this post was submitted on 31 Jul 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 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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[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

No, you don't need genetic differences for racism.

In fact, in most European languages the words "race" and "racism" are talking more about nationalities than about genetically different population groups.

For example, if you read German articles from the 1920s, they often talk about the "German race", the "French race" or the "English race". In most European languages the word "race" fell out of use after WW2 and the American meaning of the word "race" was re-imported later on. But the meaning lives on in the meaning of "racism".

For example, in German a white person from Germany who hates everyone from France irrespective of their skin color is still a racist, while in the USA that wouldn't qualify as racism.

That's because neither the word "race" nor "racism" have a clear definition. "Race" is used entirely to discriminate "them" vs "us". So "race" determines whatever group people in a country want to discriminate against.

In the USA this was clearly a "we, the while ex-european people" vs "them, the black former slaves" and "them, the asians" and "them, the south americans".

So what would happen if suddenly everyone had the same skin color? People would just shift to the next best thing to discriminate.

Instead of discriminating against black people, just do what has been done in Europe for millennia: Discriminate against slavic people. (The term "slave" comes from "slavic", because it was so common to keep slavic people as slaves.)

And if nations, religions, languages and regions of origin would also disappear as things to discriminate against, then it would shift to the next thing: people who went to a different school, have a different education or best of all: other types of poor people.

The issue is that humans are heuristics-based beings. Prejudices the result of learning. I've had 5 crappy HP printers, so I conclude all HP printers suck. Some friends have had terrible experiences with Fiat cars, so I avoid Fiat cars. I read in the newspaper that Nestle is destroying the planet, so I eat something else.

The problem is that if this is applied to humans, they get unfairly judged for things that are often completely out of their control. The core mechanism that we humans function on happens to be severely destructive in this context. But that's also why it's hard to impossible to get rid of racism and similar forms of discrimination because they are so centrally embedded in how we humans function.

[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 0 points 6 days ago

First, we are only one race

Second, outside of certain countries overly obsessed with skin colour, we in the rest of the world have other ways of hating each other: cultural background, religion, economical status, education.

[–] irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 153 points 1 week ago (8 children)

No, we'd simply find some other difference to get divided on.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 55 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It'd be regions/land-based, probably. "Southern pride," etc...just without the racism. Fuck those star-bellied sneeches across the river.

[–] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

Glad that you brought up the Sneeches!

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[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Unfortunately it's the wealthy people who decide.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Having lived in a majority white city where they divided themselves between countries of origin, this would happen.

Until a large Hispanic influx northeast PA had Italian sections, Irish sections, Lithuanian sections, Polish sections, etc. When my ex’s grandmother met me she asked me “what are you?” despite us both being white.

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[–] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Or people would simply be divided over what race they used to be.

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[–] abekonge@lemmy.ml 74 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Uh we are the same race. There do not exist multiple human races in any biological sense. So what would happen is what is happening now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(human_categorization)?wprov=sfti1

[–] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Virtually all racism boils down to colorism

[–] sulgoth@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Don't forget that people hated the Irish too. Color ain't the only reason.

[–] lonefighter@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I remember a little while ago when it was in the news for a very short time that they found several mass graves in PA of Irish who were brought over to be indentured servants. I don't remember if they had determined what the cause of death was, whether it was illness or murder, but it stopped being news pretty quickly because no one really cared.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago

Cholera, mostly, but also violence. It says they were turned away from getting help because the locals feared contagion, so perhaps that's some of the violence. They also made practically no money but had a generous whiskey allotment, which would likely contribute to violence. They were working on Duffy's Cut for some time, and the mass grave has been described as a garbage dump for bodies, not like they were lined up and shot or something, not that it makes it any better. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/irelands-forgotten-sons-recovered-two-centuries-later-9194680/

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[–] MrEff@lemmy.world 58 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 43 points 1 week ago (9 children)

There is only the human race. Any differences in appearance is less that a % of genetic difference.

[–] Peasley@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (15 children)

The modern concept of race was invented in 1684 by this guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Bernier?wprov=sfla1

It's been utter bullshit from the start

[–] thoon 16 points 1 week ago

Of course he was fr*nch

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm ngl he looks exactly like what I expected.

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[–] cattywampas@midwest.social 11 points 1 week ago

Fun fact, there is more genetic variation within Africa than there is in the rest of the world combined. This is because only a small lineage of humans ended up migrating out of Africa.

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[–] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 42 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They'd still argue over religion. And what sports team they cheer for. And whatever else the billionaire owned media could decide to distract them with.

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago (3 children)

If I really wanted an excuse to hate people, I'd hate people who make dumb complaints about movies

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[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 36 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Race was invented by them to divide us. They'll just invent something else.

[–] breecher@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 week ago

They already use gender, sexuality, nationality, anything really. Race is just one of many strings on the harp of bigotry.

Absolutely. Religion, language, country of origin, gender, age, there’s no shortage of useless ways to divide people. Our differences aren’t the issue, the issue is the rich and powerful exploiting our differences to pit us against each other.

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[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

nah... equally looking people, indistinguishble from each other, have managed levels of hate high enough to attemp genocide

[–] lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Right. Like, can you imagine what society would be like if we let bald people vote? /s

[–] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

That demon is left handed!!!

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[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 week ago

We are all the same race we are just different colours. Can you imagine any other animals fighting over their looks.

[–] tisktisk@piefed.social 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You... You really think we wouldn't find some other trivial differences to get overly tribal over?

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[–] TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 1 week ago (3 children)

.... that is not how race works.

we already ARE the same race. we constructed differences to divide us, elevate ourselves and put down outsiders without having to accomplish anything.

Imagine a world where everyone taller than 6 feet is considered a different social class. that's race.

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[–] Melusine@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Tell me you don't know what the nazies did in Eastern Europe without telling me you don't what the nazies did in Eastern Europe. Or how the Irish were considered in the USA, or the italians...

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[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Idk man. The Sneetches “got really quite wise on that day”, but they still never guillotined Sylvester McMonkey McBean.

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[–] UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

There's still Religious bigotry... That's worked as an alternative for eons

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

We'd still find ways to focus on what makes us different and fight about it.

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[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Let me tell you a bit bout a guy that I've seen.
A man known as Sylvester McMonkey McBean.

Every now and again he'd head towards the beaches
Carting along his machine, for the sneeches.

When did Dr. Seuss get so woke...

[–] realitista@lemmus.org 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No we'd come up with something else. We need to gene edit everyone to edit out the tribalism gene and replace it with a "we're all in this together" gene.

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[–] vane@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

People will argue about something else. You can change the parameters of the simulation but you can't change the outcome.

[–] MTK@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Twist, it is a completely novel race, no one looks normal anymore

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all people have like 99.9% of their DNA in common, that hasn't stopped them from waging wars in the past.

[–] mavu@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 week ago

Look. I live in a small town. The people one town over are dumb as fuck and ugly inbreeds.

They say the same about us.

See the problem? What we need is for the fucking psychologists to step up their game and develop bulletproof tests for sociopaths.

Keep them out of positions of any power and we're well on our way for a golden age of humanity.

[–] HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Hahahahahaha no, look at India.

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[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 6 points 1 week ago

Race is just one tool the parasite class uses...

There is gender and ethnicity and religion...

Possibilities are endless!

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