THIS IS WATER! by David Foster Wallace
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful commencement speech, the speaker uses the metaphor of fish oblivious to the water they swim in to illustrate how the most obvious realities of life are often the hardest to perceive. The narrative delves into the mundane frustrations of adult life, urging graduates to recognize the power of conscious thought in shaping their experiences. The speech emphasizes the importance of awareness and the freedom that comes from choosing how to perceive the world, challenging the default setting of self-centeredness and advocating for a more compassionate and reflective approach to life.
Takeaways
- 🧐 The story of the fish serves as a metaphor for the difficulty in recognizing and discussing the most obvious and important realities in life.
- 🌊 The phrase 'this is water' is a reminder to be aware of the everyday, mundane aspects of life that we often overlook.
- 🎓 The commencement speech addresses the graduating seniors, emphasizing that they are about to enter a phase of life filled with routine and the mundane.
- 🛒 The script uses the example of an average adult's day, including the frustration of traffic, crowded supermarkets, and long checkout lines, to illustrate the daily challenges of adult life.
- 🤯 It points out that the default human setting is to view such situations as being about oneself, which can lead to feelings of anger and misery.
- 💭 The speaker suggests that there are alternative ways to think about these situations, which require conscious effort and willpower to adopt.
- 🌈 It is possible to view even frustrating and tedious experiences as meaningful and sacred by choosing to pay attention differently.
- 🤔 The script encourages the audience to consider the broader context and the lives of others when faced with everyday annoyances.
- 💡 The power of education is not just about acquiring knowledge but about learning how to think and pay attention in a way that brings freedom and awareness.
- 🔑 The true freedom comes from the ability to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't, which is a product of being well-educated and understanding how to think.
- 🏁 The speech concludes by emphasizing the importance of awareness and the value of a real education that is focused on life before death, rather than grand philosophical questions.
Q & A
What is the central metaphor used in the script to illustrate the point about the difficulty of recognizing the obvious?
-The central metaphor is the story of the two young fish and the older fish, where the older fish asks about the water, highlighting that the most obvious and important realities are often the hardest to see and talk about.
What does the script suggest is the 'default setting' of an adult's life?
-The script suggests that the 'default setting' of an adult's life is a state of automatic, self-centered thinking that perceives frustrating situations as being all about oneself.
Why does the script mention the example of an average adult day with work, traffic, and grocery shopping?
-The script uses this example to illustrate the mundane and frustrating aspects of adult life that are often overlooked and to emphasize the importance of conscious decision-making in how we perceive and react to these situations.
What is the 'automatic unconscious belief' referred to in the script?
-The 'automatic unconscious belief' is the natural tendency to believe that one is the center of the world and that one's immediate needs and feelings should determine the world's priorities.
How does the script describe the potential impact of not making a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to?
-The script suggests that without making a conscious decision, one is likely to become angry and miserable, perceiving every frustrating situation as being about oneself and feeling that everyone else is just in the way.
What alternative ways of thinking are suggested in the script to deal with frustrating situations?
-The script suggests considering the possibility that others may have their own struggles and hardships, and that their actions may not be intended to cause annoyance but are a result of their own circumstances.
What is the 'real value' of a real education according to the script?
-According to the script, the real value of a real education is not about accumulating knowledge but about developing simple awareness and the ability to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't.
What does the script mean when it says 'this is water'?
-The phrase 'this is water' is a reminder to be aware of the ordinary and essential aspects of life that are often taken for granted or overlooked, serving as a metaphor for the need to recognize and appreciate the reality of our everyday experiences.
How does the script define 'freedom' in the context of the speech?
-The script defines 'freedom' as the ability to make conscious decisions about how to perceive and interpret the world, rather than being trapped in an automatic, self-centered default setting.
What is the main message the script wants to convey to the graduating seniors?
-The main message is that the graduating seniors should learn to be well-adjusted by becoming aware of their default settings and learning how to consciously choose their perspective on life's mundane and frustrating experiences.
How does the script differentiate between 'moral advice' and the perspective it is advocating?
-The script clarifies that it is not giving moral advice or suggesting a 'right' way to think, but rather it is highlighting the importance of being aware of one's thought processes and the freedom to choose how to perceive reality.
Outlines
🐟 The Fish and the Metaphor for Adult Life
The first paragraph introduces a metaphorical story about two young fish who encounter an older fish asking about the water, prompting a reflection on the nature of the most obvious yet overlooked realities in life. The narrative shifts to address the graduating seniors, emphasizing the mundane and frustrating aspects of adult life that are rarely discussed in commencement speeches. The author uses the example of a typical adult day, filled with routine tasks and frustrations, such as grocery shopping after a long day at work, to illustrate the point that these moments are where choices in perspective and attention begin to matter. The paragraph concludes by suggesting that our natural default setting is to view these situations as personal inconveniences, but there is an opportunity to consciously decide how to think about them.
🛒 Conscious Choices in the Face of Mundanity
The second paragraph delves deeper into the idea of making conscious choices about how to perceive and react to the routine and frustrating parts of life. It suggests that by considering alternative perspectives, such as recognizing that others may have their own struggles and reasons for their behavior, one can shift from a self-centered view to a more empathetic and understanding one. The author argues that this ability to choose how to think and what to pay attention to is a form of freedom and a true mark of education. The paragraph challenges the notion of default settings and encourages the audience to practice awareness and conscious thought, even if it is difficult. It concludes by stating that the real value of education lies not in the accumulation of knowledge but in the cultivation of simple awareness and the ability to find meaning and sacredness in everyday life.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Water
💡Adult Existence
💡Banality
💡Commencement Speech
💡Boredom
💡Routine
💡Frustration
💡Conscious Decision
💡Default Setting
💡Sacred
💡Education
💡Awareness
Highlights
The story of the young fish and the older fish serves as a metaphor for the importance of recognizing and discussing the most obvious realities in life.
The narrative emphasizes the difficulty of seeing and talking about the most important realities that are often right in front of us.
The commencement speech addresses the graduating seniors' lack of understanding of the true meaning of day-to-day life.
The speaker discusses the mundane aspects of adult life, such as boredom, routine, and petty frustrations, which are often overlooked in commencement speeches.
An example of an average adult day is given, illustrating the challenges of work, traffic, and grocery shopping.
The speaker highlights the tedium and stress of everyday tasks, such as shopping in crowded supermarkets and dealing with long checkout lines.
The importance of making conscious decisions about how to think and what to pay attention to is emphasized to avoid frustration and misery.
The natural default setting of perceiving situations as being about oneself and one's immediate needs is critiqued.
The speaker encourages the audience to consider alternative perspectives on frustrating situations, such as empathizing with others' hardships.
The idea that everyone in a frustrating situation, like a supermarket checkout line, may have their own struggles is presented.
The speaker suggests that the work of choosing how to perceive and react to situations is where personal growth occurs.
The concept of freedom through conscious decision-making and awareness is introduced as the essence of a real education.
The speech argues that true freedom comes from the ability to decide what has meaning and what doesn't, rather than being dictated by default settings.
The alternative to conscious awareness is described as unconsciousness, leading to a life of constant dissatisfaction and a sense of loss.
The speaker emphasizes that the value of a real education lies not in knowledge accumulation but in the development of simple awareness.
The speech concludes by stressing the importance of being aware of the reality and essence of life that is often hidden in plain sight.
The phrase 'this is water' is repeated as a reminder to continually recognize and appreciate the simple, essential aspects of life that are so often overlooked.
Transcripts
there are these two young fish swimming
along
they happen to meet an older fish
swimming the other way who nods at them
and says morning boys how's the water
and the two young fish swim on for a bit
and that eventually one of them looks
over at the other and goes what the hell
is water
the point of the fish story is merely
that the most obvious important
realities are often the ones that are
hardest to see and talk about
stated as an English sentence of course
this is just a banal platitude
but the fact is that in the day-to-day
trenches of adult existence but all
platitudes can have a life or death
importance
the plain fact is that you graduating
seniors do not yet have any clue what
day in day out really means
there happen to be whole large parts of
adult American life that nobody talks
about in commencement speeches
one such part involves boredom routine
and Petty frustration the parents and
older folks here will know all too well
what I'm talking about
by way of example let's say it's an
average adult day
and you get up in the morning go to your
challenging White Collar college
graduate job and you work hard for eight
or ten hours and at the end of the day
you're tired and somewhat stressed and
all you want is to go home and have a
good supper and maybe unwind for an hour
and then hit the sack early because of
course you have to get up the next day
and do it all again
then you remember there's no food at
home you haven't had time to shop this
week because of your challenging job
and so now after work you have to get in
your car and drive to the supermarket
it's the end of a work day and the
traffic is have to be very bad so
getting to the store takes way longer
than it should and when you finally get
there the supermarket is very crowded
because of course it's the time of day
when all the other people with jobs also
try to squeeze in some grocery shopping
but you can't just get in and quickly
out you have to wander all over the huge
overlit stores confusing aisles to find
the stuff you want and you have to
maneuver your junkie cart through all
these other tired hurried people apart
etc etc cutting stuff out because it's a
long ceremony and eventually
you get all your supper supplies except
now it turns out there aren't enough
checkout lanes open even though it's the
end of the day Rush so the checkout line
is incredibly long which is stupid and
infuriating but you can't take your
frustration out on the Frantic lady
working the register who was overworked
at a job who's daily tedium and
meaninglessness surpasses the
imagination of any of us here at a
prestigious college but anyway you
finally get to the checkout lines front
and you pay for your food and get told
to have a nice day in a voice that is
the absolute voice of death
and then you have to take your creepy
flimsy plastic bags of groceries in your
cart with the one crazy wheel that pulls
madly to the left all the way out
through the crowded bumpy literary
parking lot and then you have to drive
all the way home from slow heavy SUV
intensive rush hour traffic
etc etc
everyone here has done this of course
but it hasn't yet been part of you
graduates actual life routine day after
week after month after year but it will
be
and many more dreary annoying seemingly
meaningless routines besides
but that is not the point the point is
that petty frustrating crap like this is
exactly where the work of choosing is
going to come in
because the traffic jams and crowded
aisles and long checkout lines give me
time to think
and if I don't make a conscious decision
about how to think and what to pay
attention to I'm going to be pissed and
miserable every time I have to shop
because my natural default setting is
uncertainty that situations like this
are really all about me
about my hungriness and my fatigue and
my desire to just get home and it's
going to seem for all the world like
everybody else is just in my way
and who are all these people in my way
and look at how repulsive most of them
are and how stupid and cow-like and
dead-eyed and non-human they see him in
the checkout line or at how annoying and
rude it is that people are talking
loudly on cell phones in the middle of
the line and look at how deeply
personally unfair this is
if I choose to think this way in the
store and on the freeway fine lots of us
do except thinking this way tends to be
so easy and automatic that it doesn't
have to be a choice it is my natural
default setting
automatic way that I experience the
boring frustrating crowded parts of
adult life when I'm operating on the
automatic unconscious belief that I am
the center of the world and that my
immediate needs and feelings are what
should determine the world's priorities
the thing is that of course there are
totally different ways to think about
these kinds of situations in this
traffic all these vehicles stuck and
idling in my way it's not impossible
that some of these people in SUVs have
been in horrible auto accidents in the
past and now find driving so terrifying
that the therapist has all that ordered
them to get a huge heavy SUV so they can
feel safe enough to drive
or I can choose to force myself to
consider the likelihood that everyone
else in the supermarket's checkout line
is just as bored and frustrated as I am
and that some of these people probably
have much harder more tedious or painful
lives than I do
again please don't think I'm giving you
moral advice or that I'm saying you're
supposed to think this way or that
anyone expects you to just automatically
do it because it's hard it takes will
and effort and if you are like me some
days you won't be able to do it or you
just flat out won't want to but most
days if you're aware enough to give
yourself a choice you can choose to look
differently at this fat dead-eyed over
made up lady who just screamed at her
kid in the checkout line maybe she's not
usually like this maybe she's been up
three straight nights holding the hand
of her husband who's dying of bone
cancer
or maybe this very ladies the low-wage
clerk at the Motor Vehicles Department
who just yesterday helped your spouse
resolve a horrific infuriating red tape
problem through some small active
bureaucratic kindness
of course none of this is likely but
it's also not impossible
it just depends what you want to
consider
if you're automatically sure that you
know what reality is and who and what is
really important
if you want to operate on your default
setting then you like me probably won't
consider possibilities that aren't
annoying and miserable
but if you've really learned how to
think
how to pay attention then you will know
you have other options it will actually
be within your power to experience a
crowded hot slow consumer hell type
situation as not only meaningful but
sacred
on fire with the same force that Lit the
Stars love Fellowship
mystical Oneness of all things deep down
not that that mystical stuff's
necessarily true the only thing that's
capital T true is that you get to decide
how you're going to try to see it
this I submit is the freedom of real
education of learning how to be well
adjusted you get to consciously decide
what has meaning and what doesn't
that is real freedom that is being
educated and understanding how to thinks
the alternative is unconsciousness the
default setting the rat race the
constant gnawing sense of having had and
lost some infinite thing
I know that this stuff probably doesn't
sound fun and Breezy or grandly
inspirational the way a commencement
speech is supposed to sound
what it is as far as I can see is the
capital T truth with a whole lot of
rhetorical niceties Stripped Away
you are of course free to think of it
whatever you wish
but please don't just dismiss it as some
finger wagging Dr Laura sermon
none of this stuff is really about
morality or religion or Dogma or big
fancy questions of life after death
the capital T truth is about life before
death
it is about the real value of a real
education which has almost nothing to do
with knowledge and everything to do with
simple awareness
awareness of what is so real and
essential
so hidden in plain sight all around us
all the time that we have to keep
reminding ourselves over and over
this is water
this is water
foreign
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