This Is Water
This Is Water by David Foster Wallaceby David Foster Wallace
Shares rank 15 of 60 articles by recommenders
People recommend this short commencement speech as a highly regarded, influential and still relevant guide to how they see everyday life.
People recommend this short commencement speech as a highly regarded, influential and still relevant guide to how they see everyday life.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Highly recommended and influential
“If you've not read or heard this commencement address from David Foster Wallace highly recommended”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Tech Needs Humanists More” “one of the two most influential books I've read”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: What's the best talk you've watched?” Shapes everyday perception and reactions
“It's become a positive reflex for me, one that safes me from a rush of aggression”
Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “The 'Paperwork Flood': How I Drowned a Bureaucrat Before Dinner” “something I've held dear to me as my default perception of life”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “How Will the Miracle Happen Today?” Relevant to modern life
““this is water” and some of his other essays are even more so in this regard”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Doomscrolling ourselves to death” “David Foster Wallace's This is Water speech more relevant than ever.”
Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “I'm the mom in that viral Giants clip. Let me tell you about my husband”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter Naur | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| This Is Waterby David Foster WallaceThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“David Foster Wallace's This is Water speech more relevant than ever.”
“If you've not read or heard this commencement address from David Foster Wallace highly recommended”
““this is water” and some of his other essays are even more so in this regard”
“It's become a positive reflex for me, one that safes me from a rush of aggression”
“something I've held dear to me as my default perception of life”
“one of the two most influential books I've read”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.