this post was submitted on 26 Apr 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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Because knowing about something means starting to see its limits, its constraints, thus rendering said something into a finite 'chamber,' and my chamber feels like it's growing smaller the more I know of other chambers.

We had this poet-philosopher in Romania back in the 1910s-1960s (-ish), Lucian Blaga, who had an interesting philosophy about knowledge which merged the rational concept of Knowledge with the somewhat artistic sense of Knowing. In his view, there were two types of knowledge, Luciferian knowledge and Paradisian knowledge: Luciferian knowledge was, essentially, the Concrete, that which can be fully conceptualised, and Paradisian knowledge was closer to a feeling of Understanding without having the concept which is understood - he takes it to near magical levels in his explorations of the concept, but it's essentially a sort of Intuition+.

Now, the dude had some controversial views and leanings in a period of immense political turmoil (we were in the process of squeezing ourselves out of being a Monarchy and he kinda' sided with the Monarchists), but his poetry mostly reflects a sense of humbleness before the wonders of the world, a deep sense of apreciation for all that exists (with very obvious religious undertones, but it never felt dishonest), and a desire to keep it that way. His theory about knowledge is best represented through his poetry (Eu nu strivesc corola de minuni a lumii being his most well-known and his most relevant in this sense).

I don't fully agree with the guy, nor am I an avid reader of his poetry (I respect it, but it's not my jam), but this realisation reminded me that there has been at least one other person who felt it. Trouble is, my brain needs information constantly, so off I go to suck the Vastity right outta my world!

Edit: I think this has primarily to do with the fact that creativity and intuition are both very pronounced in my cognition, and they start being left idle more and more as concrete conceptualisation takes shape and the more rational processes take over the bulk.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

I'm no psychologist, but I do have racing thoughts as an engineer type shell over an artistic skeleton with a consistent stream of visual ideas. If you're anything like me, then I ask, what other intellectual and creative outlets do you have besides reading up on subjects? Could the fear of completing a topic stem from realization you have no way to apply it?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 hours ago

Gives new meaning to ignorance is bliss…

But seriously, take solace in the fact that you can never know everything about something. Physics, math, random subjects, you name it. The world and knowledge forever increase. So there is no way in your lifetime you’ll ever fill a chamber. Thinking you can is limiting hubris on your end. The more you learn, the more you’ll realize there’s so much you don’t know.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

What about thing we as a species don't yet know yet? The more we know the more we know we don't know.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

You've obviously put a lot more thought into this than I ever will, but I've never reached a point of claustrophobia, more the opposite, like agoraphobia. Every time I learn a little more there's references to things I don't know yet so need to learn those to understand that. But surprise! That topic also has references and underlying details I don't understand and haven't heard of before.

I get very intimidated by the awareness of the sheer scope of my ignorance.

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

I can certainy understand your viewpoint, there are layers upon layers of unknowns. I can see how that Vastity can be overwhelming.