourself up about it too much though. Everyone ruminates sometimes, and trying to force yourself to not think of something is doomed to fail. It's more effective to find new things to focus on to help you to move forward, but that's an ongoing effort, and easier said than done.