Iris Narrido

PolSci 4B
Philo 106 MWF 11:05 AM – 12:05 PM D205
What think ye?
1. Wallace talks about 2 things that we automatically (“unconsciously”) tend to simply assume to be certainly true,
our natural “default-settings” in life and the way we live (though in reality these are “totally wrong and deluded”).
Identify these 2 things:

A. The first thing that Wallace identified as our natural “default-setting” in life was our tendency to be deeply and
literally self-centered.
B. The second thing that Wallace identified as the way we live was our tendency to worship unconsciously.

2. Share your reactions/responses to these 2 things. Do you think Wallace is exposing something that is true? Why?

I completely agree with Wallace. This is because I too believe that I, as a human being in this world, am not
the center of the universe. I can truly observe that most of the people I have met, read about, or observed called
themselves believers of a certain religion and they always seemed to pinpoint that their God made this world for
them or sacrificed himself/herself for them. I also believe that we really do worship unconsciously because we easily
get so caught up in the things we put our minds to. Although we may not always realize it, it always finds a way to
take over our lives. For example, worshipping money nowadays will be a good thing because it is productive and
makes us more efficient in our work. However, just like what Wallace said, worshipping will never make you feel
enough because there is always more money to acquire.

3. What are your thoughts on this statement by Wallace, “Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in
ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom to be lords of our
own tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation.”

I think what Wallace is saying is that we come to unconsciously worship worldly things because our society
condones it. Society benefits from this because money and other material things are what makes our present
society thrive. Almost everyone seems to be in love with the idea of chasing paper because it lets us acquire other
things like security, success, and power. Moreover, in our present culture, having these things mean personal
freedom to do whatever we want which only strengthens our natural default-setting of being self-centered.

4. Do you agree with Wallace conclusion that, “The really important kind of freedom involves 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, that is real freedom”? Why?

I agree with Wallace’s conclusion because I believe that these are the things that are the most difficult to
do voluntarily. Most of the time we do these because someone or something tells us to do so. However, if we were
not forced by any external influence to commit these acts then this just goes to show that there really is real
freedom. Everyday we are faced with the choice of doing good or doing bad, but if we consciously choose the
former then we are truly free.

5. Why did he take his own life?

Although I am not insisting my reason as to why he took his own life, I only presume that it is because he was
looking for something, but he did not find it. I believe that he was hungry for religious faith, yet he was not able to
realize it.