Benefits of Rewriting Reality
The above is a video depiction of abridged version of the “This is Water” commencement speech that David Foster Wallace gave to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College.
I agree with David that one of the true values of education is in providing us the ability to choose how we react to situations. We have a choice in that we can either choose to react in an automatic “irrational” way, or we could be deliberate. By being deliberate when faced with difficult/uncomfortable situations, we could choose what we want to believe, edit the context, and make ourselves react in a manner that can help us maintain our inner peace or charisma. I could find some similarities in what David is suggesting with what Olivia Fox Cabane proposes in her book “The Charisma Myth” as “cognitive reframing”. By choosing how we react to external stimuli and situations, by detaching our thoughts, and by purposefully rewriting reality, we in turn can enhance our presence and charisma. For those of you who are interested in learning more about Olivia’s work, check out this video:
