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Showerthoughts_Mod t1_j2b7kxt wrote

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Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"

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1

katiebear716 t1_j2b8g2h wrote

peeing in the bushes passes the message that you were drunk very well i think

354

scottyb83 t1_j2ba23e wrote

You can still send a message, you just have to maintain eye contact.

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madogson t1_j2bapgv wrote

Sorry but much better layer 1 communication mediums exist. TCP/IP over piss would not be very efficient.

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Cymorg0001 t1_j2batbr wrote

I still do it to ward off the neanderthals that sometimes roam my neighbourhood.

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MilwaakeePustaBandit t1_j2bfi1o wrote

What if you put your thumb over your dickhole like a garden hose and let the pee spray out periodically in morse code? Most effective with hard surfaces

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saddboiiiii t1_j2blf0u wrote

Idk, if you see someone pissing in a bush or shitting behind it, it definitely sends a message and you wouldn’t want to be anywhere close to it lmao

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HighKiteSoaring t1_j2bp690 wrote

Believe me.. when I pissed all over my bosses, wife's bush.. it sent a powerful message

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bDsmDom t1_j2bs5l4 wrote

Well, it's just that our messages got a little more complicated than "this is mine"

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BreakfastBeerz t1_j2bv8zc wrote

Go into an alley behind a bar, get down on your hands and knees, put your nose to the ground, and start sniffing. I guarantee you will very quickly realize that you are not the first person to claim that territory.

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BreakfastBeerz t1_j2bvydt wrote

Replying to ronaldmosess (#1,202,035)

Where did you get this nonsense? Animals peeing on things does not allow them to communicate. It allows them to mark territory. When they pee on a bush, they are leaving the scent of their urine (which is pungent) to let any other animals know that they are there, this is their area, go away. They are not saying, "Up Clarence, meet me at 7".

We haven't lost that ability, we just don't use it because we have other ways to mark territory. But if you were walking in the woods and came along a seemingly abandoned cabin and walked in and smelled urine, you would immediately know that that cabin was already being lived in.

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smelliepoo t1_j2byvtr wrote

Replying to BreakfastBeerz (#1,207,936)

Totally agree and there is more information passed over in animal urine. E g. Diet, health, possibly age, certainly hormones (which can be altered when an animal is fearful, horny, on heat, etc) but definitely not 'see you at spoons, 8pm' And maybe don't go into cabins that smell of pee whether they are lived in or not!

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MagusVulpes t1_j2bzotz wrote

Dogs.

The domestication of wolves into dogs just so happens to coincide with the decrease in size of the region of the brain associated with scent. Arguement being, wolves were so much better at hunting by scent, that the human (or proto-human if you prefer) hunters no longer needed the skill, so it wasn't selected for afterward.

10

Enorats t1_j2c0lup wrote

I dunno. I think that still sends a message. It says, I'm homeless and I needed to make your stairwell into my bathroom. Have a nice day.

To be honest, that's more or less the message animals are sending each other too. This is my bathroom now. Stay away.

5

Eborys t1_j2c8o7o wrote

Oh I dunno. Walk down a street in Glasgow on a Friday night and the aroma of piss in the air sends the message that you’re definitely in Glasgow on a Friday night.

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throwamarlonwayans t1_j2c96ri wrote

Yes bushes and corners but people also used to pee in the laundry room sink if both bathrooms were being used

2

Giffre t1_j2caz8d wrote

I don't think primates ever had that ability. I think that's something that evolved in canids. Maybe even specifically wolfs.

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EarlyAd29 t1_j2cb958 wrote

No, we haven't! I learned to recognize good peeing spots if they stink. Also, are you trying to play swords?

3

Cornadious t1_j2cbo0o wrote

I get the message. I'm not going anywhere near anything that smells like pee.

1

fz75 t1_j2cch76 wrote

My neighbour do that next to our gate constantly to tell me they are uneducated assholes.

3

Dumblond11 t1_j2cdy2s wrote

On walks,I've watched my girl dog sniffle excessively at a spot-then lift her leg(?)I totally get-and envy-the simplistic method of the messaging-and the joy it gives her.I will also tell her"YOUR A GIRL DOG,DELILAH!!!"

1

ImSqueakaFied t1_j2cerfo wrote

Then wtf dif that one guy keep peeing in the corner of the bathroom at Starbucks??? Like directly behind the door. The exact opposite corner from the actual toilet

1

tampora701 t1_j2cghmm wrote

Replying to BreakfastBeerz (#1,207,936)

"Animals peeing on things does not allow them to communicate."

"When they pee on a bush, they are leaving the scent [...] to let any other animals know that they are there..."

You just described the act of communication: one thing instilling another thing with shared information. Language is only 1 of the ways to communicate.

3

r-h-o t1_j2ck1d7 wrote

Saw a homeless dude do this at the bus stop once, worked pretty well actually

2

drakontoolx t1_j2cl9uv wrote

Off topic but this might surprise you; mammal used to lay egg. That means echidna isnt the weird one for laying egg, we are.

1

runswithdolls t1_j2clk1i wrote

This was a fun thought experiment! Now we pay to train dogs to smell us instead (ie like diabetes dogs, drug drugs, etc), or we put chemical-sensitive sticks in our pee to tell us what our pee is saying (like are you pregnant, have a disease, etc).

3

eriduhanuman t1_j2cnfmw wrote

Spend enough time out of a city and it starts coming back to you

1

SohrabMirza t1_j2cnh8e wrote

Well not really like you wanna show dominance pee on him or want to get someone angry piss on their door or car, piss on yourself if you wanna show you are stupid

1

Equivalent-Ad5144 t1_j2cnwm0 wrote

We have no idea if our ancestors communicated through peeing on bushes. It seems reasonable to assume, given that a lot of our distant cousin species do it now, but a lot don’t as well.

This person has seen modern-day species and assumed that our distant ancestors did that, but it’s an assumption not an observation.

1

jncheese t1_j2coohv wrote

I know there are some people in a bar down town that still have that skill.

1

wavyrocket t1_j2cphjr wrote

Speak for yourself. I’ve been waiting your response for ages.

2

ArvinKasumi t1_j2cqpxa wrote

Me writing my name on the wall by peeing...

What do you mean?

1

Elnuggeto13 t1_j2cs16r wrote

We never did have that sensitive nose to begin with, so it never evolved to begin with.

1

PleaseIgnoreMeSenpai t1_j2cs4fd wrote

You can still send across a pretty strong message by peeing on their corners or bushes...

1

Ovze t1_j2csktl wrote

Replying to smelliepoo (#1,208,712)

Probably that’s what we lost through evolution, not the message itself so the ability to decode it as we created language so yeah… actually a much interesting hypothesis, wonder if there’s some scientific investigation about it. I know some dogs can smell cancer, so who knows what info regular pee can carrie through smell.

4

Alienaura t1_j2cv5tr wrote

When someone pees in the corner of the stairwell again, I gladly take the elevator up instead. Seems to work just fine for whoever did it. That stench is just awful.

1

V_es t1_j2cwb9w wrote

Not sure if you are joking or not, but urine is only used by animals to mark the territory. Human ancestors stopped using it as such tens on millions of years ago. There were never any messages beside dominant male competition or female in heat.

1

AlfredNotSoGreat t1_j2cwxi1 wrote

I'm not entirely sure there were many corners back in the day

1

Background_Account69 t1_j2djoep wrote

Just because another animal does it, doesn’t mean humans did at one point.

1