this post was submitted on 11 Nov 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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- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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Everyone should have to go to college. We have an epidemic of stupidity.
I’m not sure college fixes that.
a properly designd public primary education system fixes that, the US's was specifically designed to create compliant factory workers...then they took all the factory jobs anyway.
No. it doesn't.
stupidity is a choice people make, regardless of how well educated they are or not. many people actively choose to be stupid because it is easier than the effort of having to be smart. many smart people turn off their brains for everything outside of the workplace.
i used to teach college. half the students absolutely refused to learn or make an effort. they were not dumb, they were just lazy.
It does. Look at Canada.
Idk, maybe we're doing alright compared to the US but we have an epidemic of stupid here too
Everywhere does, but Canada has a post secondary education rate of ~66%, and typically votes 66% sane. America has a post secondary education rate of ~50%, and typically votes 50% sane.
There are other differences between the countries, but I think it's impossible to argue that a substantially more educated population hasn't led to a stabler and more thoughtful political climate.
How many revolutions around the world have been sparked by student protests? It honestly seems like close to half of them from the past century or two. There's a reason that Elon and all the billionaires are trying to convince people that college is a waste.
Haha Doug Ford bad man.
Thanks for the commentary, so insightful and helpful. Totally not just edge lord polarizing bullshit.
Going to college can inform, but doesn't cure innate stupidity. And if the student is particularly willful, they can hold onto their ignorance as well.
Case in point: Trump.
You are right, all the comments replying to you are making vacuous individualist arguments like 'it won't work every single time', when what's important is that 'on average, it will raise intelligence and the ability to critically evaluate situations'.
The internet loves to just regurgitate what they heard before and only deal in absolutes, so right now it's that they would have made more money in the trades, so suddenly college and higher education is meaningless and provided no value to them. It's honestly embarassing how much they're just buying into right wing propaganda.
A more educated population is a more empowered population, and there's absolutely no reason that everyone shouldn't do some form of post secondary education, whether it's university, college, or a trades program that includes college level courses. You're not going to be able to understand how the world actually works or get a sense of the depth of knowledge in each field by just dropping out of high school and stopping thinking hard.
the easiest way to make big money in any area.... is have family/connections in that area.
most very successful people I've ever met... were simply riding the coattails of their family/parents. no matter what it is. if you want to be an engineer and your dad is already an engineer you have a huge leg up in engineering.
but nobody wants acknowledge this, esp in USA because we have this stupid myth of meritocracy. where you magially can do whatever you want and be really good at it. truth is very few people have that privileged. Most follow in the footsteps of their families.
because just like generational wealth, generational jobs skills/knowledge... compounds. your dad's 30 years of experience in engineering if you want to be an engineer, is basically gives you a huge experience boost.
Everyone should have access to a free college education, but not everyone benefits from it and it certainly does not guarantee intelligence.
it would be better to add elementary logic as a requirement to graduate high school. I would also add a class where you have to read and present a paper in stem and political science and philosophy.
why do you think that would do anything?
i litereally taught those subjects for 3-4 years. Trust me. for most students its just another stupid class they don't want to take, they won't learn anything. maybe 10% of those enrolled will actually learn anything.
I mean, how many people do you know as adults that remember how to do do an integral even those they took Calculus?
Its like anything else. If you don't have it then you drive toward zero on chance of people getting it. Its more about the opportunity to not be shit than decision to be shit. I completely get where you are coming from. I had not thought about the history and structure of the constitution I was taught in school but when I saw it violated it immediately drew alarm bells and reading through I could recall converstaions and ideas that were taught (really explained given the source document is easily obtainable). It blows my mind that anyone educated in america does not see whats happening. I mean maybe my education was better than most or something but I mean I believe a lot of the content was state mandated to be taught. Despite that I think its better to require things that are needed rather than hope people are exposed to it.
the vast majority of 'educated' people in America know shit about the constitution, and most of those that do probably know wrong things.
the only people who really know much about the constitution are constitutional scholars. and even they deeply disagree about various aspects of it.
It does not take a constitutional scholar to understand due process and illegal search and seizure. Especially when its being blatantly done across the country. One of the things I realized as todays reality had me looking over the bill of rights on a regular basis is I sorta now think they may have been ordered most controversial to least. ie you see a lot of argument around what exactly is free speech but not so much on rights being limited to only whats spelled out in the constitution or that if a power is not specified for the federal government its reserved for people and the states.