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. ;)
We just looked at the street view of my husband's parent's house as we are getting ready to sell it after his parents both passed away and the picture has his dad sitting out on the porch like he used to like to do. It was a special surprise.
Did you take a screenshot of it? They update those every once in a while and it could change one day
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I did one of those ancestry things last year, the one where people link family trees, and pull in documents and whatnot. I learned that one of my ancestral families is huge. Some could be traced to the 1400s! I was able to look at the European town from which this family springs on Google Earth, and it struck me while I was doing it as pretty amazing. As a GenX'er, I'm in the sweet spot of pre- and post-internet. It's amazing to me that I can get a 360° view of this town via Google Earth as it is today on my phone (a device that puts more power in my hand than what took men to the moon and back when I was born!). As a child in the 1970s, I would've had to go to the library and ask the librarian for an atlas, and even then, there'd be no pictures of the place, or maybe one ancient snapshot in Encyclopedia Britannica, if it was even listed at all.
I know it's odd right? My parents came from south America so when my grandma was young she still rode around with a horse and cart. Technological advances are going so fast.
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Most people who have Google Earth forget that they now have an app that can show them any place on Earth but the first thing they google is their own house.
I love visiting places from my childhood on Google Earth! We moved a number of times , visiting like this brings my thoughts back to the exact age/decade we lived there. Columbus Ohio lives in the late 60's-early 70's...Delaware was disco, New Hampshire was preppy then new wave, Boston was punk...etc
It's nice driving through streets and seeing the most amazing shootings, people making love, nude people standing on their porch, the end of the world and all that other fun stuff. 25-End-Of-...54-png.jpg 
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.
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No they've cut these down! There's only 30 now. *shakes fist* damn you, bored panda gods!
My shower thought today: I am 100% more motivated to wake up when there is leftover pizza in the fridge. It's better than an alarm clock.
why does bored panda always delte a huge part of the list after they upload it. Like there were 120+ before now it's only 30
A copy paste of Minerva15's comment- For all of you wondering why the list was cut is because BP may have taken some of the submissions without the original posters consent, then they learned of this article and asked BP to remove their submission.
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If your eyes are shut in flash photos, you are literally faster than the speed of light.
The title said '154 Shower Thought...' but I only see #103. I feel like there's 51 shower-thoughts that are missing or lost...
It's down to 30 now, although they did change the tittle. A shame, but you can go to the actual sub reddit to read more of the responses if you like.
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I always found it kind of gross that when swimming in a pool with other people you are likely to accidentally drink some of the pool water. This water has touched every body part of everyone in that pool. Even if you don't drink it, it still gets in your eyes, ears etc.
That's right. Because dangerously overweight people have no idea that they are overweight without your commentary. And they don't deserve to feel beautiful by people who find overweight people attractive.
I heard that showering makes you creative because it ionizes the air. Don't know if there's real science behind it.
Where'd the rest (#31-#102) go? i was in the middle of reading em!
They're originally from Reddit, the original posters may not have felt comfortable of their comments being used for other purposes. I know this for a fact because Reddit often gets annoyed at Bored Panda for doing this.
Load More Replies... 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.
Load More Replies... No they've cut these down! There's only 30 now. *shakes fist* damn you, bored panda gods!
My shower thought today: I am 100% more motivated to wake up when there is leftover pizza in the fridge. It's better than an alarm clock.
why does bored panda always delte a huge part of the list after they upload it. Like there were 120+ before now it's only 30
A copy paste of Minerva15's comment- For all of you wondering why the list was cut is because BP may have taken some of the submissions without the original posters consent, then they learned of this article and asked BP to remove their submission.
Load More Replies... If your eyes are shut in flash photos, you are literally faster than the speed of light.
The title said '154 Shower Thought...' but I only see #103. I feel like there's 51 shower-thoughts that are missing or lost...
It's down to 30 now, although they did change the tittle. A shame, but you can go to the actual sub reddit to read more of the responses if you like.
Load More Replies... I always found it kind of gross that when swimming in a pool with other people you are likely to accidentally drink some of the pool water. This water has touched every body part of everyone in that pool. Even if you don't drink it, it still gets in your eyes, ears etc.
That's right. Because dangerously overweight people have no idea that they are overweight without your commentary. And they don't deserve to feel beautiful by people who find overweight people attractive.
I heard that showering makes you creative because it ionizes the air. Don't know if there's real science behind it.
Where'd the rest (#31-#102) go? i was in the middle of reading em!
They're originally from Reddit, the original posters may not have felt comfortable of their comments being used for other purposes. I know this for a fact because Reddit often gets annoyed at Bored Panda for doing this.
Load More Replies... 