this post was submitted on 21 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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If someone were to record a flawless, 4K video of an actual alien walking around or a spaceship flying overhead, people would just think it's a deep fake.

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[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I always giggle at the idea that aliens would come here in some super advanced spaceship.

Look at the spacecraft we've managed to land on other celestial bodies. They're basically the lightest, sketchiest, life support boxes with a rocket motor that we can manage to get to the destination. It would be reasonable to assume that any alien out there reaching earth for the first time would either send a rover, or it would be the jankiest craft that could just barely get here.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's assuming they came here first :)

Also, assuming one of the 60 horrible things happening right now doesn't prove the Fermi paradox.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

We've been looking all over for signs of life. Earth screams "there is life here!"

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

We've only been broadcasting for 120 years, which is ~120 light-years away. Someone within that bubble needs to be technologically advanced enough to have been listening for the past 120 years.

Also, our average transmissions are pretty weak. If we really want to get noticed, We should have been firing intense lasers at them.

[–] vithigar@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A persistent assumption about advanced interstellar travel is that engine efficiency is monumentally better to the point that the "tyrrany of the rocket equation" is no longer a factor, and extra mass can be carried without absolutely exploding your fuel requirements into absurdity.

If adding 10kg of payload didn't mean also potentially many times more mass of propellant we'd be sending up more robust spacecraft, no question.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Rocket equation notwithstanding, there is the tyranny of development. Electric motors, rocket engines, ion thrusters... All of these locomotive technologies went through iterations. Even if alien scientist invented a warp drive capable of carrying an infinite amount of mass an infinite distance with no energy, there would still be a development process to implement and integrate that drive into a spaceship.

Technological progress, or the accumulation of knowledge does not happen overnight, it's built layer by layer.

[–] Ramblingman@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I followed disclosure for a while and it seemed to be mostly grifters. The big reveal never comes, meanwhile they are raking in the cash writing books and attending conferences. Some of them even have ridiculous shows on the "history" channel.

[–] Mbourgon@lemmy.world 77 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] xavier666@lemm.ee 19 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What's the XKCD code for this?

[–] Two9A@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago
[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 139 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Plot twist: aliens introduced generative AI so people would dismiss evidence of their existence.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Sam Altman is an alien in a human suit. Our AI sucks because aliens had to adapt their software to our crappy binary logic/architecture.

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 23 points 3 days ago
[–] andallthat@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

As an alien I would now spend all my time targeting wannabe influencers. Wait until they are alone, get naked and let them take high-quality pictures and videos of my green ass while I dance and play yankee doodle on my harmonica

[–] forrgott@lemm.ee 5 points 2 days ago

If Kirk were an alien...

[–] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Supposedly the DOD and alphabet boys have pretty good video, and have gone around confiscating good videos. That family in Vegas that claimed that they had aliens in their back yard a few years ago, the one where the cops said they didn't think it was a prank but wouldn't go into detail as to why, got a visit from the alphabet gang not long after, and they had surveillance cameras that pointed into that yard.

Now, as to whether those videos really do exist or if it's a bunch of hokum, well, it's going to have to be a case of maybe believe it when we see it. I've been following the UAP disclosure efforts with great interest, regardless of where they lead. I've always been a UFO/ET enthusiast, but I'm the type that wants to see proof, not "trust me bro, just look at these three pixels, my cousin said he fucked an ET in the army". If we're going to get proof, though, at this point we're going to need more than video. That window's been shut for a while, thanks to CGI, Photoshop, etc.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's all B's you couldn't keep it secret with that many people knowing about it.

[–] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

B's? Hmm, like B- designation aircraft, implying that they're bombers?

Edit: I legit don't understand, and this is my best guess at what this person meant.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Ohhhhhh, that makes a lot more sense, yeah

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It took me a sec as well lol

[–] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

Well, since there is an apostrophe we can assume that it's either a contraction or possessive. Being that I'm unaware of the contraction I'm leaning towards possessive, so that means whatever UFOs are belongs to someone or some group named "B." To my knowledge, the organizations that widely go by B are The Boston Bruins hockey team, and The Bloods, a street/prison gang originating in Los Angeles California. Idk what a hockey team will realistically do with UFO tech in a game where flying isn't involved, so my best guess as to the meaning is that the Bloods have really leveled up and the Crips should be worried.

[–] Legom7@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They meant BS but their computer/phone messed it up.

[–] pedroparamo@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Since you have a big interest, start a community. I don’t think I’ve seen many and I am sure there are many of us who might be lurkers but love the information from individuals like you. I’ll be your first subscriber

[–] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

alright, https://lemm.ee/c/close_encounters is hot off the presses!

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[–] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Wow. An actual shower thought.

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[–] latenightnoir@lemmy.blahaj.zone 45 points 3 days ago (19 children)

If I were The Aliens, I would've stopped coming here somewhere around 2013-2014. And I don't say this with any kind of undertone, I just feel we haven't developed in significant ways over the past decade. They most certainly haven't presented any social interest, so it's a study. They'd only need vertical slices every half century to a century or so.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Lets put it this way: in the 60s, a photo was not a simple or common thing. Only a few people had a camera at hand, and films could only take 20 to 30 pictures, so they were used sparingly. Still, many UFO pictures date from back then.

Nowadays, everyone has a camera on person, and you can do thousands of pictures in a row. There are millions of recording video surveillance cameras everywhere. So if UFOs exist, there should be myriads of pictures and recordings, many of which in top notch quality, where you could read the labels on the little green mens console buttons.

So far, they remain to be seen.

[–] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Take a picture of a plane with your cellphone. Not to say that there are aliens in any way, but the devices we have can barely capture a decent picture in a grocery store security system. After 20/30 meters pretty much nothing is clear without specialized equipment.

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[–] makyo@lemmy.world 30 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I'm not sure there was ever the possibility of a really convincing UFO video. I'd be skeptical of something extremely realistic even if we were still in the days before convincing traditional effects. It's just too high a bar - it's much easier to believe that a video was staged, even to an unbelievable level, than it is to believe that it depicts actual beings from another planet. I think that's why the UFO community hangs their hat so much on Disclosure these days. They must realize that only confirmation from a trusted authority could be real confirmation.

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago

They must realize that only confirmation from a trusted authority could be real confirmation.

This is a neat observation because it's ironic on it's face. UFO people actively work to discredit institutions and authority. But you're right, they are desperate for confirmation from the Pentagon, the Vatican, even something on official DMV letterhead would be a blockbuster event in UFO/conspiracy spaces.

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[–] demizerone@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I've seen one myself, back in 2015. Flew right over me without a sound. Someone else on the ground saw it too and flashed an extremely bright beam at it and it responded back by flashing multi colored lights back. I took a picture of it and the only thing that showed up is a small blurry dot. But it was at night.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Amazing. Pack it up everyone. Looks like the old "are we alone" question has been settled once and for all.

[–] lagoon8622@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

It's so good to finally have conclusive, irrefutable proof like this. The government has already arrested OP, of course. They'll get around to scrubbing his comments shortly

[–] nandeEbisu@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago

Yep that sounds like a flying object that no one identified.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Actual, legit Fortean lore regarding this is that the phenomena knows when it's being observed and photographed, and can manipulate time and space such that it doesn't show up on digital photos.

[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

That's so pathetic.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

How convenient. Reminds me of Carl Sagan's "The Dragon in my Garage" essay.

For anyone who hasn't read it (I highly recommend reading the entire book that it's from: "The Demon-Haunted World") here's a link (it's only two pages): http://people.whitman.edu/~herbrawt/classes/110/Sagan.pdf

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