David McCullough Jr., the son of the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and a longtime English teacher at Wellesley High School Gives the class of 2012 graduates a speech they will not soon forget.
From the speech I have concluded that Mr. McCullough has 5 Main Points he wants to get accross:
#1. You shouldnt have to be rewarded in order for you to act responisbility. He argues that you are supposed to graduate from high school anyway so celebrating this achievement is somewhat irrelvant in the larger scheme of things.
#2. Successful people do not wait around for opportunity to approach them but create opportunity for themselves through hard work, experience, and education.
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
#4. Boredom is the devil's playground. Stay active in the community and busy with learning new skills. Success will follow.
#5. It isn't the title, even the ones like Dr. or PhD., that defines your success, it is what you do with such a title that will shape how people will know you.
I would like to hear what lessons you derived from this speech and how you would apply them in Society?
On June 10 2012 05:01 GreEny K wrote: As I said in the other thread, I completely agree with everything he said.
But, I feel that parents need to tell their kids that they are special and so on.
Should they really? I mean obviously they shouldn't be told they're worthless, but is learning them their place in the world not better than making them think they're special and unlike anyone else?
Lol the whole special thing is just to make you feel good. But not that it's bad. Why the heck would someone say that at their graduation? That's just mean. It's supposed to be a happy time.
Anyways, everyone IS special. But that doesn't mean they'll automatically be successful. But knowing that you're special can help motivate you to be successful. Those who just think they're special and think they don't have to put effort into achieving their goals will probably fail, and it's their fault. It's all good.
Edit: I didn't watch the video though, so maybe he said they're not special in a way in his speech that still motivated them, so sorry if I misinterpreted it.
Good points I find, but is it necessary to make the huge statement of you're not special? If everyone ain't special, then what is normal? I'd say we all are special, but that doesn't mean that sitting on your ass is a good lifestyle.
And ending point: U never need no reason to party bro McCullough!
Lol the whole special thing is just to make you feel good. But not that it's bad. Why the heck would someone say that at their graduation? That's just mean. It's supposed to be a happy time.
Anyways, everyone IS special. But that doesn't mean they'll automatically be successful. But knowing that you're special can help motivate you to be successful. Those who just think they're special and think they don't have to put effort into achieving their goals will probably fail, and it's their fault. It's all good.
Edit: I didn't watch the video though, so maybe he said they're not special in a way in his speech that still motivated them, so sorry if I misinterpreted it.
Of course, there are also the kinds of people who get motivated by negativity. For example, those who fail a test may be able to motivate themselves not to let it happen again, and then do really well next time.
Edit: oops sorry, meant to edit my previous post, not trying to comment on my own comment lol
Even though he's mostly right, he's a real dick about it. It's a commencement. You don't have to show up and tell everyone how great they are, but there's no reason to make them feel useless. He's not funny, inciteful, or otherwise interesting.
I also think it's interesting that he takes time to tell everyone that they have to make their own opportunities if they want to be successful, even though we're only seeing this because his dad is a really mediocre historian.
Merely gratuitous cynicism. Everybody can be special in one way or another quite clearly, without it being a contradiction.
If you define "specialness" by superior material wealth relative to your peers, then not everyone can be special, but otherwise it's quite a juvenile speech.
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
There are many people who need to be told this everytime they wake up. Out of all the points stated, I personally think this is the most important and is what living life is about.
I hate to be a negative nancy but everyone is in fact special and unique.
This is about par for graduation speeches. Some washed up adult being cynical and trying to justify his own shortcomings in life with some tired rhetoric. It has nothing to do with the students and they're not paying attention to him anyway.
I got told at my graduation speech that Facebook makes you drop out of school and social networking is the devil in general. Now Facebook is a public company that has more money than most countries.
Funny they chose someone who's only "success" in life listed was being born into a successful family.
On June 10 2012 05:26 Yoshi- wrote: So a guy which only success is being the brother of a successful person is teaching us how to be successful?
Son, and it really depends how you define success.
His dad has been successful at selling a lot of books, but garners almost no respect from academic historians. He's not wrong, crazy, or anything like that. He just doesn't ever say anything useful or interesting. He's really popular.
Seriousness aside, I agree with his message. Most people in the west have severely blown up self-images and expectations for their lives, which is brought forth by constantly being told "how good" or "how special" you are during your upbringing. That said, once they're in high school, the damage's already been done, and preventive measures as late as in the mid to late teens won't help, I'd think. Either, it'll just be ignored as "lol this guy's crazy, kekeke", or it'll actually be taken in, but instead of resulting in the person taking a more humble approach to live, it'll be turned into some sort of self-destructive "I'm not good enough"-thing.
The problem is parenting, really. Don't neglect your parenting, teach the kids the value of effort and humility early on, and don't just hand them out expensive clothes and fancy toys because they're being annoying.
I'm still looking for that "special" girl tho <3 ... This post is also a bit misleading. Some people are indeed special, maybe even one who will actually read this thread. This only applies to culturally limited people anyways. I don't really like the #3 one - You must compete with yourself the most and don't bother about anyone else - it will limit your skills ( the only "competition" you should note is inspiration from other people who are at the moment greater than you, but you should never be inconvenienced by comparisons ). The rest are kinda common sense tho, so nothing special.
On the #1 one ... I hope I won't "have" to celebrate graduation from university, I hate the custom. The only really smart one is #4, it is extremely simple, but it is the god damn golden rule indeed. Boredom is one of the things that might bring down a very potentially skilled person. Trying to learn new things and improve in your field, be it gaming, cooking, painting, designing, whatever...I believe you should have a focus ( until you maybe realize it's not the thing for you and go on to the next thing ) and also some side projects just to keep your mind active and also increase your abilities.
#2 Is such b.s. Lucky dumb people will be successful, and smart extremely unlucky people will be in a terrible shape. Sure you need to put in the hard work, and you will have higher chances of success, but with all the hard work in the world, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time....You will fail, there is no such thing as "hard work = 100% chances of success"
That being said, I believe success is irrelevant, if you manage to get in a happy state surrounded by the right likeminded people and you contribute to your community in the positive manner, that's all you need to do to be both happy and useful to society - which I believe should be every man's goal. Extreme success is most often a form of addiction to a weird kind of an ideal ( but to tell you the truth, I do love to see some extremely successful people such as Mike Tyson, Ali, Michael Jordan doing those amazing things in sports for example - and yeah, it's fun to see successful people, but it probably won't give you the better experience in life )
Edit: Note for people who think innovation wouldn't be possible in the society that I proposed, don't worry, the rule does not apply to geniuses, in whatever society they live, they will change the world forever. Gotta love the Tesla's and the Godel's of our civilization. Also, geniuses in art are so heartbreaking even..
You think he says your not special cuz finishing high school isnt anything special, but then you think he says you should enjoy life and not compete with others. But that is just that, competing. If you didnt compare yourself to others, you would take finishing high school as an achaivement for what it means to you and not just say "anyone can do it so I shoudnt be proud about it".
arnt all our actions predetermined by determinism? I find it humorous that he tells people to be motivated when they don't really have any other option.
but more seriously, there's nothing wrong with being told your special because everyone is. Why should someone be judged by importance by how much they accomplish?
On June 10 2012 05:51 Wampaibist wrote: arnt all our actions predetermined by determinism? I find it humorous that he tells people to be motivated when they don't really have any other option.
but more seriously, there's nothing wrong with being told your special because everyone is. Why should someone be judged by importance by how much they accomplish?
So does determinism cause you to fail to use the shift key or is that just something special about you?
It's an interesting speech and one I feel motivates people to realize what they want, not just expect it to be handed to them.
I find it ironic that he's David McCullough's son. Basically, he was born into a very good life. Privileged, one could say. And for that reason, his speech really bothers me. He isn't wrong in his points, generally speaking, but he is wrong in saying it at such an occasion to such people. Graduate students don't need a privileged born-to-wealth person telling them they aren't special -- or that they don't need to compete (he certainly didn't). That just kind of bothers me.
I hope many people are like me because then there is a chance for this planet. We could wage open war against the nations of earth and its pestilence of society that clouds the minds of the masses ! Who is like me and wants to join me on my quest ?
I've only been working full time for 5 years. (two months from 25) From my perspective though, I think if you want to be successful, it's a combination of a university education and knowing the RIGHT people. You can be a dumbass and still get a good job if you have good networking skills.
I work everyday with some people that I wonder how they got their jobs. Education, don't be socially retarded, and have good budgeting skills and you'll go far in life.
On June 10 2012 07:08 travis wrote: i think a lot of people don't get his overall message, which is "everyone is special - but you have to actually do something with it"
or at least i like to imagine that is his message
No. That sounds more true, but I got more of a feeling of cynicism gratuitous to the point of blatantly erroneous from his speech.
Not surprising from a person in the position that he is. Him placing so much value, to the point of all uniqueness necessary to define specialness, into being "successful", comes off as a subconscious effort to inflate his own ego for being a relatively well off individual in at least a few noticeable ways.
On June 10 2012 07:16 Silentness wrote: I thought it was all about "Who you know?"
I've only been working full time for 5 years. (two months from 25) From my perspective though, I think if you want to be successful, it's a combination of a university education and knowing the RIGHT people. You can be a dumbass and still get a good job if you have good networking skills.
I work everyday with some people that I wonder how they got their jobs. Education, don't be socially retarded, and have good budgeting skills and you'll go far in life.
You dont really have to be good, you have to be perceived as good and sell yourself as good even if you have no clue and are a crap head you will get better off then someone who is really skilled but more reserved and bad in selling himself. The world is ruled and led by idiots who are just regarded as intelligent.
I think that parents should not be telling their kids that they extra special at all. They should encourage them when things are done well, but not mediocrity, as is common in (at least) America today.
On June 10 2012 07:16 Silentness wrote: I thought it was all about "Who you know?"
I've only been working full time for 5 years. (two months from 25) From my perspective though, I think if you want to be successful, it's a combination of a university education and knowing the RIGHT people. You can be a dumbass and still get a good job if you have good networking skills.
I work everyday with some people that I wonder how they got their jobs. Education, don't be socially retarded, and have good budgeting skills and you'll go far in life.
I don't think that's how the speaker is defining success.
He just sees the use of learning for learning's sake (people going to guatemala as a thing to put on a resume?) and selflessness as a highest moral cause.
I'm not sure if he even speaks about success in the video. Would have to rewatch.
I liked his speech, but his outlook on life is a bit too Utopian for my taste. Reality holds certain expectations in terms of productivity from each and every individual, ie sometimes you gotta work for a boss you don't like at a monotonous workplace just so you won't be broke as shit. Still, there is immense value in the message underlying his speech, and I believe if you can balance reality with a pursuit of genuine happiness, you will live a more fulfilling life. Many of my peers have not a clue of what brings them joy. I would like to show my loved ones and future children this speech so they can live life to its fullest.
Great speech but I think only people who have experienced life a bit will appreciate it. I don't think you can be "told" the lesson that he is teaching - and it's not something that applies to everyone. It's something that you have to learn about yourself.
I learned only 1 thing from that, the name of yet another motivational speaker that states the obvious and repeats what most of them say, he reminds me of Eric Thomas, work your ass off, crave succes and reap the benefits.
There's certainly a truth to it, though, no arguments there.
On June 10 2012 06:33 Leporello wrote: I find it ironic that he's David McCullough's son. Basically, he was born into a very good life. Privileged, one could say. And for that reason, his speech really bothers me. He isn't wrong in his points, generally speaking, but he is wrong in saying it at such an occasion to such people. Graduate students don't need a privileged born-to-wealth person telling them they aren't special -- or that they don't need to compete (he certainly didn't). That just kind of bothers me.
On June 10 2012 07:38 HawaiianPig wrote: This is how I felt during both my high school and undergraduate graduation...
No sense of accomplishment... Practically everyone graduates... why should I be proud?
Now, passing with distinctions and honours are where it's at.
This is a misunderstanding of the ceremony I think. Graduation is not for the student, its for the student's support structures. While it may be true that most people who are lucky enough to be afforded a good education graduate, most people in the world are not that lucky. It takes a tremendous amount of work and a long legacy of investment to make what we have today possible. Every once in a while it is important to marvel at the opportunity itself, not just what has been done with it.
That aside, i agree that graduating with distinction is where its at lol.
anything before having a M. Sc. isn't special in an academic sense. You don't do actual science until grad school for example, up until that point you're just another kid being spoonfed ideas through lecture slides
I agree with that speech, except my definition of success in life would be to have a gr8 family and see my kids do better things than I did. Don't really care about saving other peoples lives, I'll do it if it makes money ofc
On June 10 2012 08:16 tuho12345 wrote: Listen to Tyler Durden man:"We're all singing and dancing craps of the world"
"You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world." is the actual quote.
If you're going to quote the Fight Club a more fitting one would be, "Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else."
striving for recognition might be a good motivation so... idk just sounds like every other motivational speech. Of course there are some good points in his speeches. Happiness is the greatest achievement i think is his point.
On June 10 2012 05:16 Omnipresent wrote: Even though he's mostly right, he's a real dick about it. It's a commencement. You don't have to show up and tell everyone how great they are, but there's no reason to make them feel useless. He's not funny, inciteful, or otherwise interesting.
I also think it's interesting that he takes time to tell everyone that they have to make their own opportunities if they want to be successful, even though we're only seeing this because his dad is a really mediocre historian.
Pretty much. He's right about it but the presentation is purposefully drawn-out to be extra negative for an effect.
He tries to end it positively but his tone (and honestly just his voice) does not support the positive effect he is going for, which kind of ruins the overall structure of the speech.
It would have been better if it were slightly revised and if somebody else (who had a voice with a setting besides "mono-tone") gave it.
On June 10 2012 05:01 GreEny K wrote: As I said in the other thread, I completely agree with everything he said.
But, I feel that parents need to tell their kids that they are special and so on.
Should they really? I mean obviously they shouldn't be told they're worthless, but is learning them their place in the world not better than making them think they're special and unlike anyone else?
Good point, but I feel that the confidence you gain from your parents telling you things like "you can do anything you set your mind to" and "you're special" is more beneficial than the alternative. Imagine a world where people don't strive to better themselves, I don't like it as much.
On June 10 2012 05:01 GreEny K wrote: As I said in the other thread, I completely agree with everything he said.
But, I feel that parents need to tell their kids that they are special and so on.
Should they really? I mean obviously they shouldn't be told they're worthless, but is learning them their place in the world not better than making them think they're special and unlike anyone else?
Good point, but I feel that the confidence you gain from your parents telling you things like "you can do anything you set your mind to" and "you're special" is more beneficial than the alternative. Imagine a world where people don't strive to better themselves, I don't like it as much.
Welcome to communism, where that happened (parents grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia)
Why do we need to make specialness so fucking egalitarian? Everyone is special or nobody is special? How about the valedictorians, star athletes, and other students who have accomplished something are special and everyone else isn't?
On June 10 2012 12:37 Half wrote: Why do we need to make specialness so fucking egalitarian? Everyone is special or nobody is special? How about the valedictorians, star athletes, and other students who have accomplished something are special and everyone else isn't?
Because people felt anal when they were told they aren't special like some people here.
I wouldn't comment on if that speech is appropriate or not, but you know he did it to for the good of the graduates, not other way round. You can just take it with a grain of salt, but if you think his speech ruined your day, then that speech is probably aiming at person like you.
On June 10 2012 12:37 Half wrote: Why do we need to make specialness so fucking egalitarian? Everyone is special or nobody is special? How about the valedictorians, star athletes, and other students who have accomplished something are special and everyone else isn't?
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
What about "It doesn't matter whether you're going to be considered "special" or "the best at something" or not, we won't love you more or less for any of that" as an attitude for parents?
Very good speech. I think most people missed the point. The "you're not special" point was only a small part of it. The larger message is that you shouldn't be doing things for rewards and accolades and to show that you're better than others, because you're not special and there are millions of other people with those same achievements, instead you should do things that you're passionate about and that you truly want to do.
thought this was going to be about fight club... and im not watching some db teacher trying to get attention. what a jerkoff. gotta give kids hope and stuff.
i dont' think what he did was wrong. you don't have to deify the kids during graduation, you make them think and inspire them.
however, i think that thinking highly of yourself is a necessary tool for survival. often people take it too far, but if you have just a touch of arrogance/high self confidence i believe it's much better for you than low self esteem.
It's quite ironic how he can say that we're not special after he mentions these three points.
1) "successful people do not wait around for opportunity to approach them but create opportunity for themselves through hard work, experience, and education"
2) "that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else"
3) "stay active in the community and busy with learning new skills. Success will follow."
(I took the liberty to copy and paste these, thanks to the OP.)
It's hard to say that we're not special when we can in fact do all these. I have to say, this speech is very..domestic. It kind of reminds me of first world problems in a speech-like form.
On June 10 2012 12:37 Half wrote: Why do we need to make specialness so fucking egalitarian? Everyone is special or nobody is special? How about the valedictorians, star athletes, and other students who have accomplished something are special and everyone else isn't?
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
Straight out of the OP
? I don't get it... the pressure of competition brings out so much in people. Without any competition, all the BW progamers probably wont be practising 10+ hours a day perfecting BW (or SC2 for that matter). Without any competition, Ray Allen won't be practising his ass off to be better than everybody else. I know that I've experience the positive effects of competition in making myself better.
You're making the mistake of quoting the OP as if it were a universal law or the Bible or something. What Half is doing is exactly the contrary - refuting it.
I'd reword it as such:
#3 For every idiot who thinks they are great at something, there's someone who has actually put in the effort and is actually great at it/ better than them. Strive to do what you enjoy or want to be good at, work hard and don't ever be complacent thinking you're better than everyone else because that's when you lose out.
Something along those lines feels much more accurate to me. Only a few have the discipline and drive to do that, that's why only few are truly special - in their field. The rest are just normal people, until and unless they do something about it.
On June 10 2012 15:47 billy5000 wrote: It's hard to say that we're not special when we can in fact do all these. I have to say, this speech is very..domestic. It kind of reminds me of first world problems in a speech-like form.
Wow.. exactly
On June 10 2012 05:31 plated.rawr wrote: This guy's obviously never met me.
Seriousness aside, I agree with his message. [...]
On June 10 2012 15:47 billy5000 wrote: It's quite ironic how he can say that we're not special after he mentions these three points.
1) "successful people do not wait around for opportunity to approach them but create opportunity for themselves through hard work, experience, and education"
2) "that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else"
3) "stay active in the community and busy with learning new skills. Success will follow."
(I took the liberty to copy and paste these, thanks to the OP.)
It's hard to say that we're not special when we can in fact do all these. I have to say, this speech is very..domestic. It kind of reminds me of first world problems in a speech-like form.
You're not special because millions of people on this planet can do these same things too, and almost surely do it better than you.
Successful people are not special, there are successful people everywhere.
On June 10 2012 07:08 travis wrote: i think a lot of people don't get his overall message, which is "everyone is special - but you have to actually do something with it"
or at least i like to imagine that is his message
it is, he ends off , 'you're not special, everyone is' something to that end. It was a nice speech, something that he put his heart into, worth a thread? Probably not, he really was trying to give them a good send off.
On June 10 2012 15:47 billy5000 wrote: It's quite ironic how he can say that we're not special after he mentions these three points.
1) "successful people do not wait around for opportunity to approach them but create opportunity for themselves through hard work, experience, and education"
2) "that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else"
3) "stay active in the community and busy with learning new skills. Success will follow."
(I took the liberty to copy and paste these, thanks to the OP.)
It's hard to say that we're not special when we can in fact do all these. I have to say, this speech is very..domestic. It kind of reminds me of first world problems in a speech-like form.
You're not special because millions of people on this planet can do these same things too, and almost surely do it better than you.
Successful people are not special, there are successful people everywhere.
My point was to point out to the people who don't have the freedom to do what we can do in our society which we take for granted. While I agree with his points, I think he could have said it better in a different way. "Special" is a relative word, and to think that we're not even slightly special and better off than others is a bit apathetic.
I personally think this is the wrong attitude, common thought would expect this to work, but if one is was to read daniel pink or watch his RSA video, he states that though some of this is correct, its the idea of being indivual based and creative based that makes people do best, the thought of being just a number scares people into failing, when too much pressure is applied for a too high goal, people fail. I think that for the majority of U.S. citizens, who tend to be pretty well educated compared to the wholes of other populations, since we have mandatory primary and secondary education, its best to apply interest to things, yes boredom is the devil's playground, but malcontentness is suicide
The sooner you learn that you're not special and life is unfair the sooner you figure out what you actually want out of life, what really makes you happy, and develop a plan or strategy to work towards it.
It's something that 99% of people have to come to terms with -- that your dream will never happen. What's important is that you find something to do with your life that makes you happy, so even if your wildest fantasies of fame and fortune don't come to fruition, you'll feel fulfilled.
I don't know if I agree completely. Whole my life I was telling myself things like "it is not important you graduated, look how many people did it the same time. It is not important that you are Master of Law, look how many people are." Now I am doctoral student in the field of Legal Informatics and I present the same attitude.
My parents where always supportive, but for some reason I always felt they expect more and more.
Thinking "You are not special" has to have some limitations. Trust me. I can feel that, I have experience
Hmmmm... at first I completely agreed with this guy, and I still think it's a really great and meaningful speech. But after reading some of these posts in the thread, there are some great points made against it as well. You really should compete with people because that's what really motivates you to do your best. You shouldn't get caught up in competition either... but with some things it really pushes you forward.
Though some things aren't about competition either. If you're trying to cure cancer or some such thing for example, it's not about competing with anyone else to be the best in your field. It should be about solving the problem so everyone in the world can enjoy the benefits, which is what at least part of this speech was talking about.
And I think that's really great to talk about.
On another note, he also said something about not wasting your time watching parrots on roller skates or some such thing... sorry, it's been several hours since I actually watched the video... but the point is, it's really important to relax sometimes too, or you'll never be able to give it your all.
In any case, great speech, not everything is some sort of absolute law that he said, so just take from it what you really believe in, but try to see past the surface so you can really form a meaningful opinion. The posters in this thread helped me do that, so thanks for that, guys. And thanks to David McCullough Jr. as well for also helping me to think of something meaningful during my day for once.
Lol the whole special thing is just to make you feel good. But not that it's bad. Why the heck would someone say that at their graduation? That's just mean. It's supposed to be a happy time.
Anyways, everyone IS special. But that doesn't mean they'll automatically be successful. But knowing that you're special can help motivate you to be successful. Those who just think they're special and think they don't have to put effort into achieving their goals will probably fail, and it's their fault. It's all good.
Edit: I didn't watch the video though, so maybe he said they're not special in a way in his speech that still motivated them, so sorry if I misinterpreted it.
you can't misinterpret something if you never had the opportunity to interpret it in the first place.
he basically quotes Pixar's 'The Incredibles', "If everyone is special, then nobody is"
Given the sheer number of self entitled worthless workers that are currently being churned out of schools due to the "Everyone is special and everyone is a winner" PC bullshit. I praise this guy for dropping a dose of reality in that speech. Some of you don't see the point, but from an employers perspective it has had detrimental effects on the quality of upcoming candidates. I used to be able to do a dozen interviews before finding a qualified candidate. These days I literally have had to hire assistants to wade through hundreds of absolutely crap applicants to narrow it down first. It all circles back to this garbage that stupid parents have screamed to push on kids. No one can lose anymore, no one can be told they aren't special, everyone gets a participation award. It is nothing more than encouraging and rewarding mediocrity and frankly people should be ashamed of it.
i dont know. its easy to say things like this. there are people suffering from family problems and stuff. its hard to get out of a big down and keep working. at least i feel like that...
sometimes its just good to have someone telling you that you are a good guy.
Awesome speech. Absolutely love it . I just recently graduated from high school myself and I had a few weird days after graduating. I basically had no idea whatsoever about what Im going to do next. To be quite honest I had never felt this way before in my life. As weird as that sounds, that was the case. Now I'm in this position where I basically have all the tools to do whatever I want, the only thing lacking is perhaps courage. And this speech certainly does not fail to give me courage. David McCullough Jr seems to really understand the situation a lot of young guys and gals are in after graduating, and all in all I think he did a great job of bringing up the positive aspects of life. Especially the part where he talked about climbing mountains and visiting Paris, really great stuff!
I honestely can not believe people have no clue what they want to do as a job after graduating. If you put aside the if's and what if's you can do exactly what you like the most. It's a simple equation: Passion = motivation = success. And what success looks like is where your imagination falls short. Almost none of the SC2 casters would be doing their thing today, if they hadnt gotten out there and starting making Youtube vids while only 50 people viewed it for weeks. This is how you start, and do not expect things to come to you, you have to grab it and master it fully even with all your diplomas.
On June 10 2012 21:47 peacenl wrote: I honestely can not believe people have no clue what they want to do as a job after graduating. If you put aside the if's and what if's you can do exactly what you like the most. It's a simple equation: Passion = motivation = success. And what success looks like is where your imagination falls short. Almost none of the SC2 casters would be doing their thing today, if they hadnt gotten out there and starting making Youtube vids while only 50 people viewed it for weeks. This is how you start, and do not expect things to come to you, you have to grab it and master it fully even with all your diplomas.
Well to be fair, passion or not most peoples passion doesn't translate into a good way to pay the bills. This is why so many people graduate and have no idea what they want to do as a job. Unfortunately we spend so much time telling our kids to dream and anything they dream they can become, that when reality sets in of that being extremely unrealistic 99% of the time. It leaves most people wandering lost because they haven't thought to have a backup.
On June 10 2012 21:47 peacenl wrote: I honestely can not believe people have no clue what they want to do as a job after graduating. If you put aside the if's and what if's you can do exactly what you like the most. It's a simple equation: Passion = motivation = success. And what success looks like is where your imagination falls short. Almost none of the SC2 casters would be doing their thing today, if they hadnt gotten out there and starting making Youtube vids while only 50 people viewed it for weeks. This is how you start, and do not expect things to come to you, you have to grab it and master it fully even with all your diplomas.
Not everyone find what they love to do in life before the age of 18 (or whenever you graduate) and not everyone will be successful in it no matter what the passion they have for it. Reality often gets in the way.
Thinking you are good, thinking that you are best or thinking too highly of yourself is very dangerous. During those moments it's too easy to stop improving, to stop learning.
On June 10 2012 21:47 peacenl wrote: I honestely can not believe people have no clue what they want to do as a job after graduating. If you put aside the if's and what if's you can do exactly what you like the most. It's a simple equation: Passion = motivation = success. And what success looks like is where your imagination falls short. Almost none of the SC2 casters would be doing their thing today, if they hadnt gotten out there and starting making Youtube vids while only 50 people viewed it for weeks. This is how you start, and do not expect things to come to you, you have to grab it and master it fully even with all your diplomas.
A supposed English Teacher says 'You've been feded'.
What the fuck?
Anyway, his message is overly cynical in my opinion. I agree with some principles, but not to the extent I want to actually agree with more than about 5% of his speech. He is basically a guy who is the 'son of someone who did something' and is probably giving out this speech to justify his own life that pales in comparison to what he expected.
His entire speech is based on a fallacy. That if everybody is special, nobody is special. This is just not true, when everybody is special, everybody is special. Wanting someone else to not be special to be special yourself is a negative approach to life. (Human) life in itself is something special, and I think that measuring everything in achievements is a bad thing (I think the man agrees with me on this, he just has a very negative way to go about it). I think that measuring everything in achievements and efficiency is one of the greatest flaws of (western) civilization.
this is garbage just to support the continuing existence of our failed captalistic system... while I agree that you must strive for your ideals, the mindset of 'always working hard' in fact fuels competing for wealth and social acceptance, so it seems inevitable. people should start thinking and being critical of their environment instead of pursuing the goals someone tells them to and get indoctrinated to materialism...
On June 10 2012 21:47 peacenl wrote: I honestely can not believe people have no clue what they want to do as a job after graduating. If you put aside the if's and what if's you can do exactly what you like the most. It's a simple equation: Passion = motivation = success. And what success looks like is where your imagination falls short. Almost none of the SC2 casters would be doing their thing today, if they hadnt gotten out there and starting making Youtube vids while only 50 people viewed it for weeks. This is how you start, and do not expect things to come to you, you have to grab it and master it fully even with all your diplomas.
Well to be fair, passion or not most peoples passion doesn't translate into a good way to pay the bills. This is why so many people graduate and have no idea what they want to do as a job. Unfortunately we spend so much time telling our kids to dream and anything they dream they can become, that when reality sets in of that being extremely unrealistic 99% of the time. It leaves most people wandering lost because they haven't thought to have a backup.
This is exactly where the imagination and creativity fails many it seems. It shouldn't matter what you like, what your degree is and how intelligent you are, what your personal situation is, if you are truly passionate about it you WILL find or create a job out of it. If you have a passion, it's unlikely that you are the only one in the world with that passion, hence money can be made out of it. This is something that should be taught in school. Of course I can also find a few examples where people are simply not able to do the thing they love, but my previous statement generally holds true. So no matter what, stop making excuses not to do the thing you love, it's insane and both kind of funny that people try to argue with my point with the "but", "what", "if"'s and whatnot just to show that yes a small minority can not do what they want and thereby limiting a vast majority to reach their full potential.
Don't keep hiding behind these few exceptions you can find, to personally justify that you can not be what you want, it will severely hold you back in the long run.
Many of the largest business owners never finished a degree but had a clear vision of how things should be according to their passion, they shaped the world instead of being limited by their lack of imagination, disabilities or inabilties and making excuses.
On June 11 2012 03:10 Kalingingsong wrote: what if I love jacking off?
Don't know if I should respond to this, or that I should call your bluff. But heck You are in luck my friend; people actually pay to watch your jerk off. Whether it be from a website or DVD's or you coming to them - I'm sure you'll earn your living there. But you probably know more of that stuff than I do, after all you are the expert here.
This is a pretty good speech. Hope I get something like this next year when I graduate. A good life lesson speech instead of a pump up, "good job!" speech.
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
I listened to the first 10 minutes, and I think depending on how you take it he can be wrong or right. Obviously everyone is special in terms of their specific personality traits, interests, quirks, etc. But in terms of their education and how people perceive them more generally, graduates really aren't anything special. Graduating from high school isn't a major accomplishment (unless its a prestigious one, perhaps), and since practically everyone graduates then it does become pretty meaningless as an indicator of who you are.
It can be relevant if he notices that many students have an over-inflated sense of imoprtance; otherwise its unnecessary and kind of cynical.
Edit: But I do like some of the other points he made, doing things because you enjoy them, not getting sucked into base materialism to satisfy yourself, good stuff.
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
What if you are the best ?
Sorry he just lost all credibility
Okay, so he's right for 99% of the people out there? That's hardly losing all credibility, its just a minor correction. The basic point is right, don't go into things looking to be the best, because its extraordinarily difficult. Just do it because you enjoy it
Excellent advice all in all. I think he touches on something people usuallly deny or take for granted. We feel entitled to success that we often do not want the hard work. Real life is a bitch. Lets all accept it and prepare.
On June 10 2012 23:49 Domus wrote: His entire speech is based on a fallacy. That if everybody is special, nobody is special. This is just not true, when everybody is special, everybody is special. Wanting someone else to not be special to be special yourself is a negative approach to life. (Human) life in itself is something special, and I think that measuring everything in achievements is a bad thing (I think the man agrees with me on this, he just has a very negative way to go about it). I think that measuring everything in achievements and efficiency is one of the greatest flaws of (western) civilization.
On June 11 2012 00:02 Creager wrote: this is garbage just to support the continuing existence of our failed captalistic system... while I agree that you must strive for your ideals, the mindset of 'always working hard' in fact fuels competing for wealth and social acceptance, so it seems inevitable. people should start thinking and being critical of their environment instead of pursuing the goals someone tells them to and get indoctrinated to materialism...
Everyone is special, in the way that everyone is unique. Only 1 out of 1000 people is special in the sense that they have much greater potential then the 999 other ones. It is good to be realistic, but its not good to be TO realistic. Telling people they special can be a bit of a selffulfilling profecy, a sort of neuro linguistic programming. People have to believe they can do something first,before having a change to succeed. Dont think there is annything wrong with telling children and students they are special, as long as you dont overdo it.
#3. For everyone in the world who thinks they are a great athelete, student, or enginner, someone in the world that has greater prowess than them. He states that you strive to do what you enjoy and dont bother competing with everybody else.
What if you are the best ?
Sorry he just lost all credibility
There's a couple things that people need to know about being 'the best'.
1) The 'best' are the best because in addition to having extreme innate talent, they had a string of unique experiences and opportunities, lucky breaks, and work harder than most people can possibly imagine.
Kobe Bryant is a good example. When he joined the Beijing Olympic team, other younger 'superstars' like Lebron James and Chris Bosh were shocked to discover that Kobe's daily routine included things like waking up at 3 AM everyday to go to the gym, watching other Olympic teams play and practice during his downtime for scouting information, and barely socializing.
2) The success of being 'the best' is always tainted. Fans and other players will hate you for no real reason, your teammates will expect you to carry them and cover your mistakes, etc.
So yeah, the OP's advice still applies. It's more important to love what you do and not worry about the rewards than to be 'the best' at something.
This guy is totally wrong. Most humans are special. It's not an everyday thing that mother nature just happens to make a species that is capable of order, culture, and being somewhat awesome as time goes by. I mean, the reason why I eat turkey sandwiches are because they aren't special. Shout outs to meat eaters in earth btw. The reason why I'm not eating humans is because they're pretty damned special compared to everything on Earth. When turkey sandwiches are capable of reasoning, language, and thought,I'll stop eating them.
On June 11 2012 21:21 Schaudenfraud wrote: This guy is totally wrong. Most humans are special. It's not an everyday thing that mother nature just happens to make a species that is capable of order, culture, and being somewhat awesome as time goes by. I mean, the reason why I eat turkey sandwiches are because they aren't special. Shout outs to meat eaters in earth btw. The reason why I'm not eating humans is because they're pretty damned special compared to everything on Earth. When turkey sandwiches are capable of reasoning, language, and thought,I'll stop eating them.
Most humans are special, does that make being special not special?
Last time I checked he wasn't giving his speech to turkeys.
i don't understand how anyone can go through life and realize that they aren't special. i realized this years ago and i'm only 20 right now...inb4 hipster comment
On June 11 2012 21:21 Schaudenfraud wrote: This guy is totally wrong. Most humans are special. It's not an everyday thing that mother nature just happens to make a species that is capable of order, culture, and being somewhat awesome as time goes by. I mean, the reason why I eat turkey sandwiches are because they aren't special. Shout outs to meat eaters in earth btw. The reason why I'm not eating humans is because they're pretty damned special compared to everything on Earth. When turkey sandwiches are capable of reasoning, language, and thought,I'll stop eating them.
Most humans are special, does that make being special not special?
Last time I checked he wasn't giving his speech to turkeys.
Humans are the Grandmaster's League of mother nature. They ARE the GM league of Earth. That's like saying "Most GM players are special, does that make being special not special?" and the answer to that is no because there are other lame animals like turkeys who aren't even in our league. Looks pretty special to me. People are on the tail end of the bell curve.
On June 11 2012 21:21 Schaudenfraud wrote: This guy is totally wrong. Most humans are special. It's not an everyday thing that mother nature just happens to make a species that is capable of order, culture, and being somewhat awesome as time goes by. I mean, the reason why I eat turkey sandwiches are because they aren't special. Shout outs to meat eaters in earth btw. The reason why I'm not eating humans is because they're pretty damned special compared to everything on Earth. When turkey sandwiches are capable of reasoning, language, and thought,I'll stop eating them.
Most humans are special, does that make being special not special?
Last time I checked he wasn't giving his speech to turkeys.
Humans are the Grandmaster's League of mother nature. They ARE the GM league of Earth. That's like saying "Most GM players are special, does that make being special not special?" and the answer to that is no because there are other lame animals like turkeys who aren't even in our league. Looks pretty special to me. People are on the tail end of the bell curve.
...... I don't even..
Isn't it safe to assume that when he says "you aren't special" what he MEANS is: "you aren't special, for a human" I really can't even try to comprehend where the hell you are going with this.
On June 10 2012 05:01 GreEny K wrote: As I said in the other thread, I completely agree with everything he said.
But, I feel that parents need to tell their kids that they are special and so on.
I feel like parents shouldn't bother telling their kids that they're special. Special is used in a bland and meaningless way today. Far better to praise the kid for being polite, or considerate, or for remembering to do all their chores and homework without prompting, or for learning how to do something new. People shouldn't be praised for merely existing. They should be praised for doing.
We are all special because in the millions or whatever sperm men ejaculate we are the one which won the great race. Of course now with in-vitro i don't know if that changes things but for the majority of us we are all born winners and special.
On June 10 2012 05:11 iwearcapes wrote: really stupid speech i almost felt embarrassed for him idk why just the way his jokes were and the things he was saying. soo cliche?
I agree, his presentation was terrible but that doesn't make the ideas he is presenting any less true.
I agree with with he said, but I prefer to procrastinate on TL. Maybe the end of professional BW is a good thing and I will become successful thanks to that.
On June 11 2012 21:21 Schaudenfraud wrote: This guy is totally wrong. Most humans are special. It's not an everyday thing that mother nature just happens to make a species that is capable of order, culture, and being somewhat awesome as time goes by. I mean, the reason why I eat turkey sandwiches are because they aren't special. Shout outs to meat eaters in earth btw. The reason why I'm not eating humans is because they're pretty damned special compared to everything on Earth. When turkey sandwiches are capable of reasoning, language, and thought,I'll stop eating them.
Most humans are special, does that make being special not special?
Last time I checked he wasn't giving his speech to turkeys.
Humans are the Grandmaster's League of mother nature. They ARE the GM league of Earth. That's like saying "Most GM players are special, does that make being special not special?" and the answer to that is no because there are other lame animals like turkeys who aren't even in our league. Looks pretty special to me. People are on the tail end of the bell curve.
Humans are about as special in the animal kingdom as turkeys.
He's right that the sense of entitlement is crippling western economies. Telling kids they are special and can do anything they want hasn't really helped them , since most end up wanting to work in the media, become an artist or be a rock star.It shouldn't be up to the taxpayer to pay their unemployment cheque when they can't find work after graduating from college with a 50,000 loan and a degree in art history.
I had a discussion with my mother at some point recently regarding the whole praising your children thing.
The conclusion we came to is that it's not a win win situation, however what we decided is that overall it is beneficial. One thing she said that me and my sister had over her and her siblings was confidence, we aren't afraid to stand out and do our own thing, whereas at her age she faced similar issues, but due to her upbrining didn't have the confidence initially to do certain things and had to work a great deal to get that confidence.
The downside is obvious though, theres a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and one thing the world does not really tolerate so well is arrogance, confidence is fantastic, but lacking the talent to back up your confidence is a massive flaw. I could consider myself lucky in this respect, I'm from a very intelligent family and would consider myself fairly bright, and one thing this has done for me is allow me confidence within limits. I am confident I can perform well at a task for instance, but I fully expect, and often embrace failure as part of the path to succeeding, and even if I outright fail I know that I have talents elsewhere (for instance I did a physics degree at a top school, I didn't do so well, but along the way I found a passion for programming, it was too late to switch but its not something I regret at all).
The real world is a big scary place, I still often feel like a drop in the ocean at times, and theres a conflict between my rational side and an irrational confidence, I guess you could say arrogance, which sometimes make me feel like I deserve better than where I am. Nonsense really, I don't deserve anything, noone does really.
It's also a sociaital thing, in the last few decades the idea of failure really has lost its edge, the government will provide you with food and shelter should worst come to worst and many people spend so much thought engrossed in the success of others (celebrity culture).
I could talk about this all day but for now I'll leave it at that, its a complicated issue, one which I suspect will be debated by sociology majors for a long time to come. What I like about this kind of thing though is it adds a pleasing level of complexity to our existance, it goes to show that there really is no right answer, merely options with pros and cons and all we can really do is hope we land on one with more pros than cons and stick with it.
I somewhat disagree with point one: if punishment exists for bad actions, why shouldn't it exist for good ones? Maybe tone it down a little, but cut it altogether would just trivialize it.
As a recent graduate, our speeches were much more of self applause to us and the accomplishments we brought. This speech kicks the crap out of both of our two speeches and actually makes me want to do what i want to do.
Why is this even posted? This speech is nothing special. He's basically giving a college commencement speech to high school students. I say that because I recently sat through one with a lot of the same points. And yes I think most of them probably forgot the speech or forgot he was even talking halfway through. I'm only replying because I'm mad I wasted 10 mins listening to this BS.
On June 10 2012 05:26 Yoshi- wrote: So a guy which only success is being the brother of a successful person is teaching us how to be successful?
He's reached self-actualization - he loves his job and he feels driven to do it well. I think that satisfies the most generic definition of success. Or at the very least, it fulfills his definition. You're measuring success by fame which is the exact thing he was warning people about. Don't do things for the accolades, but for the sake of doing them.
EPT
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You are in luck my friend; people actually pay to watch your jerk off. Whether it be from a website or DVD's or you coming to them - I'm sure you'll earn your living there. But you probably know more of that stuff than I do, after all you are the expert here.![[image loading]](http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/oh_a32978_1925655.jpg)
