David Foster Wallace's View Of Life

In the Commencement Speech, “This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life,” Wallace claims that people are naturally self- centered. (235) We only tend to see the world as it relates or pertains to us. Wallace’s speech is meant to change the graduate’s perspective on the world. Wallace believes that the graduates should heed his advice because it will eventually provide an important

If a person never learns how to have control over what they think or how to view things differently then they will live much of their adult life arrogant, in their head, or upset. David Foster Wallace begins by discussing how liberal arts colleges “teach you how to think” and continues to discuss how he has always disliked this. He already believes he knows how to think, being that thinking is what got him in college in the first place. He explains how everyone thinks differently and has their own thing that they worship but, everyone views themselves as the center of the universe. This point of view can leave people living day to day life finding every reason to be angry or annoyed about everything surrounding them. With that, he says all

A close review of the literature reveals that your state of mind during a matter of life or death situation will influence the outcome of your survival. In the argument Is Survival Selfish by Lane Wallace, I woman that had been in an airliner that crashed on landing,“(realized) that the people around her were too paralyzed to react (in the situation), (so) she took direct action...(Wallace 318). This example showed that your state of mind in a life or death situation will influence your outcome because the woman had to understand the situation that she was in and acknowledge that she had to get out of the plane. Through her observations, there was nothing that she could do to help the other passengers out of the plane because they were too paralyzed to react. This influenced her outcome because if she hadn’t looked out for herself than she would have had the same fate as most of the passengers in the crashed plane.

A short parable comprises the opening paragraph of Wallace’s speech. In this, there are two fish swimming along when they pass an older fish, headed in the opposite direction, that asks them how the water is. The two fish continue along for a bit before one asks the other “what the hell is water?” This serves as an extended metaphor used by Wallace to demonstrate his main argument for awareness in life. Just as the fish do not consider their surroundings, people more often than not fail to consider

Perspectives will both facilitate and constrain perception. A good example of this statement is the Burke

This book evaluation explores and highlights Dr. Daniel Siegel’s interpersonal view of a well-rounded ‘mindsight.’ This includes the importance of compassion, mindfulness, and a wide window of tolerance for emotions when being self-aware and self-accepting. With a healthy mindsight, anyone can overcome past hardships, traumatic experiences, and present fears of uncertainty to become a better, self-loving individual who embraces reality. Siegel’s book utilizes research supported theories along with first-hand accounts to assist readers in accepting and altering their own personal hardships and mindsets in ways that promote transformation and growth.

My life was not easy as most, but no worse than the average. Battling with my emotional outbursts was a hard thing to control due to my past. A late Monday afternoon, after basketball practice, Coach Dixon asked to speak with me in his classroom. The most uncomfortable, uneasy, but stern look he forced upon his face stared me down for what seemed like years. He eventually asked me, “Jayla, why are you so angry with the world?” As I sat there and thought, I had no valid answer to his question other than life is just hard. He went on to tell me his upbringing in Chicago, and how hard his life was compared to others. As an adolescent, I really did not understand the message behind the story he told me. After pouring my heart out about the abandonment I felt behind the absence of my father, the scared moments I had when my mother was in prison, and the lonely and empty space I had in my heart throughout life; he simply said, “life will get easier if you improve your attitude towards

As an infant you don’t know what’s going on around you, you don’t know right from wrong, you don’t know anything. You don’t know an alcoholic from a non-alcoholic, you don’t know what it means for someone to be high on drugs, and you don’t understand why you’re parents aren’t together. Growing up I remember saying, “I’m used to it” a lot, like if that were normal because to me, it was. Now i’m not going to write about how I have the worst parents in the world and how my childhood was so terrible because I know there are worse things that happen everyday, but my parents choices are what made me who I am today; an independent, strong opinionated, stubborn girl who always has a lot to say.

It is very important that you can see a situation through someone else's point of view, because you never know what the other person is going through. what they have been through. That is why it is important to see through someone else's point of view, I will talk about how it helps to see through a different point of view.

In the text about the pilot, by Mark Twain, it expresses how sometimes someone might have a different perspective and someone else can see something in a different perspective, or see things differently than the way we view things.

I was standing in the lunch line waiting for pizza, and a blank stare encompassed my face as I got lost in the deep abyss of my thoughts;It felt as though I was viewing myself in the third person. Although I was surrounded by people, I felt completely alone, knowing that others weren’t experiencing this. I struggled to associate with anyone near me because I couldn’t fathom the people and events around me. I felt as though I was a zoologist observing chimpanzees. The girls were staring at their phones, loudly smacking gum, gossiping about which of their ‘friends’ is ugly, and what parties they would be going to this weekend. In this moment, it was hard for me to understand why someone would waste time talking about such trivial and insignificant topics. Other people I looked at, however, I thought to myself about unfortunate events that could be happening in their life, their aspirations, and their internal dialogue. I then thought about how all humans are the same, in a lot of ways, yet completely different at the same time. In that moment I was completely in touch with reality. It was only about a ten minute wait in the lunch line, but it felt like a lifetime. The moment came out of nowhere, and I after it I was determined to make changes to improve my

The first theory that I connected with from the book was, let me feel what I am feeling. I connected with this because, my mother always let me be expressive. Whether I was in a happy mood or in a terrible mood. When I was in a bad mood, she would always tell my father that I was just expressing my feelings. My father was the opposite of my mother; he was a Marine Corps Major. He usually discouraged acting out your feelings, especially in public. I feel that my mother did a great job at validating my feelings when I was younger. This section states “I am of worth, my feelings matter, and someone really cares about me.” (Lundberg; Lundberg, 2000, p. 354). I truly feel that is how my mother has always made me feel. I feel my father made me feel

To live life compassionately, we should be understanding of other individual’s and show empathy. Each and every individual experiences different upbringings that make us unique. Often when we’re uncompassionate, we tend to misunderstand other individuals because we hold them up to our own moral standards. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone…. remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (Fitzgerald 1). Without compassion, we are quick to assume and judge other individuals, whereas we only think of ourselves. When being consumed with our own thoughts and own well-being, we become self-centered individuals with our default settings on. In This Is Water, Wallace defines these default settings as the, “unconscious belief that I am the center of the world and that my immediate needs… determine the world’s priorities” (Wallace 236). Contrary to the thoughts of self-centered individuals, we are not the center of the world. As individuals that live in a world with an abundant amount of other individuals, it’s essential to not maintain an aura of selfishness.

Ben Lively is a typical 21 year old, tall, dark short hair and blue eyes. Just like everyone else, he has set goals and dreams. Although life hasn't always gone as planned, he still stands strong and is determined to become an engineer. About six years ago, Ben started working with computers and later turned into something that was interesting and enjoyable for him, soon becoming his choice of career for life.

Saunders believes our self-centeredness is involuntarily part of our human nature. He declares, “Each of us is born with a series of built-in confusions that are probably somehow Darwinian” (3). Saunders asserts that we instinctually believe we are to be the “center of the universe” and in fact selfish. In his argument, Saunders suggests we do this, but at the same time we don’t. It is quite difficult for a person to become more aware of what is happening around them. Saunders claims there is a way to become less selfish, more loving, and more open.