David Foster Wallace began his 2005 Commencement Speech at Kenyon College with a curious story.
Two fish are swimming along when they happen across an older fish, who nods and says, “Morning boys. How’s the water?” The two younger fish swim along for a bit before the one turns to the other and asks, “What the hell is water?” The point of the story, Wallace goes on to say, is “merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.” |
He goes on to develop this simple story into a powerful thesis that by paying close attention to the most mundane aspects of our existence we can begin to see our lives in a more meaningful light.
For those of us at Quotient, “seeing the water,” means that we are not bound to a particular way of seeing things and that new perspectives have the power to open up new worlds. In all our work and teaching we hope to follow Wallace’s example and not dispense ivory-tower wisdom, but instead try to illuminate the profound significance of what we all know by simply being human.
For those of us at Quotient, “seeing the water,” means that we are not bound to a particular way of seeing things and that new perspectives have the power to open up new worlds. In all our work and teaching we hope to follow Wallace’s example and not dispense ivory-tower wisdom, but instead try to illuminate the profound significance of what we all know by simply being human.
