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Reset Your Default-Setting

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A piece that really stood out to me in class this week was "This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace. This piece allows you to contemplate who you are as a person and if you have true, conscious control over your actions. Wallace uses multiple compelling examples in which he displays how we do not recognize the realities right in front of us. For example, he states "everyone else in the supermarket's checkout line is just as bored and frustrated as I am" (Wallace 236). Wallace presents how in most situations that we find ourselves in we are only thinking of ourselves, or as he refers to it as our default-setting. Although changing our default-setting to thinking of others instead of just ourselves sounds easy, it is actually much harder said than done. The author truly unveils to his readers how much our unconscious actions affects the people around us. A common example of this in my life occurs when I am driving. Whether I'm in a hurry or not, I do not tend to let people in. In these situations, the other drivers could be a much bigger, more important hurry than I am. They could be driving to the hospital or running late to a flight. This shows how you never truly know other people's situations and why it is so important to change your mindset from unconsciously thinking to consciously thinking of others. So next time a situation like this presents itself, try to think of how it can be affecting others besides yourself.

Comments

  1. Shreya PawarSeptember 15, 2019 at 7:20 AM

    I agree with the fact that we are so locked in our own lives to even think about what others are going through. I think part of the reason that it is so hard to change our perspective is because our current mindset is our "default setting".

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  2. Kyle JungSeptember 15, 2019 at 12:26 PM

    I like how you explained the purpose of the piece by following it up with specific examples and your analysis on the topic. I agree with how you said to try to think about your actions and how it affects others. If everyone thought like this it'd make life easier and everyone would be more positive rather than the negative, self-centered default-setting.

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  3. Vivienne Francois' BlogSeptember 15, 2019 at 12:29 PM

    I also agree that Wallace's example of the driving situation is something important to remember. I never really saw it like that before you pointed it out.

    ReplyDelete

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