Every day you see people on the street, in the classroom, or at work that carry themselves and act as if it’s their world and we are all just lucky to be living in it. They are the star of their own production and everyone around them is just the supporting cast. David Foster Wallace addresses this behavior in, “This is Water”, by describing it as a so-called “default setting” and describes to the reader the fact that everyone is born this way. However, when he says this he presents a completely opposite idea within the text that this idea of self-centeredness presents us with the option to make choices to becoming selfless. 

From the very first words of Wallace’s speech he presents the idea that even though his story makes the reader believe that he is going to be the wise old fish telling the graduates all the things their education will do for them financially and job wise, rather that it will help them think. The speech not only exposes one of man kinds biggest weaknesses, but provides an outlet for how to look at life from another perspective that may not be your own. From the very beginning of his description Wallace’s double meaning is interpreted differently from reader to reader. Behind the most obvious that society is all bad and we’re all selfish is that this state of mind can be broken and we can all live a meaningful life in our own eyes. In this opening passage one idea jumps off of the paper, and that is that throughout life you are going to immediately look at every situation as if it is holding you up or that it is inconveniencing you which none of us can avoid, it’s second nature. 

In life you will constantly be put in situations that may or may not help you immediately or have you first. If you constantly stand or sit there thinking of ways this situation could better benefit you or put you first you’re doing nothing but giving into this unconscious state we as humans are constantly stuck in. in order to do this you must think of what could be going on around you. First, take a step back and think about what is truly going on around you and the things that could be happening that you aren’t going to see immediately or on the surface. The things this person or persons are going through in their personal life and what you see is just a side effect of those things. Take these into consideration as you judge or bad-mouth the people in the checkout line or in traffic. This is where you fight the “default setting” of having this perspective that has you at the center of the universe.

Now, should you automatically assume that everything is fine and that there are no bad people in the world? The answer is no you shouldn’t because although all the scenarios that run through your head as to why these people are doing these things can be very unlikely, but what you’re doing is not falling into the trap. There are still going to bad people that do cut you off or do yell at their children for no reason in the checkout line, but by taking a step back to, investigate so-to-say, is progress toward becoming a better person and being selfless. 

To look at all of this a little differently Wallace does say, “In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism.”(Wallace 57), but what is actually being said is quite controversial in itself. We’re raised either being Christian, Jewish, etc and all have their own values and beliefs on how people are to be treated.  So this idea that there is no atheism means that in reality everybody worships something or someone, but how can that be? Whenever you think about a decision or decide to do something, essentially you are basing that decision on the morals you have been raised on so you technically worship who or whatever instilled those morals and values in you. So when Wallace presents the idea that we all worship someone or something he presents the idea that we all worship so we all must fail. No one is perfect and everyone fails in the eyes of something or someone. Whether it be that you fail in the eyes of God, Buddha, or yourself you are worshipping that person or thing. This is where we truly break away from the default setting Wallace warns us of and we can become selfless beings that contribute to not only ourselves, and although it will go unnoticed, to the world.

Throughout his speech Wallace expresses his deep concern that society will continue to fall into this trap being selfish beings that don’t contribute to anybody but ourselves, but he puts little hints and tips hidden on how to become selfless individuals. He makes the reader think, maybe if I take the time to think about the things this person/people are going through then maybe I am wrong for thinking that they are in my way. This can be seen not only in his commencement speech to the Kenyon class, but in his life because of the deep depression that later led to him taking his own life. The idea that I am in their way, not the other way around. Wallace challenges the reader and all of society to break the mold that has been set before and to become selfless individuals that contribute to the world. He leaves us with this in the hopes that we realize this idea is the water cleansing us of selfishness. So this right here, this is water.
