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How's the Water?

2018-06-26 · letter vlog · John · 3:28 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning · mode: Personal essay

Using David Foster Wallace's two-fish joke, John says he once believed adulthood would make him the wise older fish and often played that role in vlogbrothers videos, but he does not know what we are swimming in, distrusts the very certain, and suggests that asking the question may be its own answer.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — David Foster Wallace's two-fish joke and its conceit

  • ★ John tells a joke David Foster Wallace made famous in a commencement address: an older fish asks two young fish how the water is; one later asks what water is. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ The joke's conceit: most of us do not know what we are swimming in and cannot contextualize our reality like the wise older fish. — 00:00:18

00:00:30 — At 23 John sought certain 'wise older fish' and has played that role in vlogbrothers videos

  • ★★ John first heard the joke at 23, when he believed adulthood was a process through which one became the wise older fish. — 00:00:30
  • ★★ So John listened to people claiming to be the wise fish, religious or atheistic, conservative or liberal, whose shared certainty he found almost desperately attractive. — 00:00:38
  • ★★ They all told him that once he opened his eyes he'd see 'this is water': Jesus or anti-theism, rigid social hierarchies or radical egalitarianism, low-fat or low-carb diets. — 00:00:59
  • ★★★ In old and probably recent vlogbrothers videos John tries to assume the wise-fish role, doling out advice and pronouncements about where social media is taking us. (hedged) — 00:01:21 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John expounds his many certainties while finding his actual life defined mostly by uncertainty. — 00:01:35

00:01:41 — No one knows what we are swimming in; distrust of certainty; middle age

  • ★★★ John has thought pretending to be the wise fish would make him one; you can fake your way through most of adult life, but not to enlightenment. (hedged) — 00:01:41
  • ★★★ Especially about 21st-century life, John has no idea what we are swimming in: he doesn't know if the social internet is good or bad. (unsure) — 00:01:59
  • ★★ John doesn't know whether outrage eventually leads to better human lives. (unsure) — 00:02:01
  • ★★★ John doesn't think anybody else knows either. (hedged) — 00:02:13

  • ★★★ One of the few things John feels certain about is that he doesn't trust people who are extremely certain about things. — 00:02:15

    “I don't trust people who are extremely certain about things.”

  • ★★★ At 40, John finds a benefit of middle age is being suspicious of, rather than compelled by, those claiming to be the wise older fish. — 00:02:21

00:02:30 — Keep asking what water is: asking the question as its own kind of answer

  • ★★ Enlightenment or capital-A Awareness are not impossible, just pretty uncommon. (hedged) — 00:02:30
  • ★★★ Most of us will keep struggling to apprehend the colorless, odorless, transparent stuff we are swimming in. (hedged) — 00:02:37
  • ★★★ That is okay: you can keep swimming and keep asking what the hell water is. — 00:02:46
  • ★★ Sometimes we ask in fear, seeking reassurance we can't find because the water will harm us; sometimes in awe, wonder, bemusement, frustration or joy. — 00:02:51
  • ★★★ We will keep asking and stay the young fish, but maybe asking the question is its own kind of answer. (hedged) — 00:03:18

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Intellectual humility

Also: atheism · Jesus · Middle age · This Is Water

Only in the description or credits: David Foster Wallace

Also centred on Intellectual humility: Towering Mountains of Ignorance · Does Human Life Have Real Meaning? · The Assassination Attempt and the Comfort of Certainty · Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones…

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