This Is Water

This Is Water – David Foster Wallace

This Is Water – by David Foster Wallace
Recommendation: 7/10. Date read: 8/30/20.

Essay from David Foster Wallace inspired by a commencement speech he gave at Kenyon College in 2005. Short read but thought provoking as he examines meaning, awareness, discipline, and learning how to think. You can likely find the transcript online, though I enjoyed having a copy I could mark up of my own.

See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.

My Notes:

“As if how we construct meaning were not actually a matter of personal, intentional choice, of conscious decision.”

“There is no such thing as not worshipping. The only choice we get is what to worship.”

Learning how to think: “It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot or will not exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.” 

“Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default settings.”

“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able to truly care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.”