

Being accepted by society is essential to most humans. However, is the way we live our lives really how we want to live them? Most people don’t live their lives how they want because the fear of being judged.  In the text “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace one can see that humans are able to live the life that they wish to rather than the “default” life. This is important because living a “default” life is too mainstream, this leads to an un-diverse society because of a lack of motivation. 

To start, judging means “to form an opinion or estimation of after careful consideration (Farlex, n.d.).” The fear of being judged plays a huge role on society today because people always feel that they are being judged. On the other hand, does it really matter if you are being judged? As long as you are happy with yourself, the answer is no. “You can choose to look differently at this fat, dead-eyed, over made lady who just screamed at her little child in the checkout line (Wallace).” Judging happens everywhere you go – it cannot be stopped.

One’s “default setting” is the way of thinking that they are the center of the universe and everything that happens, revolves around them. “The world as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor (Wallace).” The emphasis on the word you throughout this passage creates a meaning that somebody should live their life the way they want. Wallace chose to capitalize the word “YOU” in that sentence showing the importance in order to get his message across.  It is consistently used in the text showing that it is important to live life with a unique “default setting.” 

While reading “This is Water”, one may notice Wallace’s educated choice of vocabulary. Some words that he chooses to use such as higher education, studies, and college-graduate job show that he believes an education is very important to everybody. However, it is everybody’s own personal decision to do what they do with their life. Wallace uses vocabulary throughout the texts entirety that a college-educated audience can relate to.  The structure of the text contains both simple and complex sentences, both well-educated and simple vocabulary, and real life scenarios. Thus Wallace’s audience is well educated college students. “Of course the main requirement of speeches like this is that I’m supposed to talk about your liberal arts education’s meaning, try to explain why the degree you are about to receive has actual human value instead of just a material payoff (Wallace).” Although getting a great education is very important, it is not the only way to succeed in life. 

To succeed means “to happen or terminate according to desire (Dictionary.com, n.d.).” Therefore, everybody’s success varies based upon what they consider to be “succeeding.” Since Wallace’s audience are college graduates, they probably all have the same idea of success. That is getting a job that requires getting a higher education. Wallace states that a liberal art education teaches you how to think. The deeper meaning of his example of the religious guy and the atheist at the bar is that every liberal arts student is going to think the same way about this. The liberal arts student would picture this example much differently than a child reading it, this is how the liberal arts students are unique. These students have learned to change their “default setting” based on what their teachers are teaching them. “…nowhere in our liberal arts analysis do we want to claim that one guy’s interpretation is true and the other guys is false or bad (Wallace).” Everything that is being taught to these student’s changes how they think about things because they are being taught that there is only one way to think about a situation. This is true about every group of people who have been taught that there is only one way to think about something.

It is very easy to get into a routine if you are doing the same thing repeatedly for a long time. These routines can get annoying but everyone’s is different. Getting annoyed by these routines makes humans feel stressed out and makes them think that everything revolves around them. Humans have been taught to think about what is most important to them. “The point is that petty, frustrating crap like this is exactly where the work of choosing is gonna come in (Wallace).” As humans, we have the unique ability to make decisions based on how we feel about something. Most of the time, humans make a decision to do what is better off for oneself. Other animals don’t have the ability to make decisions like humans do, making humans very unique. 

“Default setting” relates to putting yourself before everyone else. In some ways this is acceptable because everybody thinks that way. Others won’t look at your person negatively if you are putting yourself before others because that is the “norm”. “And the so called real world will not discourage you from acting on your default settings, because the so called real world of men and money live along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving of worship of self (Wallace).”

Being selfish around others is a necessity because others are thinking the same way. Wallace states that putting yourself first before others is required to society because your well-being is more important to your person than others. Everybody’s’ definition of success is different, but succeeding is achieving your own personal goals. 