This Is The Most Inspiring Yet Depressing Yet Hilarious Yet Horrifying Yet Heartwarming Grad Speech
Tim Minchin is a comedian, actor and musician who
gave the graduation speech at the University of Western
Australia (UWA). UWA recognized him in 2013 with honorary degree for his
contributions to the arts.
I find the speech an honest counter to much of
negativity than can be produced from the drive to be special and unique, most
often laid out at these occasions.
I respect the call to be humble, through paying
attention to what is around us, respecting others with less power and being
intellectually curious enough to listen to and examine nuance.
One of the more memorable lines is "Leave it
to humans to think that life has a purpose". Even if one believes we do
have a purpose, I do think that it's an important reminder to think of
ourselves as one existence amongst countless real and possible ones. In that
regard, I think our race does better if the result is to be humble than to have
every individual believing they are the special one.
And he ends on a positive note. In response to our ultimate end, do the only
sensible thing and fill one's life with learning, love, respect and calm.
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NPR did a run down of key learnings from commencement speeches. They pointed out the same dichotomy between those that celebrate one's specialness, versus those that drive at our oneness.
What We Learned From The Best Commencement Speeches Ever : NPR Ed : NPR
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NPR did a run down of key learnings from commencement speeches. They pointed out the same dichotomy between those that celebrate one's specialness, versus those that drive at our oneness.
What We Learned From The Best Commencement Speeches Ever : NPR Ed : NPR
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