Awareness

One of the central tenets of Wallace’s speech is the idea that much of human misery is caused by a lack of awareness and personal control, as the speech positions dynamics of passivity as directly inimical to personal fulfillment and self-actualization. Wallace opens the speech with a parable about a fish that does not realize it is swimming in water, as the water is so ubiquitous that its existence is not recognized and is instead taken for granted. Wallace states that the point of this anecdote is the idea that “the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about” (8). The specific truths that Wallace addresses in his speech are the truths of selflessness and personal awareness as the main sources of personal fulfillment. Wallace recognizes the fact that these truths may be ignored because they are so ubiquitous...