Everybody worships

I just read David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College. It’s a really, really great read.

A lot of it spoke to me, but, in the context of my recent posts on research and the values of harm reduction, this lept out to me:

…in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

Seems a little strange to post something about this speech without commenting on his suicide, but I don’t know what to say.

I don’t believe his insight is diminished in any way by his suicide. It shows that insight often doesn’t lead to relief from emotional torment. It’s just very sad.