We all have our own shower routine some of us like jamming out and busting out our karaoke skills while others like to take the time to reflect - and judging by the subreddit thread shower thoughts, there is some profound thinking that goes on between suds.
According to the group, a shower idea is "a miniature epiphany that makes the mundane more interesting. Maybe it's all the head scrubbing that knocks out these interesting thoughts, but if you are searching for life's meaning, the answer may be underneath your shower head." Scroll down below to check out more of these soapy epiphanies, and don't forget to upvote these genius ideas!
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While a lot of good and weird thoughts do come to us in the shower a 'shower thought' doesn't have to occur in the shower. The term has come to mean any idea you get while perform a mundane activity. Studies have shown that these epiphany moments usually occur in one of the 3 Bs - bathtub, bed or bus. Washington University psychologist R. Keith Sawyer, author of the new book Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation explains: "When we take time off from working on a problem, we change what we're doing and our context, and that can activate different areas of our brain. If the answer wasn't in the part of the brain we were using, it might be in another. If we're lucky, in the next context we may hear or see something that relates—distantly—to the problem that we had temporarily put aside.
A lot of funny shower thoughts are silly more than profound, but some famous discoveries have come between scrubs. In 1990 NASA scientists were trying to fix the lenses of the Hubble telescope while it was already in orbit. The engineer on the project Jim Crocker was taking a shower in a German hotel and noticed that the European-style shower was mounted on adjustable rods. That's when it hit him - Hubble's small mirrors could be extended into the telescope if they were mounted in a similar way on folding arms. You never know when clever ideas will hit!
What is it about the shower that makes it the perfect environment to think? Our brain releases its best ideas when dopamine is triggered, which can occur during a warm shower. At the same time we are in a relaxed state and thus more likely to reflect inward. Lastly we are distracted. Activities like washing the dishes or washing ourselves are so automatic that it give our brain a break and allows our subconscious time to play in a more creative way.
when being a parent you don't realize that watching your kid grow up, you are also growing up with them.
not for their entertainment. They are just picking the court fool for the queen
I have literally never heard that phrase before in my life. Is it common?
I remember catching my reflection in my daughters eye when she was little and thinking I looked awful, then realizing she thought I hung the moon, anyway. ;)
The one about language really struck me, as I was chatting with my cashier at Wal Mart last week -- she was lamenting her English, although really it was quite good -- but as we were chatting she told me she was an accountant in her native country and has a degree in business management, but here (US) she is working at Wal Mart while she tries to improve her English. She was obviously intelligent and driven, she was definitely warm and friendly, and I can't help but wonder how many redneck idiots in my area treat her badly for her English when they go through her line. As much as I enjoyed talking to her, I really hope next time I'm in there I won't see her -- because I hope by then she'll be on to something where she gets the respect she deserves.
Must be truly frustrating to be highly educated in one country and finding yourself somewhere you initially struggle with the language.
And where I live, which is rural and not high educated, I'm sure she's looked down on by people with a quarter of her class and work ethic, just because her English is broken.
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Sadly this is so very often the case! I see it everywhere. Not least in my own family.
I work with a gentlemen from somewhere in Africa, and when he started most treated him like he was an idiot because his English wasn't that great. After getting to know him, he speaks 5 other languages and has one hell of a work ethic. I taught how to weld and other things, like the different slang, some good some bad lol, about our holidays, just the general things that us Americans do, plus I'd listen to any questions he'd have. Anyways, after about 5 years of working with him he started to get promoted, and know he is a supervisor that most respect. It gives me a good feeling know that once people realized who is was and not what they thought, they gave him a chance.
Next time if you see her, you should suggest to her to start an accounting business, and suggest she make her primary clientel people who speak her language. Or at least suggest she start offering to help people in her community with finances and/or taxes.
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Great list of thoughts. Enjoyed reading them : )
No they've cut these down! There's only 30 now. *shakes fist* damn you, bored panda gods!
Really! Why????
The one about language really struck me, as I was chatting with my cashier at Wal Mart last week -- she was lamenting her English, although really it was quite good -- but as we were chatting she told me she was an accountant in her native country and has a degree in business management, but here (US) she is working at Wal Mart while she tries to improve her English. She was obviously intelligent and driven, she was definitely warm and friendly, and I can't help but wonder how many redneck idiots in my area treat her badly for her English when they go through her line. As much as I enjoyed talking to her, I really hope next time I'm in there I won't see her -- because I hope by then she'll be on to something where she gets the respect she deserves.
Must be truly frustrating to be highly educated in one country and finding yourself somewhere you initially struggle with the language.
And where I live, which is rural and not high educated, I'm sure she's looked down on by people with a quarter of her class and work ethic, just because her English is broken.
This comment has been deleted.
Sadly this is so very often the case! I see it everywhere. Not least in my own family.
I work with a gentlemen from somewhere in Africa, and when he started most treated him like he was an idiot because his English wasn't that great. After getting to know him, he speaks 5 other languages and has one hell of a work ethic. I taught how to weld and other things, like the different slang, some good some bad lol, about our holidays, just the general things that us Americans do, plus I'd listen to any questions he'd have. Anyways, after about 5 years of working with him he started to get promoted, and know he is a supervisor that most respect. It gives me a good feeling know that once people realized who is was and not what they thought, they gave him a chance.
Next time if you see her, you should suggest to her to start an accounting business, and suggest she make her primary clientel people who speak her language. Or at least suggest she start offering to help people in her community with finances and/or taxes.
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
Great list of thoughts. Enjoyed reading them : )
No they've cut these down! There's only 30 now. *shakes fist* damn you, bored panda gods!
Really! Why????