This is water; this is data

On this day, 20 years and six months ago, David Foster Wallace delivered the commencement day speech at Kenyon College, Ohio in the United States. It was a dry and lovely morning.

Having listened to this speech many times, I think it has become extremely relevant again (if it ever wasn't). Now, when I listen to this, I cannot help but notice a modern parallel with the dangers of “getting hypnotised by the constant monologue inside your own head"; and ”the mind being an excellent servant but a terrible master"; and the difficulty of “being able to truly care about other people”. Of course, that parallel is the effect of AI and smartphones on our minds, and our ability to pay attention and even to be truly present with other people.

David Foster Wallace explains these dangers and difficulties for freedom of thought as they were then, and it almost sounds now like a warning from a previous era. We have now seen the introduction of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2022, which came into force on 1 August 2025. We have seen deepfakes appear to interfere in the Irish presidential election and successfully send people to Buckingham Palace in search of a non-existent Christmas Market.

I do not think it is a co-incidence that, in the context of AI and smartphones, more younger people might be asking deeper, existential questions sooner, and looking for meaning wherever it is to be found. At Stone King, our clients are faith organisations and education settings, where these questions are key.