This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life Summary & Key Insights

David Foster Wallace's "This Is Water" isn't a novel with a plot in the traditional sense; it's a commencement address delivered at Kenyon College in 2005. There's no central narrative or characters in the conventional sense, but rather Wallace himself acting as the narrator, addressing the graduating class. The "characters," if they can be called that, are the graduates themselves, implicitly represented as young adults on the verge of entering the "real world."

The "plot," if one can use the term, is the unfolding of Wallace's central argument: the importance of consciously cultivating a compassionate perspective in order to navigate the complexities and disappointments of adult life. He frames this argument using the metaphor of a fish only noticing water after it's out of the water – we're so immersed in our own self-centered thoughts and anxieties that we fail to recognize the default settings of our minds are often the source of our suffering.

Wallace contends that the default setting of the human mind is to see oneself as the center of the universe, leading to self-centeredness and a constant state of low-level anxiety. He illustrates this with everyday examples – traffic jams, frustrating interactions, petty annoyances – showing how our immediate emotional responses are often driven by this egocentric bias. He uses humor and self-deprecating anecdotes to connect with the audience, acknowledging his own struggles with this tendency.

The key message revolves around the crucial distinction between what he calls the "default-setting" mind and a consciously cultivated, empathetic perspective. He argues that true freedom doesn't lie in pursuing personal happiness or success as conventionally understood, but rather in developing the capacity for empathy and compassion. This involves consciously choosing to see the world from the perspective of others, recognizing their struggles and their humanity, even when it's inconvenient or challenging. It's a conscious act of choosing to "break through" the natural self-centeredness.

The overarching themes are self-awareness, empathy, and the nature of freedom. Wallace emphasizes that true freedom isn't about boundless choices, but about the freedom to choose what we focus on, to choose to overcome our inherent self-centeredness, and to cultivate a compassionate understanding of the world and the people within it. He argues that this conscious choice—this deliberate "not defaulting"—is the key to a meaningful and less stressful life. The address ends on a hopeful note, suggesting that this conscious cultivation of empathy is not only possible but also essential for living a truly fulfilling life.