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THIS IS WATER! by David Foster Wallace

The Actualization Agent · talk · Watch on YouTube

Productivity & self-improvementPhilosophy & ethics

What it is

A short video of David Foster Wallace's 'This Is Water' commencement speech about awareness and choosing how to think. It argues that the most obvious realities are the hardest to see, using the fish-in-water parable.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters bring it up when urging empathy, patience and attention to the everyday instead of snap judgement.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2020, last 2024

What HN commenters said

  1. “suggest you watch David Foster Wallace's "This is Water," and when you're done, please watch it again.”

    Encourages empathy over judgement

    cnick, 2023-03 · Strong recommendation · in “Amazon Photos just ate 240,364 of my photos”

  2. “Related to appreciating the moment”

    hacknewslogin, 2023-02 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: What is the best advice you got on any aspect of life?”

  3. “Consider listening to “This is Water” from David From Wallace.”

    Encourages defaulting to empathy

    latexr, 2024-07 · Recommendation · in “My daughter (7 years old) used HTML to make a website”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: david foster wallace, commencement speech, empathy, mindfulness, philosophy of life

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