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David Foster Wallace

Novelist, Essayist, English Professor

David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) was an influential author who played a part in the evolution of the postmodern tradition. He went to Harvard University for graduate studies in the philosophy of logic, but dropped out to pursue writing, where he found inspiration.
Contents

David Foster Wallace's Opinions

Agree
All this business about people committing suicide when they're "severely depressed;" we say, "Holy cow, we must do something to stop them from killing themselves!" That's wrong. Because all these people have, you see, by this time already killed themselves, where it really counts. ... When they "commit suicide," they're just being orderly. They're just giving external form to an event the substance of which already exists and has existed in them over time.
01 Jan 1984    Source


Agree
There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship -- be it JC or Allah, bet it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles -- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
21 May 2005    Source


Art

Disagree
And I think it's impossible to spend that many slackjawed, spittlechinned, formative hours in front of commercial art without internalizing the idea that one of the main goals of art is simply to "entertain" give people sheer pleasure. ... I think TV promulgates the idea that good art is just art which makes people like and depend on the vehicle that brings them the art.
01 Jun 1993    Source


Agree
In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it’d find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.
01 Jun 1993    Source


Mostly Disagree
My own plan for the coming fourteen months is to knock on doors and stuff envelopes. Maybe even to wear a button. To try to accrete with others into a demographically significant mass. To try extra hard to exercise patience, politeness, and imagination on those with whom I disagree. Also to floss more.
01 Nov 2003    Source


Comparisons with Other Experts and Influencers

The similarity between David Foster Wallace and each expert and influencer is calculated by looking at how the same questions were answered. These figures are used to calculate conforming, nonconforming, and projected opinions. The accuracy of the analysis depends on David Foster Wallace's coverage, which grows with the number of their opinions entered into TakeOnIt.

Agree
Barack Obama
United States President
100% agreement / 2 opinions

Leo Tolstoy
Iconic Novelist
100% agreement / 2 opinions

Johann Hari
Journalist
100% agreement / 1 opinions

Conservapedia
Christian Encyclopedia
100% agreement / 1 opinions

Pablo Picasso
Iconic Painter of 20th Century
100% agreement / 1 opinions

W. Somerset Maugham
Famous Writer
100% agreement / 1 opinions

Mostly Agree
Friedrich Nietzsche
Iconic Philosopher of 19th Century
62% agreement / 2 opinions

In-Between
Oscar Wilde
Famous Author
50% agreement / 2 opinions

Jamie Whyte
Philosophy Professor
50% agreement / 1 opinions

Mostly Disagree
Steven Pinker
Psychology Professor
25% agreement / 1 opinions

Joseph Heller
Author of Catch 22
25% agreement / 1 opinions

Roissy in DC
Pickup Artist
25% agreement / 1 opinions

Disagree
Adolf Hitler
Leader of Nazi Party
0% agreement / 1 opinions

G. K. Chesterton
Famous 20th Century Writer
0% agreement / 1 opinions

Eliezer Yudkowsky
Artificial Intelligence Researcher
0% agreement / 1 opinions

Paul Z. Myers
Biology Professor
0% agreement / 1 opinions

Amanda Marcotte
Blogger, Author, Feminist
0% agreement / 1 opinions

George Orwell
Iconic Author of 20th Century
0% agreement / 1 opinions

Conforming Opinions

David Foster Wallace's conforming opinions are opinions that align with the group of experts and influencers David Foster Wallace typically agrees with.

Coverage Answer Question
High Agree Does God exist?
Medium Disagree Is "good" art purely subjective?

Projected Opinions

David Foster Wallace's projected opinions are opinions David Foster Wallace is expected to have if their opinions align with the experts and influencers that they typically agree with.

Coverage Answer Question
Medium Disagree Did the US Government play a part in the 9/11 attacks?
Medium Agree Is free trade generally beneficial for a country?
Low Agree Are our enemies innately evil?
Low Neutral Is global warming caused primarily by humans?
Low Agree Should gay and straight couples have the same legal benefits?
Low Neutral Should the federal government ban gay marriage?
Low Neutral Is abstinence-only sex education effective?
Low Agree Should the Kyoto protocol be adopted?
Low Agree Is there life after death?
Low Neutral Is it legitimate for the US to label their enemies "terrorists"?
Low Disagree Is the Holocaust a myth?