Are We Self-centered?

Why is it that the things that should be the most obvious to us are the hardest to understand? It is astounding how oblivious most of us, myself included, are to our surroundings. Why do we never care about things that don't concern us? David Foster Wallace said, "Think about it: There is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute center of" (233). Personally, it is very hard for me to think of a memory that doesn't involve me in any way. To some, that might make me appear self-centered, but let's be honest here, who isn't self-centered? Now, I don't mean that in the negative way it is more commonly used nowadays, but it is true that everybody does things for themselves. Since childhood, we are told to live our lives for ourselves. However, even though we are all self-centered, that doesn't mean we should never take into account how other people feel. For example, in school, like most students, I often complain about the vast amount of work that teachers assign for homework. Until I read the piece "This is Water", by David Foster Wallace, I never even considered that these teachers have taught their respective classes years before I even walked into Troy High, and that maybe over the years they have fine-tuned their classes to give just the right amount of work to help us students succeed. Hopefully in the future, I will try harder to refrain from automatically assuming that my life and problems are more important than anybody else's. Wallace has shown me that although I am a self-centered person, it isn't necessarily a bad thing. He has also helped me to develop tremendous respect to those around me who also face unspoken problems each and every day. A Facebook page that has also put this into perspective is, "Humans of New York". The page consists of pictures of random people and their stories. It shows that each and every single person has had to deal with problems, so it isn't fair to judge others.