The prison of self.

The human mind is a fascinating thing. As human beings, we are constantly processing information, thoughts and observations through our brain. Over the course of history we have scientifically studied the brain, observed behaviors and phenomena that the brain produces and wrote philosophy surrounding thought and its processes. In David Foster Wallace's address he attempts to describe learning, knowledge, and the brain, with the ultimate goal of explaining the worth of an education.

He presents his thoughts in a two part process of problems and partial solutions or advice to overcome said problems. He breaks down the two steps in the following ways. Wallace points out that there are problems with the human mind and its thoughts. Self-centered thinking is a paramount problem. According to Wallace, humans are predisposed, “hardwired” and “default settings” are the terms he uses, to view themselves as the center of the universe. This snowballs into a bigger problem of the mind being a prison if one is not careful. I agree with this because if one becomes too self indulged, their life will forever be consumed by trying to fulfill these self-indulgences. Wallace supplements this idea when he writes about people who worship certain things. If you worship money, greed, and accumulating wealth, Wallace states you will “never feel you have enough”. However he expresses these beliefs with a caveat. These plagues of the human mind are not entirely our fault. We are hardwired, it is in our genetic make up to default to these behaviors. That is why he coins the term “default settings”, its what we as humans are used to doing. This is especially true due to the way the “so-called real world” operates. Wallace explains that the way the world is run, the default settings are not discouraged and often people exploit and indulge on them. This is where the second part comes into play.

In the overall theme of what an education is worth, the author implores the audience of his speech to escape the bonds of what we are hardwired as humans to act like. Freedom is the ultimate goal. He understandably does not present a clear plan to do this, frankly because there is no black and white way to overcome said obstacles. However, the article does provide some thoughts and suggestions on doing so. Wallace’s big advice is to pay attention to the world around you. Emphasis on “around you”. The world does not in fact revolve around you, rather you play a small role in the universe. This being said, the ultimate goal is to find out this role. Some ways in doing this is learn not what to think about, but how to think in general. Look at things from multiple perspectives. This will help avoid the self-centered issue. Additionally, if one avoids the mainstream, real world thoughts and transcends them, one can escape the personal prison of the mind that Wallace describes. Personally, I devised this thought, perspective is key. Its the main difference between all humans. No one person is exactly like the other. The mind can sometimes get lazy and think in a linear plane. These are the restraints that must be avoided. Freedom can be achieved if one can think multi-dimensionally. Observing multiple perspectives is a very difficult thing to accomplish, simply because the complexity of the problem. How can one think about something from a viewpoint they don’t originate themselves. I believe that is the argument that Wallace is truly making. That education is not actually about learning to do algebra or write good thesis sentences, rather its to broaden ones horizons, with the ultimate intent of gaining perspective. Therefore one is no longer self-containing and self-indulgent, but self-aware.

By: Brian Surdel