非常感謝賴夫(L. Rafael Reif)校長,同時也感謝MIT所有2016屆畢業(yè)生!
今天是屬于你們的榮耀時刻;今天是你們與益友、良師、父母共同慶祝的榮耀時刻;今天我很榮幸可以見證這一榮耀時刻。但是,坦白說,我配不上這份榮耀。
我來之前看過MIT邀請的歷屆畢業(yè)演講嘉賓名單,他們有諾貝爾獎得主、聯(lián)合國秘書長、世界銀行行長、美國總統(tǒng)。
你們這屆畢業(yè)生很不幸,因為你們的演講嘉賓不過是一個為卡通馬配音的家伙。
哪匹卡通馬?好吧,就是《小馬王斯比瑞特》(Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron)里的那匹。不得不說,作為一匹馬,我在里面的表現(xiàn)還不錯。
我甚至連大學(xué)都沒畢業(yè)。你或許聽說過我之前就讀于哈佛大學(xué),但是我中途退學(xué)了。我曾經(jīng)離哈佛大學(xué)的學(xué)位僅一步之遙,但后來我愛上了電影,就逐漸荒廢了學(xué)業(yè)。我也經(jīng)歷過你們今天的一切:穿上學(xué)士服和同學(xué)一塊兒參加畢業(yè)典禮;帶著父母一塊兒聽畢業(yè)演講;唯一不同的是我沒有領(lǐng)到學(xué)位證。你們可以叫我偽畢業(yè)生。
所以接到賴夫校長的邀請時,我欣喜若狂。同時作為一個沒有學(xué)位證的演講嘉賓,我又惴惴不安。
好吧,今天就算是我人生第二次混進(jìn)畢業(yè)典禮。很榮幸成為一名家鄉(xiāng)大學(xué)的偽畢業(yè)生。
同樣,今天我父母又一次來參加我的“畢業(yè)典禮”。這一次,我還帶來了我的妻子和孩子。寶貝,歡迎來參加爸爸的“畢業(yè)典禮”。給爸爸加油哦。沒錯,我媽媽今天也來了。她是一名教授,她知道MIT學(xué)位的含金量。
我媽媽也知道我這點能耐是拿不到MIT的畢業(yè)證書的。我是說,我連哈佛的畢業(yè)證書都沒拿到。好吧,或許我也就配得上耶魯了。
我不屬于任何官僚機(jī)構(gòu),所以我今天可以暢所欲言。
我沒有機(jī)會來MIT讀書,但我是在這里長大的。我小時候住在學(xué)校附近,在MIT光環(huán)的籠罩下成長。我和哥哥凱爾(Kyle)以及我的好朋友本·阿弗萊克(Ben Affleck)從小一塊在中央廣場(Central Square)玩耍,這座城市和這所偉大的學(xué)校共同塑造了我們。
我們當(dāng)時年少輕狂,MIT則以一種高大威武的雄性魅力吸引著我們。
于是,我和阿弗萊克在這兒拍了一部電影。
《心靈捕手》(Good Will Hunting)的一個場景是基于我哥哥凱爾的真實故事改編的。凱爾當(dāng)時走在MIT的無盡長廊(Infinite Corridor)上要去拜訪一位物理學(xué)家。他看到了走廊里的黑板,然后我這位藝術(shù)家哥哥就拿起粉筆在黑板上寫了一個憑空而造的復(fù)雜方程。
簡直帥呆了,而且方程在黑板上幾個月都沒人擦。這事兒是真的。哥哥后來跟我們說,小伙伴們,MIT走廊里裝了一排黑板!因為孩子們實在太聰明,他們可以隨時放下手上的事,專注難題。
然后我們意識到,MIT是我們可望而不可及的地方。
但就像我之前說的,我們后來在MIT拍了電影,并且電影在校園多少得到些關(guān)注。MIT的校報上有很多《心靈捕手》的評論,我從中摘錄了一些讀給你們聽。
呃,如果你們有人沒有看過《心靈捕手》,我是電影里的威爾(Will),桑恩(Sean)是由羅賓·威廉姆斯(Robin Williams)扮演的,我現(xiàn)在非常懷念威廉姆斯。
以下就是這些評論:“《心靈捕手》不過嘩眾取寵,以MIT為背景的電影一向如此。”
還有評論者寫道:“威爾和桑恩促膝長談,打開彼此心結(jié),之后又相擁而泣。電影就在哭泣和擁抱中結(jié)束了,這種矯揉造作的電影實在太菜了?!?/p>
好吧,大家可以計算我的心里陰影面積。
但是別擔(dān)心,我已經(jīng)找到比MIT更適合哭泣的地方了。
但無論如何,我很高興站在這里。我當(dāng)年是一個沖動無知的少年,但我知道我看到的是一所了不起的大學(xué)。MIT是波士頓的驕傲。MIT也是世界各地莘莘學(xué)子的驕傲。
你們在MIT從事高深的研究:各種理論、模型、范式轉(zhuǎn)變。這些都是我的思維所不能企及的。
因為在《火星救援》中馬特戲稱自己是“星際海盜”,MIT為他特別頒發(fā)了“海盜榮譽(yù)學(xué)位”
我腦子里一直縈繞著一個理論:模擬理論(Simulation Theory)。
你們可能聽說過這個理論,或者有人上過馬克斯·泰格馬克(Max Tegmark)的課。
它是牛津大學(xué)哲學(xué)家尼克·波斯特羅姆(Nick Bostrom)提出的一個假設(shè):如果宇宙中真的有某種高級智能存在,那么他們應(yīng)該有能力模擬上無數(shù)個虛擬世界,其中就包括我們生活的世界。
我對這個理論的理解是,我們有可能生活在一個更加智能的文明所開發(fā)的大型電腦游戲中,而我們對此卻全然不知。
而問題的關(guān)鍵是:許多物理學(xué)家和宇宙學(xué)家并不能對這一理論證偽。我在海登天文館(Hayden Planetarium)觀摩過一場由奈爾·德葛拉司·泰森(Neil deGrasse Tyson)主持的辯論會,但辯論小組并不能給出明確答案。泰森本人也只能把這一理論的可能性定為50%。
我不清楚這一理論的科學(xué)性,但我對里面的數(shù)據(jù)印象深刻。
我開始思考:如果我們所有的一切都不過是幻象,這很匪夷所思,但如果這是真的,后果會怎么樣?
如果還有很多其它虛擬世界存在,我們怎么偏偏生活在唐納德·特朗普(Donald Trump)作為共和黨候選人的瘋狂世界?
我們能不能去別的世界生活?
泰格馬克教授對此有巧妙的回答:“我的建議是,走出去做自己喜歡的事,然后你就是一個有生命的自由人。”
反過來,如果我們不是活在幻象之中又當(dāng)如何?答案還是一樣的。
也就是說,最重要的不是我們活在一個怎樣的世界,而是我們的所作所為。人之作為讓我們與眾不同。
所以,MIT的同學(xué)們,你們應(yīng)該走出去,追尋自己喜歡的事。你們可堪重任。因為,無論是真實還是幻象,這世界都存在很多問題,這世界需要你們隨時放棄一切,專注難題。
在這千瘡百孔的世界挑一個難題,然后一往無前。
經(jīng)濟(jì)失調(diào)、難民危機(jī)、恐怖主義、氣候變化、疾病傳染、種族歧視、本土主義等等。美國和奧地利,極右翼候選人馬上就要贏得總統(tǒng)競選,這自二戰(zhàn)以來還是首例。
還有“英退歐盟”(Brexit)的問題。英國最好的出路居然是退出歐盟,實在愚蠢至極。美國的政治體系在衰落,國會議員兩年一換屆,議員們簡直鼠目寸光,從來不做長期打算。
墮落的媒體只關(guān)注于八卦,對花邊新聞樂此不疲,將人淹沒于垃圾信息之中。狡猾的銀行時刻覬覦著你的鈔票。
我之前已經(jīng)表明,我不屬于任何官僚機(jī)構(gòu)。
所以,既然說到這了,我想對那些貪得無厭的銀行家說:你們是盜賊!你們是騙子!我們對你們的所作所為一清二楚。你們鳩占鵲巢,以抵押貸款之名住著別人的房子!或許你們很有錢,但你們得不到我們的尊重!當(dāng)你們在路上與我們擦肩而過,你們會從我們眼中看到鄙視與憤怒!
我不知道正義是否會到來。但如果有人伸張正義,那么這個人就是伊麗莎白·沃倫(Elizabeth Warren)。
我剛剛吐槽了一堆棘手的問題,有點跑題了。
你可能聽得有些不耐煩了,但在你轉(zhuǎn)身步入這混亂的世界之前,我想給你們提個建議。這是我十幾年前從比爾·克林頓(Bill Clinton)總統(tǒng)那里聽到的。其實,這個建議聽起來更像一個命令。
克林頓總統(tǒng)這樣說:“發(fā)現(xiàn)問題既當(dāng)直面問題。”
當(dāng)時我覺得這句話很簡單。但隨著年齡的增長,我越來越發(fā)現(xiàn)其中蘊(yùn)含的智慧。
今天,我也希望你們記住這句話:發(fā)現(xiàn)問題既當(dāng)直面問題。
直面問題還不夠,你要深入了解這些問題。然后問自己:我應(yīng)該怎樣處理這些問題。以我的經(jīng)驗,認(rèn)識這個世界最好的方式是用自己的眼睛去觀察。
跟很多人一樣,我在母親的教導(dǎo)下?lián)碛辛诉@種洞察力。我小的時候,母親認(rèn)為有必要讓我們見識下波士頓以外的世界。我說的可不是弗雷明漢(Framingham)。她帶我們?nèi)チ宋5伛R拉(Guatemala)這樣的地方。我在那里真正知道了什么是貧窮,我的世界觀徹底改變了。
然后基于同樣的原因,2006年我和哥哥作為反極度貧困組織ONE Campaign的成員去了贊比亞。ONE Campaign是博諾(Bono)為了解決發(fā)展中國家的貧困和疾病問題而成立的。在贊比亞的一個部落,我遇到一個小女孩,我陪她一塊兒去附近的井邊打水。
打水小女孩剛剛放學(xué)歸來。然后我知道了為什么這個小女孩有機(jī)會上學(xué):因為附近有清水。小女孩不必浪費一整天時間來回徒步幾英里為家里人取水。而贊比亞的很多女孩就沒有小女孩這么幸運(yùn)了。
我問小女孩長大了是否愿意留在村子里,她回答說:“不,我要去盧薩卡(Lusaka,贊比亞首都),我想做一名護(hù)士?!?/p>
純凈水,我們生活最基本的東西,它給了小女孩實現(xiàn)夢想的機(jī)會。
后來,我終于意識到水和衛(wèi)生設(shè)施才是貧困問題的關(guān)鍵。我以前真是太蠢了。一個國家的命脈完全由水掌控,而我們對水確揮取自如。
ONE Campaign的人告訴我,水是對抗極端貧窮最吸引人的方法。如果你覺得水不夠吸引人,你可以試試糞便。
我已經(jīng)被這一問題深深吸引了。問題的復(fù)雜程度令我不能自拔。我深入世界之中,遇到很多小女孩這樣的人,然后我跟加理·懷特(Gary White)共同創(chuàng)建了Water.org。
懷特是名出色的土木工程師,我們都看到了世界的很多問題和可能性。世界上還有數(shù)百萬人沒有干凈的水喝,沒有衛(wèi)生的地方洗澡。我們不能坐視不管,必須有所作為。
這世界并沒有那么美好。但你會為這世界逐漸變得美好而驚喜,而這份驚喜又會改變你。
2009年,我在紐約時報上讀到一篇關(guān)于難民危機(jī)的報道。人流擁擠地越過津巴布韋邊境,去南非北部一個叫墨西拿(Messina)的小鎮(zhèn)。我當(dāng)時正在南非徒步,所以我決定去墨西拿親眼看看那里究竟發(fā)生了什么。
我遇到了很多女性,和她們交談了一整天。她們?yōu)榱硕惚芡练?,不顧水中的鱷魚,涉險度過林波波河(Limpopo River),然后在河的另一側(cè)又遇到一波土匪。那天跟我交談的每一位女性都被土匪強(qiáng)奸過,每一個,在河的一側(cè)或者兩側(cè)。
在我離開之前,我遇到另一名女性,她看上去很開心,因為她剛剛得到南非的政治庇護(hù)。在與她愉快的交談中,我鼓起勇氣問她:“你在來南非的路上是否被侵犯過?”
她答道:“是的,我被強(qiáng)奸了。但是我現(xiàn)在有庇護(hù)證書了,這些混蛋再也不能踐踏我的尊嚴(yán)了。”她說這些話時仍然面帶微笑。
人終有一死。你可以在校園里學(xué)會很多東西,但你一定要親眼去看看這個世界。
我對這次經(jīng)歷印象很深,因為我是孤身上路。我內(nèi)心充滿恐懼,但這也是其意義所在。
MIT的精英們,這個世界有它罪惡的一面,也有美好的一面。我希望你們對兩者都有所了解。
但我不是想你們成為圓滑高尚的偷窺狂,我想你們消除自身視野的盲點,我想讓你們踏平影響你了解世界的障礙。就像我在MIT附近長大,我曾經(jīng)只能把自己定義為一名美國白人男性影星,我站在這里終究發(fā)現(xiàn)不了自身的盲點。
走出去,擁抱世界,這才是我們尋找盲點的第一步。只有這樣,我們才真正開始了解自己,開始解決一些問題。
我希望有幾件事你們能銘記于心:
第一,你會失敗,這是好事。
我僥幸取得過一些成就,但對我影響最大還是年輕時跟本一塊而參加試鏡的經(jīng)歷。我們坐大巴到紐約,排隊等待,然后對著鏡頭哭泣。最后等來的卻是一句:“好的,非常感謝?!边@意味著我們沒戲了。
我們稱之為“謝謝參與”。這些經(jīng)歷成了我們的盔甲。
你可能會說,說得好馬特,失敗是成功之母,非常感謝。那跟我說一些我高中畢業(yè)時沒聽過的吧。
好的,我會的。
你們知道MIT畢業(yè)生真正的危機(jī)是什么嗎?不是聽到“謝謝參與”,而是你們頂著MIT的光環(huán)會讓你們飄飄然。
你們或許真的很聰明,但不要自以為是。你不會凡事都能解決,這很正常。你們定也會犯錯。
我犯的一個錯就是扮演了“埃德加·帕德懷克”(Edgar Pudwhacker)這一角色。我希望我能挽回顏面。
但哲學(xué)家本杰明·阿弗萊克說過:要評判我,請看我那些好想法有多好,別看我的爛想法有多爛。你們要用失敗的盔甲武裝自己,求知若愚。
無知并非尷尬,而是機(jī)遇。請大膽求知。我第二次混進(jìn)畢業(yè)典禮時,感到自己更加無知。
我的第二條建議是保持聆聽。
這世界需要你們的意見,無論好壞。但不要以為畢業(yè)之后你們就從信息“接受者”變?yōu)椤皞鬟f者”了。如果你們停止聆聽,你們的教育就真正結(jié)束了。你們應(yīng)當(dāng)終身受教。即使參加工作了,還是會有很多學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會。比如網(wǎng)絡(luò)公開課,像MIT公開課、Wait But Why 、TED等。我在19歲時上過一門哈佛大學(xué)的哲學(xué)課,最近又在網(wǎng)上復(fù)習(xí)了一遍。
聽說居然還有一個特朗普大學(xué),我無法想象里面會教授什么內(nèi)容。但無論何時何地,請保持聆聽,即使別人的看法與你相左。
上個月奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在哈佛大學(xué)發(fā)表了畢業(yè)演講,有一句話我特別喜歡:“民主需要妥協(xié),即使你完全正確。”
然后我就想:怪不得奧巴馬總統(tǒng)婚姻幸福,因為第一夫人說的都是對的。
我妻子也是這樣,她的話都是對的。上個月,我妻子說:我們家里已經(jīng)有四個孩子了,我們還需要第三條搜救犬。
我的回答是:親愛的,你太明智了,我愛你。
我的第三條建議是:科技并不能解決所有問題。我覺得這很明顯,不是嗎?
MIT人是最有權(quán)力說科技可以解決世界性問題的,萬維網(wǎng)、核裂變、濃縮湯,這些都有MIT的貢獻(xiàn),你們應(yīng)該為此自豪。
但事實是,這狗屁世界太過復(fù)雜,科學(xué)并不是萬能的。
還是以水為例。人們總想用科學(xué)方法快速獲得干凈的水,一片藥丸,一張濾紙,方法層出不窮。但科學(xué)并不是魔法棒,水的問題要復(fù)雜的多。科學(xué)確實扮演了主要角色,凈水科技也取得了重大進(jìn)步,公司與大學(xué)也紛紛加入隊伍中來。蘇珊·莫考特(Susan Mercott)等眾多教授也開始關(guān)注凈水與衛(wèi)生問題,這令我很欣慰。
但光有科學(xué)還不夠,蘇珊肯定會同意我的觀點。我們要像公共政策一樣激進(jìn),像財政模式一樣激進(jìn)。這也是我們創(chuàng)辦Water.org,也即Water Credit的宗旨。
懷特洞察到貧困地區(qū)的人為了獲取清水要付出很多,他們很多人也在積極尋找解決方法。
WaterCredit為這些人提供小額信貸,有了這些錢他們就可以在社區(qū)建立水網(wǎng)和廁所。這個方法正在為400萬人提供幫助,而這僅僅是開始。
我們99%是信貸都得到償還,這甩了銀行家們幾條街。
我承認(rèn)它還不夠吸引人,但這是我參與的最炫酷的事。
所以,同學(xué)們,在結(jié)束演講之前我問你們一些問題:你們想從事什么?你們想解決什么問題?這個問題并不好回答。在你未來的工作中,你可能會走進(jìn)死胡同,可能會半途而廢,可能會穿上閃亮的白軍裝跟邁克爾·道格拉斯( Michael Douglas)親熱。
好吧,跟道格拉斯親熱的是我......
但是,在座的所有人,你們即將步入工作崗位。你們十分幸運(yùn)。
我是說,你今天能夠坐在這里的幾率有多大?
地球誕生自此45億年,先后有1000億人生生死死,現(xiàn)在全球70億人。我們處于危險邊緣,這是一個少數(shù)人即可毀滅世界的時代,這是科學(xué)力所不及又不可或缺的時代。
MIT2016屆畢業(yè)生們,世界存在這么多問題,你們有多大的概率可以安然無恙?
或許,你們今天的抉擇、勇氣、堅持與意愿在未來會影響無數(shù)人的命運(yùn)。
如果我想拍這么一部電影,好萊塢的人都會笑我。
約瑟夫·坎貝爾(Joseph Campbell)的神話故事也不會這么開腦洞??藏悹柨赡軙虒?dǎo)我要收斂一些,但我偏不。因為這是事實,不是虛構(gòu)。這個看似不可能的事其實正在發(fā)生。
我們今天的世界危機(jī)重重。你我都很幸運(yùn),能夠坦然地站在這里。
所以,請直面你所選擇的問題,因為你別無選擇。
請你拋棄一切,因為你別無選擇。
請你竭盡所能解決問題,因為你別無選擇。
這是你們的使命,這是你們的榮耀時刻,你們身兼巨任。
你們的游戲,從現(xiàn)在開始!祝賀你們,非常感謝!
But before you step out into our big,troubled world, I want to pass along a piece of advice that Bill Clintonoffered me a little over a decade ago. Well, actually, when he said it, it feltless like advice and more like a direct order.
What he said was “turn toward theproblems you see.”
It seemed kind of simple at the time,but the older I get, the more wisdom I see in this.
And that’s what I want to urge you todo today: turn toward the problems you see.
And don’t just turn toward them.Engage with them. Walk right up to them, look them in the eye ... then lookyourself in the eye and decide what you’re going to do about them.
In my experience, there’s just nosubstitute for actually going and seeing things.
I owe this insight, like many others,to my Mom. When I was a teenager, Mom thought it was important for us to see theworld outside of Boston. And I don’t mean Framingham. She took us to placeslike Guatemala, where we saw extreme poverty up close. It changed my wholeframe of reference.
I think it was that same impulse thattook my brother and me to Zambia in 2006, as part of the ONE Campaign — theorganization that Bono founded to fight desperate, stupid poverty andpreventable disease in the developing world. On that trip, in a smallcommunity, I met a girl and walked with her to a nearby bore well where shecould get clean water.
She had just come from school. And Iknew the reason that she was able to go to school at all: clean water. Namely,the fact that clean water was available nearby, so she didn’t have to walkmiles back and forth all day to get water for her family, as so many girls andwomen do.
I asked her if she wanted to stay inher village when she grew up. She said, “No! I want to go to Lusaka and becomea nurse!”
Clean water — something as basic asthat — had given this child the chance to dream.
As I learned more about water andsanitation, I was floored by the extent to which it undergirds all theseproblems of extreme poverty. The fate of entire communities, economies,countries is caught up in that glass of water, something the rest of us get totake for granted.
People at ONE told me that water isthe least sexy aspect of the effort to fight extreme poverty. And water goeshand-in-hand with sanitation. If you think water isn’t sexy, you should try toget into the shit business.
But I was already hooked. Theenormity of it, and the complexity of the issue, had already hooked me. Andgetting out in the world and meeting people like this little girl is what putme on the path to starting Water.org, with a brilliant civil engineer namedGary White.
For Gary and me both, seeing theworld ... its problems, its possibilities ... heightened our disbelief that somany people, millions, in fact, can’t get a safe, clean drink of water or asafe, clean, private place to go to the bathroom. And it heightened our determinationto do something about it.
You see some tough things out there.But you also see life- changing joy. And it all changes you. . . . . . .
Human beings will take your breathaway. They will teach you a lot... but you have to engage.
I only had that experience because Iwent there myself. It was horrible in many ways, it was hard to get to ... butof course that’s the point.
There’s a lot of trouble out there,MIT. But there’s a lot of beauty, too. I hope you see both.
But again, the point is not to becomesome kind of well- rounded, high-minded voyeur.
The point is to try to eliminate yourblind spots — the things that keep us from grasping the bigger picture. Andlook, even though I grew up in this neighborhood — in this incredible,multicultural neighborhood that was a little rough at that time — I find myselfhere before you as an American, white, male movie star. I don’t have a cluewhere my blind spots begin and end.
But looking at the world as it is,and engaging with it, is the first step toward finding our blind spots. Andthat’s when we can really start to understand ourselves better ... and begin tosolve some problems.
With that as your goal, there’s a fewmore things I hope you’ll keep in mind.
First, you’re going to failsometimes, and that’s a good thing.
For all the amazing successes I’vebeen lucky to share in, few things have shaped me more than the auditions thatBen and I used to do as young actors — where we would get on a bus, show up inNew York, wait for our turn, cry our hearts out for a scene, and then be told,“OK, thanks.” Meaning: game over.
We used to call it “being OKthanksed.”
Those experiences became our armor.
So now you’re thinking, that’s great,Matt. Failure is good. Thanks a ton. Tell me something I didn’t hear at my highschool graduation.
To which I say: OK, I will!
You know the real danger for MITgraduates? It’s not getting “OK thanksed.” The real danger is all that smokethat’s been blown up your ... graduation gowns about how freaking smart youare.
Well, you are that freaking smart!But don’t believe the hype that’s thrown at you. You don’t have all theanswers. And you shouldn’t. And that’s fine.
You’re going to have your share ofbad ideas.
For me, one was playing a characternamed “Edgar Pudwhacker.”
I wish I could tell you I’m makingthat up.
But as the great philosopher,Benjamin Affleck, once said: “Judge me by how good my good ideas are, not byhow bad my bad ideas are.” You’ve got to suit up in your armor, and get readyto sound like a total fool.
Not having an answer isn’tembarrassing. It’s an opportunity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
I know so much less the second timeI’m fake graduating than the first time.
The second thing I want to leave youwith is that you’ve got to keep listening.
The world wants to hear your ideas —good and bad. But today’s not the day you switch from “receive” to “transmit.”O(jiān)nce you do that, your education is over. And your education should never beover. Even outside your work, there are ways to keep challenging yourself.Listen to online lectures. I just retook a philosophy course online that I tookat Harvard when I was nineteen. Or use MIT OpenCourseWare. Go to Wait But Why... or TED.com.
I’m told there’s even a TrumpUniversity. I have no earthly idea what they teach there. But whatever you do,just keep listening. Even to people you don’t agree with at all.
I love what President Obama said atHoward University’s commencement last month: he said, “Democracy requirescompromise, even when you are 100 percent right.”
I heard that and I thought: here is aman who has been happily married for a long time.
Not that the First Lady has ever beenwrong about anything.
Just like my wife. Never wrong. Noteven when she decided last month that in a family with four kids, what wasmissing in our lives was a third rescue dog.
That was an outstanding decision,honey. And I love you.
The third and last thought I want toleave you with is that not every problem has a high-tech solution. I guess thisis obvious. But: it is really?
If anybody has a right to think wecan pretty much tech support the world’s problems into submission, it’s you.Think of the innovations that got their start at MIT or by MIT alums: the WorldWide Web. Nuclear fission. Condensed soup. (This is true! You should be proud.)
But the truth is, we can’t sciencethe shit out of every problem.
There is not always a freaking appfor that.
Take water again as an example.People are always looking for some scientific quick fix for the problem ofdirty and disease-ridden water. A “pill you put in the glass,” a filter, orsomething like that. But there’s no magic bullet. The problem’s too complex.
Yes, there is definitely, absolutelya role for science. There’s incredible advances being made in clean watertechnology. Companies and universities are getting in on the game. I’m glad toknow that professors like Susan Mercott at D-Lab are focusing on water andsanitation.
But as I’m sure she’d agree, sciencealone can’t solve this problem. We need to be just as innovative in publicpolicy, just as innovative in our financial models. That’s the idea behind anapproach we have at Water.org called WaterCredit.
. . . . . .
So, graduates, let me ask you this inclosing: What do you want to be a part of? What’s the problem you’ll try tosolve? Whatever your answer, it’s not going to be easy. Sometimes your workwill hit a dead-end. Sometimes your work will be measured in half-steps.
And sometimes your work will make youwear a white sequined military uniform and make love to Michael Douglas.
Well, maybe that’s just my work.
But for all of you here, your workstarts today.
And seriously, how lucky are you?
I mean, what are the odds that you’rethe ones who are here today?
In the Earth’s 4.5 billion year run,with 100 billion people who have lived and died, and with 7 billion of us herenow ... Here you are. Yes, here you are ... alive at a time of potentialextinction-level events ... a time when fewer and fewer people can cause moreand more damage ... a time when science and technology may not hold all theanswers, but are indispensable to any solution.
What are the odds that you get to beyou, right now, The MIT class of 2016, with so much on the line?
There are potentially trillions ofhuman beings who will someday exist whose fate, in large part, depends on thechoices you make ... on your ideas ... on your grit and persistence andwillingness to engage.
If this were a movie I were trying topitch I’d be laughed out of every office in Hollywood.
Joseph Campbell himself — he of the“monomyth,” the ultimate hero’s journey — even he wouldn’t even go this far.Campbell would tell me to throttle this down ... lower the stakes.
But I can’t. Because this is fact,not fiction. This improbable thing is actually happening. There’s more at staketoday than in any story ever told. And how lucky you are — and how lucky we are— that you’re here, and you’re you.
So I hope you’ll turn toward theproblem of your choosing ... Because you must.
I hope you’ll drop everything ...Because you must And I hope you’ll solve it. Because you must.
This is your life, Class of 2016.This is your moment, and it’s all down to you.
Ready player one. Your game begins:now. Congratulations and thanks very much!
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