David Foster Wallace This Is Water Summary

There have been many times in human history were empires have crumbled because they lost their way. Whether it is because of corruption in politics, ideological views or religion, society has had its’ share of setbacks. Over time, new civilizations have sprung up out of the ashes of old ones, and sometimes these new civilizations are all the better for it. Today’s society has made the same mistakes, which has cause us to lose our way, and the only way we can truly regain it is to live outside our default setting and show empathy toward others.
In today’s society of stressful jobs and mortgage payments, people rarely consider their conscious perception of others; this is what Wallace (2010) refers to as our “natural default-setting” (p. 2). Human emotions such as love, compassion, and our sense of unity all seem to fade away into darkness… this is our “default setting.” We have the option to see things in a different light, but in order to do that we have to realize that there are other options. According to Wallace (2010), “But if you've really
His message is to not fall into your default setting and worship things other than truth. These things will inevitably turn you into a materialistic, power-hungry asshole who thinks the world revolves around them. According to Wallace (2010), that in order to not continue to fall into your “default setting” then you have to be truthful. “The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness” (Wallace & Kenyon College, 2010, p.7). In the grand scheme of each person’s life the truth is more important than anything else. Falling back into your “default setting” ensures that people will always worry about themselves over everyone else, which will enable this pattern of selfishness in the world to continue. This is the contributing factor to the fundamental downfall of today’s