David Foster Wallace, This is Water, is the text in which Wallace gives a commencement speech that he gave for the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. This speech is meant to address why getting a liberal arts education is important and what the benefits are. This speech focuses on the life lessons such as learning to understand other peoples point of view, understanding that we are not the center of the universe, and to think positive. Wallace addresses many examples that help him convey his message through out the speech.  Some examples include, two men with different beliefs of god, a women in a grocery store, and driving home in traffic, all of which will be explained in more detail later in the essay. These examples all relate to the overall importance of this reading and the message behind it. Wallace is trying to convey that we must constantly question the way we think. As humans we tend to think one-sided; Wallace expresses that we need to have empathy and compassion for others. In this reading the word different is used several times to convey this message. The word difference helps to convey this theme by not only the literal meaning of the word, but that we are all different individuals and have different thoughts and views.  Remembering this will make us think more openly and allow us to have compassion for others. 

In the speech, Wallace uses an example to point out that we have to be sensitive to other peoples experiences and try and understand their point of view, not just ours. The example he uses is men with two different views regarding religion. A man was saved in a snow storm after praying to God. Shortly after he prays, an eskimo man stumbles across him in the storm and he is saved. Wallace describes the two different views between an atheist and religious man. The atheist beliefs that the eskimo man was just a coincidence and the religious man believes that God answered the mans prayers, saving him.  Wallace uses this example to point out the differences between one persons views based on there experiences. This is shown in this quote, This is Water states, “… the exact same experience can mean two totally different things to two different people, given those people’s two different belief templates and two different ways of constructing meaning from experience” (XI). We base our opinion on our experiences and views. This is one sided because how can we think about other peoples point of views when we are only using our experiences to develop thoughts and views on the topic?  This is not good because there is more than one experience and opinion in the world. People have to understand that their life of experiences isn’t the only perspective in the world. This relates to Wallace's storm example because both the atheist and religious men both thought they were right. This all leads up to a big question of how people can better understand each other. The way we can do this is showing empathy for one another and our peers. If we think about other peoples experiences and not just our own we can be more open to they way other people think.

Empathy is a revolving theme in Wallace’s commitment speech. He uses an example of an adult driving home from the grocery store to better understand why empathy is needed in life. The example talks about a women driving home in a hurry, getting upset with other drivers, automatically thinking the worst, and blaming people for blocking lanes and causing traffic. This is a perfect example of thinking one sided, which is the opposite of what Wallace wants us to do. Thinking negatively is described as our natural default setting.  An important point Wallace talks about is the natural default setting. The word default means to be on an automatic setting without conscious thought or intention. When people are going through there everyday lives we tend to be on natural default setting. We are not thinking about every little act or movement when we are at a grocery store, brushing our teeth, or doing anything extremely familiar. This means that we as people tend to automatically think a certain way based on their past experiences and pre assumptions. Wallance states that people tend to think in a negative way and expect the worse from people and situations, when in a natural default setting . Wallace explains that it is important to go against the natural default setting and have empathy for others. Wallace expresses this here in a quote, This is Water states, “The thing is that, of course, there are totally different ways to think about these kinds of situations. In the traffic, all these vehicles stopped and idling in my way, its not impossible that some of these people in SUV’s have been in horrible auto accidents…” (XV). As Wallace states, the SUV driver could be driving such a big and obnoxious car because his therapist suggested to get a huge car. This is so the man would feel safe and secure in his car due to past troubling accidents in small cars. This quote expresses the importance of having empathy for others. We never know what is going on in other peoples lives. We have to think differently to be more empathetic towards others. 

 Lastly, Wallace uses an example of an average adult shopping in a grocery store to stress the importance of not thinking the worst in someone. He describes the adult going through there everyday at the grocery store complaining about the tedious task and how long it takes. He describes himself judging the lady at the check out line and automatically thinking the worst of the lady, but as Wallace describes it is important not to do this and have empathy for the lady. This is shown here,  “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 lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line” (XV). This quote is another example of how people can automatically think the worst of people. Again, Wallace stresses that it is important to stray away from our natural default setting. It may take all that is in one to do so, but it if we try and put oneself in someone else's shoes you can have a better understanding of why they are acting in such a way.

Through out all three examples listed above, the word different is used in each one. The word links together the important theme of not thinking at our natural default setting. It does this because as discussed above, when we think on our natural default setting we are not considering other peoples point of views, only our own. Wallace says that we should not do this because everyone has a different point of view and way of thinking. If we never thought about other peoples way of thinking we would never feel compassion and empathy for what other people are going through. 

In conclusion, we must have empathy and compassion for other people. We have to stray away from our natural default setting and think differently. People should care and think it is important because the world is a huge place and everyone has different views and opinions. Not everyone has the same opinion; this is why it is important to think openly and not one-sided. Also, if we all show compassion and empathy for others it will help us to understand each other and be more sink as one country and world. 
