This is Freedom David Wallace, in This is Water, makes noteworthy claims that all human beings are truly self-centered in nature and how being aware of our surroundings, allows us to be in control of how and what we think. He makes these claims to have the reader realize that when they become aware of their surroundings, they get a sense of real, conscious life and free thinking versus the reality that is perceived in our minds when we are in a negative default setting. Wallace’s approach to free thinking is enlightening and very insightful. After reading the speech, it is clear that truly being a free thinker means choosing what reality is and being able to decide what to give meaning to. Wallace notes that actively deciding to think this way is tough, it takes a lot of effort, and some days it will not be possible, however, it is important to try because then people are able to think for themselves and pay attention to the …show more content…
Wallace defines the freedom needed to be a free thinker as, “... attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.” This essentially summarizes, his main argument of this speech, which is to be observant of the background, in order to be a free thinker and to be able to see the reality in the world and in other people. Even though Wallace makes vaillant claims, one pitfall to his speech is that he overwhelmingly decided to focus on negative situations where being a free thinker is necessary. Obviously, in negative situations it is the hardest time to stop the default setting and start putting in effort to perceive the situation in a different way, but being free thinking should be utilized every