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 best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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Magnetism only feels like magic, because we don't have biological sensors for it (feddit.de)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by swnt@feddit.de to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world

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Think about it. Isn't light+eyes and ears+sound just the same in terms of their "influence at a distance"? We don't feel that as abnormal or magic - simply because we've sensors for them and are used to it. But physically speaking light and magnetism are based on electromagnetic forces.

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[–] Chickenstalker@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's magic because unlike light or sound, we don't really know how it works.

[–] swnt@feddit.de 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I have to disagree there regardless of how one interprets "know".

If you mean "know intuitively", then we don't, precisely because we have no sensors for it and hence no experience with it. We intuitively know light, because we sense it and know what to expect in a closed room with no light source.

If you mean it scientifically, then light and magnets are extensively studied and far from "know nothing about it". Our knowledge of light, magnetism and sound is very good on all levels.