--- title: David Foster Wallace on the Moral Clarity of the Immature description: "To really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time" canonical: https://time.com/3918955/david-foster-wallace-moral-clarity-2/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-29T11:00:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:36.811Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Deal With Bias, According to David Foster Wallace og:description: "To really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time" og:url: https://time.com/3918955/david-foster-wallace-moral-clarity-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2dc5c747b911f04/698854423c1639314045856b/50397607-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: David Foster Wallace og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Deal With Bias, According to David Foster Wallace twitter:description: "To really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2dc5c747b911f04/698854423c1639314045856b/50397607-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Deal With Bias, According to David Foster Wallace by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jun 29, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  David Foster Wallace David Foster WallaceSteve Liss—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Jun 29, 2015 11:00 AM UTC David Foster Wallace, who has brought us gems such as [This is Water](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/) and insights into [ambition and perfectionism](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/09/david-foster-wallace-on-ambition-and-perfectionism/), was the guest editor of the [2007 edition of Best American Essays](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618709274/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0618709274&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=IMU2SH5FREACXJFH). His introduction explores why pre-formed positions are so appealing and how the role of having people decide for us has no clear alternative. Commenting on how essays and other pre-packaged models of thinking help us deal with information and stimuli overload, Wallace writes: --- > “” --- And commenting on the role of Google and curators alike as deciders for us Wallace writes: --- > “” --- **_Still Curious?_** _Check out_ [_the best book on the art of writing_](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/07/the-best-book-on-the-art-of-writing/)_._ **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ### 5 Horrible Habits You Need to Stop Right Now  Do Not Email First Thing in the Morning or Last Thing at Night “The former scrambles your priorities and all your plans for the day and the latter just gives you insomnia,” says Ferriss, who insists “email can wait until 10am” or after you check off at least one substantive to-do list item. Chris Pecoraro—Getty Images  Do Not Agree to Meetings or Calls With No Clear Agenda or End Time “If the desired outcome is defined clearly… and there’s an agenda listing topics–questions to cover–no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes,” claims Ferriss, so “request them in advance so you can ‘best prepare and make good use of our time together.'” Sam Edwards—Getty Images/Caiaimage  Do Not Check Email Constantly Batch it and check it only periodically at set times (Ferriss goes for twice a day). Your inbox is analogous to a cocaine pellet dispenser, says Ferriss. Don’t be an addict. Tools like strategic use of the auto responder and Boomerang can help. Jetta Productions—Getty Images  Do Not Carry a Digital Leash 24/7 At least one day a week leave you smartphone somewhere where you can’t get easy access to it. If you’re gasping, you’re probably the type of person that most needs to do kick this particular habit. by nacoki ( MEDIA ARC )—Getty Images/Flickr RF  Do Not Let People Ramble Sounds harsh, but it’s necessary, Ferriss believes. “Small talk takes up big time,” he says, so when people start to tell you about their weekends, cut them off politely with something like “I’m in the middle of something, but what’s up?” But be aware, not everyone agrees with this one (and certainly not in every situation), and you may want to pay particularly close attention to norms around chit chat when traveling internationally. Reza Estakhrian—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3918955/david-foster-wallace-moral-clarity-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3918955/david-foster-wallace-moral-clarity-2/"},"headline":"How to Deal With Bias, According to David Foster Wallace","datePublished":"2015-06-29T11:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:49:36.811Z","description":"\"To really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time\"","url":"https://time.com/3918955/david-foster-wallace-moral-clarity-2/","keywords":["Psychology","Google","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2dc5c747b911f04/698854423c1639314045856b/50397607-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2dc5c747b911f04/698854423c1639314045856b/50397607-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Foster Wallace","caption":"David Foster Wallace","creditText":"Steve Liss—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3918955/david-foster-wallace-moral-clarity-2/","name":"How to Deal With Bias, According to David Foster Wallace"}}]}] ```