Leading up to that momentous date, I am re-releasing the "best of iWebU", starting in 2008 and moving forward.
These are the posts that stand the test of time and remain as valuable today as they did then.
And so, I revisit Web Secret #317: This is water.
Why? Sometimes, when you least expect it, social media still has the ability to deliver a treasure. Something so beautiful and transcendent that you actually feel lucky to have lived long enough for technology to make this gift possible.
Web Secret #317: This is water
I have been writing this blog since 2008 and have featured only one guest post.
Today, I will do it again.
The Internet in general, and social media in particular, generate amazing amounts of crappy content. Sometimes it seems like there is a universe of cat videos, depressing clips of people doing dangerous and stupid stuff, and news that I would just as soon not know about. If you are looking for sad, evil, despicable evidence that humans are a sorry lot, then the web will reward you in spades.
However, when you least expect it, social media still has the ability to deliver a treasure. Something so beautiful and transcendent that you actually feel lucky to have lived long enough for technology to make this gift possible.
Such is "This is water," a commencement speech delivered in 2005 by author David Foster Wallace to the graduating class of Kenyon College. The speech didn't become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death by suicide. A video of an abridged version recently made it onto my Facebook page courtesy of Upworthy. I yield the floor to Mr. Wallace:
And when you're done watching the video, read the full transcript of the speech.
"I wish you way more than luck."
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