On Thinking - David Foster Wallace (21 May 2005)

Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about

"teaching you how to think"

is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea:

"learning how to think"

really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think.

It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.

Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.

David Foster Wallace (w) - Transcript - 2005 Kenyon College Commencement Address (21 May 2005)

Sculpture by the Sea - Bondi / Sydney - (18 Nov 2002)