This Is Water Blog Post

In his "This Is Water" essay, David Foster Wallace addresses issues that are often neglected and overlooked. He suggests that true freedom is acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious and sympathetic. After reading his essay, I I have been trying to go into a new mindset of acknowledging every day as a new experience, regardless of if I have done the activities or not. David foster Wallace starts off by using the analogy of water to describe our neglected surroundings. He uses this to convey how we can be so accustomed to our environment, that we do not even register them into our quotidian lives. He continues to use another parable of a religious man and an atheist who have difficulties understanding each other due to the differences in their personal beliefs and continues by showing that we have the choice to think that people are in our way, or rather we might just be in their way. We perceive our thoughts and emotions way before we are able to perceive other’s thoughts and emotions; it takes far more effort to understand people than to understand ourselves. As a result, we put ourselves in the centre of our worlds and constantly have trouble seeing where people come from. Wallace offers a solution to put ourselves into other people's shoes. When we understand the perspective of other’s, we are less prone to be stuck in what Wallace calls our ‘natural default setting.’ This natural default setting was the most interesting thing I pulled from his video  as I never acknowledged the concept before. Often times, I put myself into a routine with the same continuous mindset. Now being aware of this cunning thesis, I will approach life with  a new mind set and acknowledge everyday as new experience. In relation to this concept, Literature can play a great role; through the understanding we are able to gain from literature, we have the potential to shape the world around us. Wallace signifies how important it is to be aware of surroundings and the realities of other people's lives to the develop a sense of empathy and emotional intelligence. Literature has the power to give us this sense of awareness as we are exposed to different components of the story and engaged with the characters. These details will allow us to have a greater understand of emotions within a larger context, in turn expanding our emotional intelligence.