We look at David Foster Wallace's "This is Water" commencement speech, examining its central themes of awareness, ego death, and the daily struggle against our "default settings." What starts as a discussion of the speech evolves into a broader exploration of how we navigate modern life—from the challenge of maintaining consciousness in consumer culture to the difficulty of having genuine conversations without blind certainty.

We explore the paradox of participation versus checking out: how do we engage with contemporary media, technology, and culture while maintaining critical awareness? Through examples ranging from Netflix's "second screen" content to our own consumption of nostalgia-driven blockbusters, we grapple with questions of authenticity, discipline, and the constant work required to see beyond our self-centered perspective. The conversation touches on everything from movie criticism and artistic integrity to the design of modern attention-capture systems and the challenge of curating meaningful experiences in an age of infinite distraction. -Ai

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