Warren Buffet said something similar in an interview... in a way more useful and motivating speech them this, IMO. I thought this was pretty good poetry, but the message was meh to me... but I guess I'm entitled, so whatev. I don't think there was anything I disagreed with here. I don't see this as something motivational, useful or teaching - it didn't inspire thought to me. WB did a way better job. But I guess WB wasn't making a graduation speech, so it wasn't as poetic and didn't have all the giggly metaphors.
(the best part IMO was at the 12:00 mark, which has nothing to do with working hard or entitlement or whatever... do stuff for yourself, not a ticklist... who cares about all the entitlement cliches, life will take you through twists and turns... some will make you work hard and turn into a career, others will take you other ways.)
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Last edited by Phanuthier; 06-12-2012 at 07:03 PM.
I have a special disease that causes blood to leak from my ear canals almost constantly. It gets worse the more alarmed I am. For example, one day I was walking down the street, blood gently trickling from my ears into the special cups I have to collect and recycle it, when a car unexpectedly honks its horn behind me. Well, let me tell you: that small trickle suddenly turned into a gushing fount. Sadly, there was a little old lady walking by me and the next thing she knows, she is coated with a thick stream of my ear blood. Unfortunately, this caused me to become even more alarmed.
Next thing I know, blood is shooting everywhere: onto the awning of the bakery I was passing by, onto a passing cyclist, and again onto the old lady as I spun in a frantic circle. My collection device was useless, because the pressure from my ear-holes was unbelievable by this point. Blood was shooting damn near half way across the street on my left side, and onto the brick wall next to me on the right, where it made what looked suspiciously like a red painting of a rhinoceros eating a pineapple. It was difficult to be sure that's what it actually looked like given the crimson carnage that was emanating from my ear canals by this point in time, and I never once thought to snap a photo. I finally cupped my hands around my ears and ran, blood shooting out from between my fingers in every direction and really badly frightening a small family of ducks.
What was I talking about? Sometimes I lose up to 40 litres of blood a day from my ears, and that's on a good day. So don't you dare try to tell me I'm not special.
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Do you think this generation this guy speaks of will finally live up to its billing of sucking hard?
Every generation says that about the next. I think part of the generation I'm part was alright (I thought the group a few years older than me was better), while the next generation is steaming pile of garbage.
What a smug anus. I somewhat agree with his point but could his delivery be more arrogant and condescending? He thinks he's got it all figured out. What has he done that he is an authority to lecture the 'youts' on all this (other than existing for 50 some years)? The irony is that he presents himself such that it looks like he thinks he's pretty special. I'd like to see a WWII vet give the same speech to this baby boomer, the most entitled generation in the last 100 years.
No we're not all special... neither are you pretentious old fartbag. Try giving the speech off the cuff rather than reading it of the paper that you probably proof read and rehearsed 100 times.
I do agree with this speech. I don't know if many of these kids will agree with this. Some argue north american society breeds narcissism, in which case, most didn't take this speech to heart.
I think the important lesson is not that "you are not special" but rather "you don't deserve special treatment" and you are not entitled to anything but rather will have to work for it and earn it just like everyone else. In the end you have no one else to applaud or blame for your accomplishments or lack thereof but yourself.
Those were the words I should have used in my first post... well put.
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What a smug anus. I somewhat agree with his point but could his delivery be more arrogant and condescending? He thinks he's got it all figured out. What has he done that he is an authority to lecture the 'youts' on all this (other than existing for 50 some years)? The irony is that he presents himself such that it looks like he thinks he's pretty special. I'd like to see a WWII vet give the same speech to this baby boomer, the most entitled generation in the last 100 years.
No we're not all special... neither are you pretentious old fartbag. Try giving the speech off the cuff rather than reading it of the paper that you probably proof read and rehearsed 100 times.
That's all you take from it? From Plato's Apology, "The wisest among you, human beings, is anyone like Socrates who has recognized that with respect to wisdom he is truly worthless”
Say what you say, but i dissagree with you. Telling people that they're special does not encourage growth and maturity.
If you were to speak at such an occasion, would you not put together a well-versed speech?
Edit: maybe one is special to one's friends and family, but in the wide concept of things-who really is special?
Maybe it is because I have young children right now but I don't think it is the your are special or unique message that is wrong but the way some parents and subsequently kids take it.
I think we should encourage kids to think they are special and unique but encourage them to find out why they are unique and what makes them special. Instead of just saying that they are special for just being, they should figure out what they have that seperates them from other kids around them.
I also believe that being unique and special doesn't mean the best or that things should be handed to you but more that you have unique and special things that you can bring an employer and this is what you need to figure out rather than saying I am here hire me.
That's all you take from it? From Plato's Apology, "The wisest among you, human beings, is anyone like Socrates who has recognized that with respect to wisdom he is truly worthless
Say what you say, but i dissagree with you. Telling people that they're special does not encourage growth and maturity.
If you were to speak at such an occasion, would you not put together a well-versed speech?
Edit: maybe one is special to one's friends and family, but in the wide concept of things-who really is special?
I thought it was well versed, but I didn't think it was the right target audience. What would a student get from that message? "Oh I'm not special. Why even try." ??? Thats dumb... was he trying to prove something? Or it would be forgettable? (I know that wasn't the intended msg.) The setting should be optimistic, or at worst, cautiously optimistic. I would target my speech to that. I don't mean to slam the guy cause there is nothing there I didn't agree with, I just didn't think it was appropriate for the occasion. I think in an occasion like this, he should be preaching cautious optimism, to be open minded as life can take you many different places, and work hard because you will get more out of life that way... the talk should be inspiring, not a wet blanket.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
I thought it was well versed, but I didn't think it was the right target audience. What would a student get from that message? "Oh I'm not special. Why even try." ??? Thats dumb... was he trying to prove something? Or it would be forgettable? (I know that wasn't the intended msg.) The setting should be optimistic, or at worst, cautiously optimistic. I would target my speech to that. I don't mean to slam the guy cause there is nothing there I didn't agree with, I just didn't think it was appropriate for the occasion. I think in an occasion like this, he should be preaching cautious optimism, to be open minded as life can take you many different places, and work hard because you will get more out of life that way... the talk should be inspiring, not a wet blanket.
True. What I get from the speech, however, is that one should work towards future gains. I feel that sometimes, society makes everyone "special" in that one should have a sense of entitlement. In this way, it could be difficult to overcome obstacles. If one believes they are entitled to something they don't get, they don't work hard at other tasks/positions that they do get. I feel it takes hard work and time to truly becoming successful. Perhaps we do agree on that. Maybe we just interpreted the speech in different ways. I didn't interpret much negativity or uninspiring moments.
I think the "your not special" was a pretty minor part of the speech. To me, it was mostly about doing things because you want to do them. Do them to be selfless rather than to feel special or to have accolades. Don't use the reward as motivation, use your passion and the rewards will come naturally.
True. What I get from the speech, however, is that one should work towards future gains. I feel that sometimes, society makes everyone "special" in that one should have a sense of entitlement. In this way, it could be difficult to overcome obstacles. If one believes they are entitled to something they don't get, they don't work hard at other tasks/positions that they do get. I feel it takes hard work and time to truly becoming successful. Perhaps we do agree on that. Maybe we just interpreted the speech in different ways. I didn't interpret much negativity or uninspiring moments.
It wasn't negative, but I felt confused and pessimistic after watching this video. Perhaps it could be cause I had pre-conceived notions on what this should be, and I did read comments in this thread first, but I did not feel as though this was a good graduation speech at all. In another occasion, probably.
Yasa - hm I got that towards the last portion... perhaps it was cause I was still fretting over some of the first half of the speech. Who knows. JMO anyways, I'm probably wrong since some think this is a great speech.
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
"Climb the mountain to see the world, not so that the world can see you."
This was one of my favourites.
As to the demand that he should have been more encouraging, to me that attitude is precisely the problem we are discussing. It's basicly a demand that the teacher should have delivered yet another round of pampering, that what was said is less important than how nicely it was presented.
If that hurt someone, so what? If it wasn't what they wanted to hear, so what? School is not there to cheer you up and make you feel good, it's there to teach you stuff. The kids were not there to be inspired, they were there to receive a diploma and receive one last piece of advice.
That was good advice delivered in a way that it will propably be rememberd by many. What feelings it may have stirred is irrelevant in the long run, because it will all be long gone anyway by the time they get over their celebration hangovers.
Besides, I propably would have felt good after that speech. Not everybody feels special anyway. Some feel that no matter how much they try, there's always going to be somebody better, smarter, cooler or just bigger than you or more money to start with. That I'm constantly handicapped and the odds of winning are so small that why even try. That line of thinking hurt me a lot at a certain age.
It took me a long time to notice that when I stop worrying about the right thing to do, the smart thing to do and the best way to succeed, everything just rolls along much better and in the end I'm happier with the person I am and I even have more measurable success in my life.
To me that was kind of the point. You can't be special, but you can dream and reach those dreams through hard work. Just like everybody else.
"Climb the mountain to see the world, not so that the world can see you."
This was one of my favourites.
As to the demand that he should have been more encouraging, to me that attitude is precisely the problem we are discussing. It's basicly a demand that the teacher should have delivered yet another round of pampering, that what was said is less important than how nicely it was presented.
If that hurt someone, so what? If it wasn't what they wanted to hear, so what? School is not there to cheer you up and make you feel good, it's there to teach you stuff. The kids were not there to be inspired, they were there to receive a diploma and receive one last piece of advice.
That was good advice delivered in a way that it will propably be rememberd by many. What feelings it may have stirred is irrelevant in the long run, because it will all be long gone anyway by the time they get over their celebration hangovers.
Besides, I propably would have felt good after that speech. Not everybody feels special anyway. Some feel that no matter how much they try, there's always going to be somebody better, smarter, cooler or just bigger than you or more money to start with. That I'm constantly handicapped and the odds of winning are so small that why even try. That line of thinking hurt me a lot at a certain age.
It took me a long time to notice that when I stop worrying about the right thing to do, the smart thing to do and the best way to succeed, everything just rolls along much better and in the end I'm happier with the person I am and I even have more measurable success in my life.
To me that was kind of the point. You can't be special, but you can dream and reach those dreams through hard work. Just like everybody else.
If you think encouraging=pampering, you are VERY confused... if you were referring to me, I wasn't saying the speech should be pampering.
I also see graduation as a celebration, not somewhere to get one last bit of advice. But then again, I also skipped my high school, univ undergrad and grad school graduation as well...
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
I think people conflate self esteem with superiority complexes. Most people who consciously think they are better than everyone else unconsciously hate themselves. I think entitlement stems from this as well.
Self esteem is about seeing yourself as valuable and important without comparing yourself to others. Real self esteem allows you to see everyone else on an equal footing to you, thus you have no reason to be entitled, or feel superior.
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As you can see, I'm completely ridiculous.
