this post was submitted on 07 May 2026
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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:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • 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
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.

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[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 97 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Entropy always increases.

There's one way for a cable to be untangled, and an incalculable amount of ways for it to be tangled. When letting it randomly change state it is very improbable for it to randomly end up in the untangled state.

Same for shoelaces, there is but a few ways for the shoes to be properly knot, and a comparatively essentially infinite ways for them not to be.

I know it's a joke, but I find this perspective fascinating.

[–] someone@sopuli.xyz 30 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This is why I hate math ;-;

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 22 points 2 days ago

this is why I love it!

[–] zwerg@feddit.org 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Just as well that this is physics then!

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] zwerg@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago

Yeah... But I know of no purely mathematical theory that predicts entropy - this really is a physics thing.

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago

The danger of an over simplified model.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If it was just infinite ways for shoelaces to improperly knot then headphones would also not properly knot and easily untangle by pulling one end. But that doesn't happen.

The difference is from the physics of lengths of string/wire and the shoelaces are under tension while headphone wires aren't.

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 4 points 2 days ago

shoelaces can be a tangled mess yet not properly knotted

[–] AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Shoelaces have a "proper" knot while headphones do not. If we were tying our shoes into the abominations I pull out of my pocket, maybe that'd play out differently.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I wouldn't care as much if shoelaces tangled themselves into a knot that took extra work to untie.

I have some laces that I double tie and they still untie themselves.

[–] Dallimjp@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You're probably tying your shoes wrong. The knot you want is a double slipped square knot. If you tie it that way it never comes undone.

Or a monkey knot. Those you can leave tied for a year and turn your shoes into slip ons

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 39 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Most people only think that they know how to tie their shoes but they're doing the so-called "granny knot" which is why it unties itself.

It could also just be a lack of imagination too:

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

[slaps shoe]

"That ain't goin' nowhere!"

[–] waldfee@feddit.org 9 points 2 days ago (3 children)
[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

I do the "Secure Ian Knot" (loop, second loop, cross them over, right goes towards you, through the hole away from you, left goes away from you, back through the hole towards you - pull)

Super easy to learn, and never looked back.

[–] DamienGramatacus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I was thinking of this when I saw the post. I only properly understood the granny knot recently and since changing how I tie my laces, they very rarely untie now. That Ian chap showed a particular knot that he claimed never comes undone and I can attest to that.

[–] lemmyman@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

What a fantastic website

[–] Kalothar@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I put these on my running shoes and they work great:

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 2 points 2 days ago

But zipties can withstand being showered with sparks from angle grinder.

[–] fleem@piefed.zeromedia.vip 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

bro better have they damn flush cuts up in this bitch

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 2 points 2 days ago

I've been heavily considering investing in the Knipex micro flush cut side cutters but 30 euros is a heavy investment for someone with zipties for shoelaces.

[–] Battle_Masker@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 2 days ago

Have you tried putting your shoe laces in your pocket? That'll keep em tied

[–] SolacefromSilence@fedia.io 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Holy shit, they've solved it!

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 7 points 2 days ago

And a real shower thought!

[–] Robotunicorn@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Some Michigan State students made untie resistant shoelaces!

https://www.brce.shop/

[–] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What an obnoxious website.

At least they tell us right up front they went on shark tank so we know to buy other laces

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They do make headphone cables like that. Its those fabric sleeved, slightly stiff ones. Those dont get tangled.

[–] HeHoXa@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Friends smarter than me assure me these are more likely to... whattaya call it when the wire breaks inside the sleeve... that.

... I still like them.

[–] kamenlady@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I had some of those, but they made a horrible sound when moving and the cables touched any clothing. But yeah, no tangling.

Yeah that happens if there is no section at the end that decouples vibrations in the cable from the earpiece.

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (3 children)

All my life, I was tying the knot "wrong side up", so it was untying. I was checking out a videonon how to tie high boots the easiest way, and the problem was mentioned. Now nothing ever happens to them.
It's hard to explain in details, so here's a quick check if your shoes are untying themselves. When you start tying, you hold two loops in your hands and cross them, putting one above the other, right? Well, this time, put them the other way around (left on right if it was right on left), and finish the same way you always did it.
You will immediately feel that the knot is not slipping. This is because you also do the first simple knot in a certain way, and first and the main knot has to be different relative to each other

[–] Hjalamanger@feddit.nu 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's the difference between a square knot and a calf knot. Here they are (without the extra loops, they just allow for easy untying)

Squar knot, good

Granny knot, bad

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[–] Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

Those motherfuckers never told me.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 4 points 2 days ago

i managed the opposite. had no problem tying my shoes, then watched a video because i wasn't sure i was doing it like everyone else, and that made me lose the ability to tie my shoes for a few years. had to sit down and really think through the steps to get it back.

[–] StillAlive@piefed.world 7 points 2 days ago
[–] observes_depths@aussie.zone 6 points 2 days ago (6 children)

For those who can't be bothered looking up the difference between a double-slipped granny knot and a double-slipped reef knot, tie the first and second knots with different ends of the string on top (eg. right over left, then left over right). If you do it right it will hold, no need for a double knot.

As for earphones (does anyone even use those anymore?) push them into a small pouch, start from one end and work your way along, pull them out the same way (it's quicker than it sounds).

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[–] notabot@piefed.social 5 points 2 days ago

Now this is the big brain thinking I come to the fediverse for!

[–] LuminousLuddite@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Harvard wants to know your location.

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[–] remon@ani.social 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Do people really have that problem with shoelaces? I tied mine almost a year ago and they're holding up fine.

[–] boobs_@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

One of my shoelaces has stayed for 2 or so years now, the other comes apart every few weeks. It's pretty annoying cause I feel like I'm tying it well enough and I haven't been able to find anything that might be forcefully pulling it apart. But hey maybe I got it right this last time and it'll stick for 2 years

[–] Wolf314159@startrek.website 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's never to late to relearn a suboptimal skill you thought you knew. I believe I found this site several decades after being taught the standard shoe lace knot and a child. That one ALWAYS needed a second knot to keep my laces tied. Now I tie either the two loop knot "bunny ears" or Ian's Secure Shoelace knot. Both are balanced so the knots always stays tied and both can be pulled apart and undone with a simple tug at both free ends of the shoelace. Haven't tied my laces the way my parents taught me ever since.

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[–] MutantTailThing@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

#TeamVelcro

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