This is a commencement speech by the late David Foster Wallace. It is a speech that touches on issues we all face on a day-to-day basis. Wallace points out the default-setting of our brains is to focus on ourselves and to view ourselves as the center of the universe. Thus, when we are in a crowded supermarket and there are hyper-active kids running around, people talking loudly on cell phones, and the checkout line is long, we automatically view these as obstacles standing in our way. We fail to take into consideration our role within the situation, or try to understand it from an outside perspective.

Allowing this type of attitude to disperse throughout society prevents us from coming together as a community. Wallace believes we must actively work to change this default setting and must allow compassion, and the ability to sacrifice for each other repeatedly in “unsexy ways, every day” to permeate through society. I believe worldwide compassion is the next step in our social evolution, but in order for this to take place we must understand that our brain does not control us, we control it.