KarmaTube Video

You only begin to understand the water when you begin to understand your basic fishiness and how it connects with the water. Water and any other physical, cognitive, affective, or social environment is really only a function of the perceiving and therefore the perceiver.

appreciated the messages about mindfulness - being awake and not asleep -it's funny that the shift in the mind takes a second but makes all the difference! i can't wait to share this w/ my classes... thanks for doing this -- so well done!

@Graydon: I'm not sure how your comment really correlates to the meat of what DFW is saying in his speech. He establishes that first, the story of the world and universe does not lead up to our individual existence - and even if you were to argue with him on this point, you could not argue that it would be an efficient way to live in a place with a population greater than 1. I don't think he is attempting to present a problem of ethics - of whether or not we feed the buffalo or the wolf. Also, the analogy depends on the existence of objective traits such as evil and sacredness/goodness - and as we can see from our own existence, it's our subjectivity often guides our observation of certain truths. DFW would argue that you still have the power to choose how you perceive the buffalo and the wolf, and this reality trumps whether or not there is a 'right' or 'wrong' answer. Besides, any person that is mature enough to think holistically about this scenario could see that it's irrational to feed the wolf because there are likely greater consequences to that scenario that affect you on an individual level than there are with the buffalo.

What I think he's trying to emphasize is that the only thing we can really accept about our world is our inability to actually know all of the factors behind the events we perceive on a daily basis. Furthermore, these events happen with or without our presence and observation, so becoming upset by these day in day out occurrences can, to a certain extent, be an act of selfishness more than anything else. By accepting that you cannot possibly know every scenario, you accept the realities of the world in a different way. It's important to note that acceptance does not necessarily mean tolerance. You can accept inexplicable suffering and seemingly pointless evil without tolerating it as a simple, irrevocable fact of life. It seems as if he's really trying to say that, by pursing values such as empathy and humility - values that a liberal education traditionally supports - you just may live a happier, more productive life. By not placing your own material idols as the focal point of your existence you just may end up leading a life with contentment rather than a life rooted in a perpetually frustrating desire for those things you do not have.

Mr. Wallace's philosophy of every-day,fundamental problems; such as reality, existence, knowledge, or values, is nothing new. The concept of "choosing" how we think has been with us for centuries. I remember a story about a young Cherokee Indian boy whose Grandfather told him that inside of every man, there is a battle that rages' between a great sacred buffalo, and an evil wolf,and that only one will win the battle. And when the young man asks which shall win; the Grandfather replies, "The one you feed". We all can choose to feed either one. Unfortunately, many of us choose the wolf...

What about celebrating the fact that just a couple generations ago you couldnt just "drive to the grocery store, and buy fresh produce" but actually had to grow and harvest your own food...i often find myself bewildered by the convenience of my nearby 24 hr marsh supermarket.....steak and artichoke with mango salad at 1 A.M. is a freaking miracle

Wish the video were still available/operative. I viewed it yesterday and was so touched, I wanted to see it again today. Wish, too, I could share it with my students at Georgia Tech. :(

What a better way to live.

It's good to have a bit of perspective once-in-awhile to cut through our established mode of thinking, feeling & being.

Jeremy....smartest, truest comment on the page. Capital T or not. I concur!!!

The fact that he killed himself a few years later does not diminish the beauty of this talk. If we take his suggestion that we cannot know what the "other" is experiencing, we realize that his pain was probably too much for him to bear. Let's look out beyond our selfishness. Then we can experience the love that is the water in which 'we' swim.

May we ALL Choose Compassion & to see the Human Being. When we realize EVERYONE has a Story and we Choose to Step outside ourselves and see the Human Being in front of us, we have deeper Compassion and Understanding that often can turn into Patience & Love for All. thank you. HUG
PS this video shows what I see EVERY Day, the part about Deciding to SEE the Human Being and stepping outside of Self. The World is so much More BEAUTIFUL this way! <3

What inspired you about this video?
very nice. an idea to come out from your mechanical live.