Matt Damon's Commencement Address at MIT

[hoodoof]

Have you noticed that our society holds actors in the highest esteem above all categories of occupation?

[rayiner]

Kind of a weird criticism to level at Matt Damon. Whether you agree with his politics or not, he's clearly extremely smart. He dropped out of Harvard and wrote an Oscar-winning movie script. He talks about theories with professors and hangs out with the President.

[tvural]

This isn't an accident. Celebrities get really famous by appearing to have whatever qualities the average person wants. Nobody could actually be like the characters Audrey Hepburn played in movies. But the fact that she was so popular tells you a little bit about what the average female used to wish they were like. It would be nice if people looked up to Einstein more than Matt Damon. But people respect Einstein a lot more than they want to be him.

[cenal]

Celebrities of all kinds are nothing more than brands. People are fans of brands. People go crazy for Apple products in the same way they go crazy for sneakers that Kanye puts out.

[yanilkr]

Actors put in an enormous amount of effort and discipline to get where they are and need more personal character to stay relevant. I don't think Matt Dameon's opinions are any better but I think they should not be dismissed. May be we should build them a hacker news for celebrities.

[H0n3sty]

Yes, it's as if our society wants to believe they really are the larger than life characters they play on screen. To his credit, he opened with...

It’s an honor to be part of this day.... But let’s be honest — It’s an honor I didn’t earn.

[pcurve]

What makes you say that? Some people certainly hold 'certain' actors to high esteem, but those are usually ones with admirable characters.

People love celebrities, but I'm not sure if 'high esteem' is apt description.

[jrcii]

People spend countless hours forming lingering one-way emotional relationships with actors as a byproduct of suspension of disbelief. This creates a false sense of familiarity and therefore trust in the actor as a person. Actors in turn tend to acquire a Shoe Button Complex as a result of this misplaced trust which compounds the problem.

My interest in the thoughts of those I don't know personally is restricted to the specific domains in which they've demonstrated competency.

[InclinedPlane]

Of course. Humans are basically apes, and familiarity and likability go a long way, they make it feel like you have a connection with the famous person.

[jdale27]

No more so than athletes or musical performers (I wouldn't go so far as to say "musicians" -- thinking of people like Britney and Justin Bieber). Or doctors, for that matter, in the more non-celebrity world. In fact I wonder if doctors are held in the highest esteem of any occupation, due to being perhaps the only one where making a lot of money and being considered morally and ethically upstanding can seem to coincide. Or maybe actors are in that category too, except that the ones who make money are fewer, and the ones who are morally bankrupt are more (though partially because the media profits from amplifying those cases).

[jcheng]

If you're going by MIT commencement addresses, more like (successful) CEOs and founders.

https://commencement.mit.edu/archive/speakers

[michaelbuddy]

Anyone leaning left will get invitations to these campuses for honorary degrees. Unfortunately as good as Matt Damon is, now the reputation of these campuses just strikes as favortism towards leftist ideas. I like Matt Damon, but it's just a fact that these degrees are meaningless. A 15 minute speech, some leftist ideas, tell the students they've "accomplished so much" when most of them haven't really accomplshed anything other than spending money they don't have.

Sad really. I don't have any interest in these speeches anymore for value. Especially during a political season.

[discardorama]

Yep, like the Kardashian clan.

/s

[CptJamesCook]

I don't know many people who hold any actors above Elon Musk or Barack Obama.

[vonklaus]

> But again, the point is not to become some kind of well- rounded, high-minded voyeur. The point is to try to eliminate your blind spots — the things that keep us from grasping the bigger picture.[...] And that’s when we can really start to understand ourselves better ... and begin to solve some problems.

While it seems rather intuitive on its face, I liked this comment. Too many people move forward discounting new informtion while reinforcing their beliefs. I took the living on display to mean following a path you think others find highest leverge and not neccessarily the individual.

This is as much a defect in personality as it is in scientific thinking, which he seems to touch on later. He says along the lines of `really smart people make really big mistakes`, this is because people make mistakes. Honestly, it had the stay hungry stay foolish vibe. I found it interesting, was worth the read.

edit: After some contemplation, I think the meta point that I found interesting is that (as examined downthread) the contrast between Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk, for example, seems to speak to one of the core themes of this address. I would be forced to admit that if Elon Musk gave this speech, I would certainly consider the information more valubale than if Kim Kardashian did. However, the point I believe Damon makes is that, the information itself is also important.

[enraged_camel]

>>Not every problem has a high-tech solution.

Something the HN crowd should be reminded of regularly.

[timonoko]

Fat-heads Rule: http://www15.uta.fi/koskivoimaa/henkilot/kuvat/29a9a37.jpg

Finnish General Arno Pajari possibly not related to Matt "John Pajari" Damon. Accused of war-crimes by Russians in 1944.

[danso]

Interesting choice...I thought maybe he had gone to MIT but apparently he dropped out from Harvard. I wonder what led to him being chosen (and I say that as a fan of his)?

[dskhatri]

Perhaps a combination of factors? He was born in Cambridge, MA. MIT celebrated 100 years in the city. And Good Will Hunting.

[glial]

Probably Good Will Hunting.

[partiallypro]

Why has every commencement address turned into a political speech? Politics is like a disease that has slowly taken over ever facet of life.

[RawData]

It was really a surprisingly powerful ending...