HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

The Last Lecture was great. If you can, watch the lecture too [0]. Even beyond the literal message, Randy Pausch's outlook and delivery really elevated the story for me.

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&vl=en

@bananabat, congrats on launching your game and on your beautiful write up here. It made me remember Randy Pausch‘a famous “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”, better known as “The Last Lecture.” (https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo). Like many others, I remember being deeply touched by it. It is ultimately being about a man reflecting on a life well lived and achieving some childhood dreams like this is part of it.

It is wonderful that you have been able to do something you find worthy in and of its self and find fulfillment here. Thank you for sharing.

⬐ bananabat

I remember watching parts of this before from other sources. Thanks for linking the whole thing, my husband has never seen it so we're gonna watch it together later.

Thank you for reading my post.

Oh Boy! Life is a marathon, not a sprint. You are still young (revisit these words when you reach 32, 42, and 52). So, hear me out. You need to work on developing habits, habits of winning, winning every time, develop a process of learning and improving and trust the process. Ignore failures, you might look boring and unsuccessful to some people, but once your habits start to work, it can change your orbit.

You’re not failing, boy. You are growing up and this is how life look like. If you read a lot of books/biographies, you will realize how some very successful people have had setbacks. Ignore these negative depressing whispers, and learn, read more. Most of us were in that spot before, do yourself a favor, and take some time to watch this talk "Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", Randy Pausch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&vl=en

Here's mine:

1. Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&list=PLrekO4JKU4...

2. Strange answers to the psychopath test | Jon Ronson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYemnKEKx0c&list=PLrekO4JKU4...

3. The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology | Pranav Mistry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrtANPtnhyg&list=PLrekO4JKU4...

4. Steve Jobs MIT Class: What he learnt after he was fired from Apple? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXUhLbV8Nrg&list=PLrekO4JKU4...

5. Eric Liu: Why ordinary people need to understand power https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd0JH1AreDw&list=PLrekO4JKU4...

6. Peter Lynch 1994 Lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Pq5zKEi_g&list=PLrekO4JKU4...

"This is the most important slide in the entire talk. So, if you want to leave after this slide, I will not be offended, because it is all downhill from here."

https://youtu.be/oTugjssqOT0?t=1256 (Timestamped link of the "Time Management" talk by Randy Pausch, which is what the OP PDF is from)

That part in the talk is about the "Eisenhower Matrix", popularized by Steven Covey in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", on the importance of prioritizing important, non-urgent tasks over urgent, unimportant tasks.

You can read about it here as well, but I haven't seen it put as well as Randy Pausch did in his talk. https://evernote.com/blog/work-effectively-with-the-eisenhow...

PS If you haven't seen his "Last Lecture", it's also fantastic. I watch it about once a year to re-center myself, and remember to focus on the truly important things in life. https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ virtue3

Ooof. I thought this was the last lecture person. Randy Pausch was amazing and really influenced me on my current life choices.

I really can't recommend his "Last Lecture" enough.

There is a lecture by the late Randy Pausch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&vl=en). The gist of the part I'm mentioning is, "When I stop correcting you, I've given up on you." People who don't voice their opinions aren't necessarily happy, they quite possibly have decided it's not worth trying to change things.

⬐ Viliam1234

Funny how this can reinforce the idea that only incompetent people complain.

Imagine a situation where the company and/or the project have a few serious problems, but the company refuses to fix or even admit any of that. The developers who couldn't live with the problems have already quit. The developers who remained have stopped complaining, because they have given up.

A new developer comes, notices the problems, and starts complaining about them. People notice that the newbie makes a fuss, but nothing changes. Later the developer either quits, or gets used to it and stops complaining.

Here is how the management probably interprets the situation: "People with the least experience complain most. The correct approach is to ignore them, and wait for them to grow up. More experienced developers have realistic expectations and mature behavior."

⬐ lmilcin

Yes, I think promoting people who DO NOT complain is problematic.

There is no right way to deal with this other than to listen to complains and figure out what it is.

One way of thinking about complaining is that it is a form of feedback. As a manager, you don't want to silence people giving you feedback, frankly, this is about as stupid thing as you can do.

Better way to deal with complaints is to educate on what kind of complaints are productive and what kinds are destructive.

For example, I try (not always succeed) to restrict to myself to only complain about things that I am ready to solve if somebody tells me "go ahead, fix it".

Absolutely. In that same vein, I've gotten a lot out of so many similar videos which are ostensibly about one thing, but to effectively use what they're teaching, you have to start learning/mastering something else entirely. "Indirect learning" is one way to put it, and a term I picked up from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture[0]. I've gained so much from watching that video, as well as his Time Management video[1]. So much so that I rewatch it about once a year, because every time you rewatch something, you're a different person in certain ways, and you often appreciate things much more the more you change and grow as a person.

[0] https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo

[1] https://youtu.be/oTugjssqOT0?t=17

More or less. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ cojo

Georgia Tech set up a room in the CS department for a live broadcast of this lecture when he gave it. I had just started as a brand new freshman a month before, and happened to find out about it / check it out on a whim.

I truly do not think it is an exaggeration to say that it changed the course of my life. I was frustrated and angry with all sorts of things when I walked into that room, and I still was after I left, but in that hour I saw a glimpse of what life could look like if I stuck with it through the hard stuff, and it was the first thing in a long time that really got me genuinely excited about my future.

I will forever be grateful to Randy Pausch for his positive attitude and for his willingness and effort in sharing this when he did - especially since he never got to hear the gratitude himself directly from me or so many countless others I know he impacted positively as well. I am strangely emotional just thinking about it again now - a bright light of positive memory in a dark year.

⬐ grecy

I read his book cover to cover once flying across the country.

It also changed my life!

⬐ ignoramous

pioneer.app's Daniel Gross' How to Win is a good complement to this lecture: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/LH1bewTg-P4

⬐ libria

> I was frustrated and angry with all sorts of things

About the oversold parking spaces? Dorm lotteries? The infamous male/female ratio and its subsequent effect on the females which had its own acronym?

⬐ suchoudh

I saw the lecture on youtube, later bought the book and read that in one go.

I do not think it changed my life that much but definately it changed me as a parent. I have a son who turned 13 this year. Someday he can thank Randy for the change in his father.( I used to be a strict disciplinarian and a stickler for academic performance during my own years)

⬐ neutered_knot

I was fortunate enough to have Randy as a teacher at UVa. He changed my life. Here is a note I sent him when I received tenure in computer science: --------- Hi,

I don't know if you would remember me, but I took a data structures class from you back in the late '80s, when you were a new professor at UVa. I was living in the Monroe Hill Residential College, and recall that you came to at least one dinner there as well as the intramural inner-tube water polo championship game our team played in.

I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that taking that class ended up changing my life - slowly, but very positively. I was a (very bad) electrical engineering student at UVa, but your class got me hooked on computers. I initially did some programming, then went into the Army after undergrad. I found myself enjoying programming for fun, and after a few years went back to grad school, choosing CS over law school just because of my enjoyment of it. I was originally a master's student, but found a good advisor and liked research, and eventually got my PhD. I ended up taking a faculty position at , but disliked the midwest and large department, so after a couple of years there moved home to .

I recently received tenure and a promotion to Associate Professor of Computer Science at University, and am certain that I ended up here, doing what I love and loving what I do, because of your class. Here is what I wrote in my tenure statement about it:

"The positive example who most influenced my attitude to teaching was Randy Pausch, now at Carnegie Mellon University. I try to show my enthusiasm for teaching and for the material as much as he did. He related complex computer-science topics to real-world examples. He often had students perform amusing examples in class to demonstrate algorithms, and he kept the material at an appropriate level. Most importantly, he cared about students doing the best they could and was both challenging and supportive throughout the semester. I challenge my students to succeed, and work hard to be as supportive as he was."

So thanks! You made a big difference in my life, and I appreciate it very much.

⬐ msarnoff

Randy made a surprise appearance at my commencement (CMU School of Computer Science, May 2008) just weeks before he passed away. [1] He concluded his speech with the piece of advice that has probably had the greatest impact on my career and my life:

"Please, don't think of yourself as a computer scientist who happens to be a human being. Think of yourself as a human being who happens to have the tremendous, precious, rare skills of a computer scientist--with which you can help all the other human beings."

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20160304152555/https://www.cs.cm...

⬐ jct3u

I had the chance to work with Randy during his time at UVA. It set me on a path that led me to the career I've had in HCI and UX over the last few decades. Watching this talk still brings tears to my eyes. This site at CMU has a lot of interview footage with Randy accessible via natural language search. It does a good job (I feel) of capturing what it was like to talk to and work with him: http://randy.etc.cmu.edu/

⬐ evantahler

Previous CMU/ETC student here - I was lucky enough to be there, and I still remember it.

I was a student at the ETC that year, and it was the first year Randy wasn't teaching, as he was sick. I hadn't met him yet, but the reverence the second-year students had for him was more than enough to convince the whole department to attend. I'm so glad I did. The values and ethics he built into the ETC made it a truly amazing place, and was great to hear his story.

As we are on a forum for startups - I sometimes think about how Randy might have been sharing his Mission/Vision/Values with us, but by other names; how his personal beliefs could be imbued into his lessons and the department itself. He did an amazing job.

Seriously - watch the video. You'll be inspired. You'll cry. You'll want to program really odd VR games just for fun :D

⬐ whoisjuan

Hey. I graduated from ETC in 2015. Cool to see other ETCers here in HackerNews.

⬐ frankdenbow

He spoke at my CS commencement right before he passed, was inspiring then and continues to inspire to this day. Coincidentally this is the book of the week in my book club so I've been re-reading it.

The Last Lecture book can be read as a series of short stories and often I just pick it up and read one quick section. My favorite is where he argued with his mother about his name. Yes, his name. He didn't like Randolph and protested, especially by being burdened by an extra "olph" <joke about a bout a computer scientist named Rand here>. Their negotiation ended with "R." but when his mother would send letters addressed to him at college as "Randolph' he would mail it back, unopened, marked "no such person at this address". As he got older, he recognized that "I'm so appreciative of my mother on so many fronts that if she wants to burden me with an unnecessary "olph" whenever she's around, I'm more than happy to put up with it. Life's too short. Somehow, with the passage of time, and the deadlines that life imposes, surrendering became the right thing to do."

⬐ azhenley

Another fantastic talk of his is about time management: https://youtu.be/oTugjssqOT0

⬐ cure

He also wrote a book titled 'The Last Lecture', cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Lecture

Highly recommended.

⬐ gauravphoenix

+1. One of the rare books I like to read every few years.

⬐ minimaxir

Incoming freshmen to Carnegie Mellon University (atleast when I went in 2008-2012) received a copy of the book.

⬐ gonzalezcgg

CMU student here. I can confirm this is still the case.

⬐ acqq

Previously commented here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12421073

⬐ rhizome

One of the first viral videos that reached people not online all the time. Pre-Facebook for most people.

⬐ mitfahrener

I tried to watch this every year. Inspirational. RIP Randy.

⬐ arolihas

I had never heard of Randy Pausch or seen this before but I’m glad I have now. I thought I was just being inspired. When he mentioned his legacy of Alice though I was shocked since that was my first exposure to programming when I was 12. This man has altered the past decade of my life with that and will alter the next decade of my life now that I’ve seen this. Amazing stuff.

⬐ chrisblackwell

I try to re-watch this once a year. Always puts things in perspective for me.

⬐ nodesocket

I clicked the link and saw the video was over an hour and half long and immediately was like "Ain't Nobody Got Time For That". Reaching for the back button on my mouse.

Here I am just finished watching the entire video and a sense of joy and delight that teachers like Randy Rausch exist. What a great person, mind, and storyteller.

⬐ grosales

Watched this 12 years ago for the first time as a junior dev - new to the workforce. In short, his words help me every day of my life. My life would not be the same if it wasn't for his last lecture.

⬐ madcow00

I have read his book "The Last Lecture" and I found it to be made up and over the top. The motivation he lists seem to be contrived and he comes off as pretty arrogant and narcissistic. Though I liked the part at the end where he discusses the motivation behind writing the book -- some sort of memory of him for his children.

⬐ noneeeed

Thanks for the reminder. I read his book years ago and it really hit home. I should re-read it.

⬐ tpkahlon

Thank you for sharing this.

⬐ chaostheory

If he could only see the state of VR now.

⬐ cbsmith

Such a classic.

⬐ qntty

The first time this went around in 2007, watching it made me feel like an alien. Everybody seemed to find it so inspiring, but I just found it kind of sad. The whole thing about being a Disney engineer seemed like such a manufactured dream. I don't want to criticize someone who died too young, but it just all seems so empty to me. I don't understand why a tenured professor who has all the freedom in the world would choose to go out of his way to work for such an evil corporation. It's kind of funny that Disney ended up being the embodiment of all the villains in their movies.

⬐ orsenthil

I understand this comment completely. I got 'inspired' by the lecture and book, and was excited a join a company that is so highly portrayed in that book/lecture.

I had to leave within a year as I realized it was not suitable for me.

⬐ aitchnyu

In his book, he talked how an act of kindness he encountered by Disney staff as a child led his parents to get $100000 of tickets for their charity over the years. As an employee, he got execs to confess Disney wont do that anymore.

⬐ cambalache

I dont know why you are being downvoted I thought the same. People were raving at the time and I couldnt get the point. I mean, I understand that personally for Mr Pausch it was a cruel tragedy and I see that he spoke from his heart, but the message was pedestrian if not cliche. I think we can be adult enough to empathize with the person and offer a fair criticism of his work.

⬐ crysin

He wanted to create something that brought joy to children. As "evil" as Disney may or may not be, being an Imagineer and getting to use your technical skills to bring enjoyment to kids is something he felt very passionately about. Being a tenured professor doesn't give you the same outreach as working for Disney does when building an amusement park ride.

⬐ qntty

I understand the appeal, it just still baffles me that everybody who had anything to say about found it inspiring, since I find it so distasteful. Not that it's wrong to feel that way, but it's just strange to me that nobody seemed to have a problem with it.

⬐ shoreofwonder

The Cory Doctorow book "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" (readable for free online) captures the duality of Disney very well.

On one hand, it produces brilliant, creative, high quality work, and makes it accessible to everyone. On the other hand, it's quite willing to destroy everyone else's work in order to ensure it stays on top.

⬐ yesenadam

Download in multiple formats here https://craphound.com/down/download/

⬐ cambalache

> and makes it accessible to everyone

If you pay. It heavily litigates you if you even put a decal of their characters (many who were taken from common European folklore) in your child care center. Disney has been the worst influence on copyright law in the US. Tt's impossible to assess its impact but I wouldnt be surprised if the monetary value of that stiffing of use would be in the hundreds of million.

⬐ jasonhong

My current office at CMU is actually Randy's last office before he passed away. He was really fun in faculty meetings, everything you see in the video was exactly what he was like in real life.

When I was in grad school, I heard from some of his students how, every so often, he would get the itch to do some programming (I think this would have been Alice, their 3D virtual world). The students asked him to mark where he started and where he ended in the source code, so they could go fix things afterward, all in good humor.

Randy also claimed to be the person who started the trend in SIGGRAPH papers of including a giant splash image at the top of the first page, as part of his Aladdin paper. Here's a copy of the paper. http://ivizlab.sfu.ca/arya/Papers/ACM/SIGGRAPH-96/Storytelli...

He was also notorious for how he started the first day of class of Programming User Interfaces (a class for non-programmers about prototyping user interfaces). He would bring in a VCR and a sledgehammer. He would talk about how bad user interfaces would make people so angry, they would want to smash things. He would then proceed to smash the VCR into bits. I heard that some students would come to the first day just to see him do this. (I took over that course several years ago, and no, I definitely don't do that!)

Randy was a really great person, I still miss him.

It has been 12 years since the Last Lecture. Imagine what we could have accomplished in those 12 years if we had really tried.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Lecture

Here’s the video:

https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo

A few trillion in wars, a few trillion in bailouts... it would have be great if cancer(s) at least became manageable.

The late Randy Pausch, in his Last Lecture[1] at Carnegie Mellon University, offered up... well, a lot of great advice, but the piece that jumped into my mind was: "It’s very important to know when you’re in a pissing match. And it’s very important to get out of it as quickly as possible."

This thing looks awfully like a pissing match, and it's not just with the one homeowner in Hollywood -- it's with every person that feels the same way.

I would lay good money the cardinality of that set is not a small number.

Doesn't matter whether or not it is a pissing match. It looks like one.

Were I running the state, I'd rather spend my time and energy on doing things that would actually Get People To Wear Masks, as opposed to another round of Pissing Match: San Andreas.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ apple4ever

Yup it does look like a pissing match. Its not hard to get around shutting off the power. Its not hard to have secret parties. People have been using illegal drugs for decades, despite the massive punishment that comes with getting caught - punishment that is far worse than illegally shutting off power. So why would this actual work?

⬐ DangitBobby

It's actually a little easier to notice and cut off power to a large conspicuous party than it is to notice drug deals are going down to do busts. It's not like all the dealers are screaming YEAH WE LIKE METH and dancing under a stream of cocaine with 20 other people clapping their hands while Billy does a kegstand.

And the action taken to shut down someone's power is to call the power company and tell them to do some clicky clacks on a keyboard.

So definitely an apples and oranges comparison. That said, it probably would be a pissing match ultimately as that person said.

I highly recommend this talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/isaac_lidsky_what_reality_are_you_...

And the book from the same guy, if you're interested.

While we are at great talks, listen to those two guys: Steve Jobs - https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_... Rand Pausch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

There are great insights in all of those.

What strikes me in your question is the part "than other people". Seriously, why do you care ? One should never, never, compare to anybody else - just try to be the best 'you' that you can be.

⬐ qnsi

Whats the name of the guy presenting the TED? It returns error for me, when I try to access

⬐ TheAlchemist

It's Isaac Lidsky.

Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

If you haven't watched this, it will change your life. Even if you have, it's one of the few youtube videos that is worth a re-watch. The book is just as good if not better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Spoiler: It is a former CS professor at Carnegie Mellon named Randy Pausch. He had terminal pancreatic cancer. This is a dying professor's last lecture. It is a father sharing life lessons for his kids when they are older to watch.

Some relevant quotes:

- “As you get older, you may find that 'enabling the dreams of others' thing is even more fun.”

- “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

- “The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have. ”

- “Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.”

- “People are more important than things.”

⬐ sireat

The video and book were a great example of playing the hand right BUT

for me the conclusion was a rather grim Ecclesiastical one.

Stoicism seems to me 'making the best of bad situation' still we are doomed and doomed soon.

What difference is there between stoicism and fatalism?

Offside: If you are a conscripted soldier in 1940 Soviet army, ordered to march against a machine gun nest in Finland where do you get your solace?

The Finnish soldiers were amazed(and developed PSTD) how consigned to their fate the advancing Soviet soldiers were despite wave and wave of them being gunned down.

Same goes for a situation like in Boethius Consolation of Philosophy and The Last Lecture.

They are screwed and you can delude yourself into thinking things are great.

http://gunshowcomic.com/648

⬐ fapjacks

I love this lecture. He dispenses a number of classic stoic principles.

⬐ therein

I remember watching this 10 years ago as a 14 year old and getting really emotional. And here I am again...

Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Not necessarily tech. More like great life advice.

> Today unfortunately we have a culture of “you can’t, it’s hard, it’s not for you, other people do that.”

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ dkersten

Lately, I’ve been learning sleight of hand and card magic and I’ve seen this mentioned in the magic community too. It’s advised not to teach friends who ask you to teach them, instead you should point them in the direction of self study resources (books, courses, search keywords) and let them figure it out for themselves. The reason given for this is that many people want to learn just so they know how something is done, but are not motivated enough to actually put the hard work (practice) in. By learning how it’s done without practicing, they ruin magic for themselves (you see this a lot in YouTube comments, where people don’t enjoy a routine for the skill and performance that it is but instead feel the need to figure it out and reveal it to others, often in a derogatory way “I figured it out, it’s shit” but of course they figured it out if they can watch frame by frame over and over...)

Basically what I’m attempting to say is that the brick wall is a useful tool to make sure that the people who want to learn without putting any work or practice in are filtered out from the ones who want to learn and do put the practice in.

I recently said to someone that I believe that (almost; obviously disabilities and such exist) anyone can learn (almost) anything, all it takes is three things:

1. Motivation. You have to want to learn it. In the in text of learning to program, I do believe almost anyone can learn it, but many people have no interest in programming and they will struggle if they try to learn.

2. Practice. It takes time to get good at anything. If you don’t put the time in, you will struggle.

3. A good teacher. Sometimes even with motivation and practice, some things are still really hard. A good teacher can break things down or give you a different perspective. A good teacher makes a massive difference. You don’t always need a teacher (good or otherwise), but some people will. Sadly, not all teachers are good and not everyone has one.

Thanks for reminding me. The Last Lecture is good. Since it's about 9 years ago, some younger HN readers may have missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Cancer sucks.

⬐ qxzw

Younger HN reader here. Wow. Thank you so much for this.

⬐ erikb

> Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium.

So, actually 10 years ago already. Time flies.

Not exactly a blogpost, but this is Randy Pausch's last lecture about achieving your childhood dreams. He was a CS professor at Carnegie Mellon, who passed away roughly a decade ago. I watch it from time to time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ xcubic

This! This! This!

⬐ TheAlchemist

Oh yes !

There is also a book, quite short but there are some things that are not in the lecture. Good read

Life is a death sentence, unless someone has unlocked the key to immortality. I'm sure there are people who've lived less years than me who have still lived a fuller life than me. Randy Pausch, of Carnegie Mellon University, comes to mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Just because you're born knowing you're going to die doesn't mean we should all fret about it (unless you're a Nihlist of course, and then it doesn't matter as everything is futile). Knowing you're more likely to pass sooner would hopefully be a good thing in that you'd hopefully spend more time with your family creating memories than useless stuff like grinding at work and trying to climb corporate ladders only to become a senior middle manager in 20 years.

Personally, I would absolutely want to know to pivot my life towards reality. I'd much rather have an educated guess as to what my future might hold given the options vs sticking my head in the sand and "hopes and prayers" for the best. That being said, I can understand how it might simply be overwhelming for some people who wish to remain blissfully ignorant. Best of luck to them!

Very surprised it hasn't already been mentioned, but Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" is fantastic (although not technical):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ adgulacti

thanks a lot for sharing this, really inspiring!

⬐ nicostouch

Such an epic lecture this!

⬐ cableshaft

Just rewatched this. I was thinking "I remember this having a major effect on me emotionally last time, why isn't it this time?", then I got to the end, and it reminded me. Oh boy. Still choked up.

Randy Pausch, the last lecture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&app=desktop

"The Last Lecture", by Randy Pausch. While it's by a well-known CS professor (who was dying of cancer at the time), it's not a technical talk, but about life and work, and how to make the most of it. One of the most inspiring things I've ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Another fantastic one is Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement address at Stanford:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

⬐ hans

o u said steve jobs: really his announcement of the ipod was an incredible speech .. it ties together tech+art+music+apple and his vision appears pretty fresh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0SVBCJqLs

⬐ oliv__

Apple seemed so grounded and feature oriented back then.

It's hard to believe that the iPhone's battery still only lasts a day or so after seeing this video.

⬐ rkuykendall-com

> so grounded and feature oriented back then

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

⬐ qznc

The talks are awesome. I still downvoted this, because I consider it off topic. Sorry.

⬐ Cyph0n

https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat

⬐ sjnair96

And I upvoted you for explaining why you downvoted it. No point downvoting you. Comparing the end results of both, we only have a higher chance of a net benefit by upvoting you, regardless of whether I agree with you or not. I hope the rest of the HN community also takes this approach before voting.

⬐ will_pseudonym

Randy Pausch's Time Management lecture is also great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tim1sjY7q8

⬐ acangiano

Actual lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTugjssqOT0

⬐ lza

wow!!! So glad I watched it. Thanks for sharing it.

⬐ hboon

If you like the lecture or/and the book, you'll probably want to read the transcript for the session he did on time management http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Randy/TMenglishTranscript...

⬐ bhrgunatha

There is also a video of that lecture too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTugjssqOT0

⬐ dcherman

Still one of my favorite lectures I've watched online of all time. Highly recommend the book as well for those that haven't read it.

⬐ Red_Tarsius

I found The Last Lecture while looking for a motivational book to gift my brother. Do you think a 14yo could appreciate Randy's writings? I'd like to instill him with a sense of perseverance, responsibility and long-term vision.

⬐ z1mm32m4n

I read this book after my mom suggested it to me in 8th grade (14 years old!) and it was the reason I ended up setting my sights on CMU for college. I know that a 14yo could appreciate it.

⬐ dcherman

Absolutely! I don't want to spoil it for others that may not have seen or read it yet, but you know the ending and why he wrote it.

While he may not fully understand everything (the lessons, not the words), this is the kind of book that I still go back and read every couple of years and still try to pick up something new each time. I'm sure he can pick up things that are relevant to him today and still find new lessons for years to come.

⬐ pyromine

Similiar to other posters, I read this book in middle school and found it a great inspiration then.

I actually at the time got really big in to Alice[1] a gui based programming environment Pausch pioneered and it led to a lot of my earlier computing experiences.

I'd highly recommend the book for any young teen as it paints an incredibly optimistic picture of the world, which is something to be said when you consider Pausch had terminal cancer.

In all honesty to this day Pausch remains one of my greatest inspirations.

[1]: http://www.alice.org/index.php

⬐ ashishb

Here is my summary of his book on the same lecture: https://ashishb.net/book-summary/book-summary-the-last-lectu...

⬐ jk4930

Thanks for your many book summaries. Love those. Here's another good list: https://sivers.org/book

⬐ manca

Definitely one of my favorite talks of all time.

Thanks for reminding me to rewatch this again...

⬐ phodo

As an EE undergrad at UVa in the early 90s, I was fascinated by all things virtual reality. Someone suggested I go meet with this rising star prof, Randy Pausch, who was doing some very interesting work in the field. I was fortunate to hang out with him and his grad students for about a semester, getting exposed to 3D graphics and 3D paint programs, 3D spaces, the VPL glove, SGI machines. It was, for lack of a better word, magical. Many years later, I heard about the last lecture and was sad to hear it was the very same prof I knew. I realized how many of the ideas and technologies I was exposed to back then had become very real many years later.

What's really sad is that the state of progress in cancer treatment is extremely slow. Randy Pausch, for example, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 10 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

There are people receiving the exact same death sentence today, with the same likely outcomes.

Anyway, there's a book and a PBS series for anyone interested in learning the more about the current state of cancer research:

http://www.pbs.org/show/story-cancer-emperor-all-maladies/

⬐ Luc

Strange, from what I read (including interviews with oncologists) cancer treatment is massively improving, with new treatments available and many fundamental advances in the pipeline. The future is looking bright, with cancer becoming a manageable chronic illness in the next decades.

⬐ melling

You're giving me anecdotal information that spans over 20-30 years? Yeah, I'm optimistic that by 2050, we'll be much better off. In the meantime, 7-10 million worldwide will die every year from cancer. We're racing to get self-driving cars to save a lot fewer people.

⬐ mhurron

> I'm optimistic that by 2050, we'll be much better off. In the meantime, 7-10 million worldwide will die every year from cancer

That's sort of how progress and improvements work, they benefit those that come later.

> We're racing to get self-driving cars to save a lot fewer people

And those people working on cars are probably don't have the skills or drive to deal with medical research. That not everyone on the planet is working on what you believe they should be means nothing.

⬐ melling

No one said people should switch jobs. You are filling in the wrong blanks. Thinking outside the box doesn't come easy for you?

⬐ mhurron

And what other meaning does "We're racing to get self-driving cars to save a lot fewer people" have in this context?

⬐ melling

Many people are excited that self-driving cars could potentially save a million lives a year, which will be an incredible achievement.

We need that sort of excitement and effort for cancer research. Eventually 40% of Americans will get cancer, for example:

http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics

⬐ None

None

⬐ karmajunkie

Its more than anecdotal information. In the last few years 11 new treatments have been approved for stage III and IV cancers that are immune-mediated, which includes melanoma, one of the fastest growing (in terms of incidence) as well as most aggressive cancers.

But the real truth is that cancer isn't a single disease. Treatments move slowly because its a host of different diseases which all exhibit the same symptoms of unrestrained growth and cellular immortality. So yeah, a lot of people are going to die of a lot of different diseases. "Curing cancer" isn't going to happen, because "cancer" isn't one single (or even a few) things to cure.

⬐ melling

'cancer isn't a single disease ". That's covered in the video, and it well-known by everyone? The immunotherapy drugs are in the video too. There were certainly a few successes but it sounds like we have a bit of work. It's one of the cancer moonshot projects:

http://www.cancermoonshot2020.org

Do you have to survival rates for the various cancers. That's the benchmark, right?

⬐ karmajunkie

I don't know if I think survival rates are the best metric for judging progress here. The ones I'm most familiar with are melanoma's, but those are also a factor of many things besides treatment options. The only thing I can think of that its a good metric for is 'people not dying'.

I also don't know if 'cancer isn't a single disease' IS well known by everyone. In this crowd perhaps, but certainly not the population at-large.

⬐ austinjp

An oncologist gave a friend of mine the ridiculous opinion that there would be a cure for cancer within 5 years. That was 6 years ago.

I say ridiculous because medicine is awash with similar predictions, the vast majority of which have never come true, or materialise far far later than anticipated.

The future does indeed look bright... from the very specific perspective of the researchers. Unfortunately if you are someone actually living with lung cancer or pancreatic cancer, for example, that bright future suddenly looks a lot murkier.

Fortunately my friend remains in remission, while I remain flabbergasted at the irresponsibility of that oncologist.

⬐ robryk

"Cure for cancer" or "cure for that particular cancer"? First one sounds bizarre (cancer is a set of diseases that are generally similar, but very different in specifics), second is essentially already true for some kinds of cancer (e.g. testicular cancer in males).

⬐ danieltillett

Cancer is a disease where we are making progress, but not fast enough. The immune-based approaches of the last few years are real progress, but cancers like pancreatic cancer are very hard to fight.

⬐ melling

Pancreatic cancer is "hard to fight" because it is seldom detected early, but at a very late stage.

I heard Craig Venter once say that the cure for cancer is early detection. Wish I could find the video.

⬐ yaakov34

That's not really true for pancreatic cancer. It is absolutely notorious for escaping even when it's detected early, and even after a (seemingly) complete resection. This was in fact Randy Pausch's case: he had a resection with negative margin (meaning no cancer detectable on the surfaces from which the tumor was cut) and negative lymph nodes. For most cancers, his chances of survival would have been excellent, but not for pancreatic cancer. I remember at the time he wrote that it was a 50:50 proposition, but it's actually a lot worse. We don't know why this happens - it probably has to do with early metastasis by very small clumps of cells, or even individual cells.

This is one reason nobody recommends widespread screening for pancreatic cancer - apart from the inevitable false positives and so on. We currently don't have anything very wonderful to offer even to people in whom it was detected early, although it does improve the chances somewhat.

⬐ okket

(a bit tangential, not directly related to the special case of pancreatic cancer, maybe in this case early detection provides better results)

Early detection is double-edged sword: It is very hard to tell in early stages if the cancer develops into harmful variants and a small false positive error can have drastic consequences, if applied on scale [1]. The result is that many undergo unnecessary therapy with 100% harmful consequences (not life threatening, but permanent damage like removed organs/sterility).

See also: "The Case Against Early Cancer Detection"

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-case-against-early-c...

I'd put my money (research) rather on better treatment than earlier detection.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8xlOm2wPAA

⬐ melling

It sounds like we need better non-invasive early detection. Tests where you can monitor the progress. Simply saying "we've got some early tests that aren't very helpful" doesn't mean we shouldn't be improving the tests.

Also, i'm not sure why we can't have both: better early detection and better treatments.

⬐ shanacarp

Pathways genomics is actually in clinical trials for blood tests to detect very very early masses that won't show up on scans.

One of the vps from Google's moonshot division,Jeff Huber, just left to head up a company that is a spinout of illumina, called Grail

No affiliation, but they have a bunch of interesting software jobs open after looking at thier site

http://newton.newtonsoftware.com/career/CareerHome.action?cl...

⬐ ekianjo

> What's really sad is that the state of progress in cancer treatment is extremely slow.

This is massively false. There are great strides made for numerous cancers, while for some others (pancreatic, colorectal being among the worst) there are still not many good options. For pancreatic cancer the main issue is that it's very hard to detect in early stages and when you get the symptoms you are basically already in stage IV. Pretty much the same story for brain tumors (like GBM, usually detected very late).

We also know a lot more about how to prevent many types of cancer. If you want to reduce significantly the odds of stomach cancer, you basically need to really restrict your alcohol consumption. Even for many cancers alcohol consumption shows up as correlated with increased risks.

So, treatments are improving, prevention is improving, but of course there are still cancers with very poor outcomes. At the same time, it's a major field of investment so many companies are trying to make odds better every day.

⬐ intrasight

If early detection can make a big difference, then clearly that is the low hanging fruit of cancer research.

⬐ ekianjo

It's not that they are not trying. There are numerous studies looking for bio-markers to detect the presence of cancer, but from what I remember, it does not yield good results.

⬐ robryk

This would require a test that is (a) cheap (so that it can be applied to basically everyone) and (b) has extremely low false positive ratio (because a particular kind of cancer is a rare thing). Repeat for every different kind of cancer.

For these reasons I'm not sure that it'll end up being a lower hanging fruit than vastly better treatment of late detected cancer for the kinds that are usually detected very late now.

Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture [2007] its quite old now, but I still recommend it as a definite worthwhile listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Thanks for including Randy Pausch. His 'Last Lecture' is highly recommended for those who haven't seen it. It can be found in melling's link above or directly here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

I can see a Mario Kart ride utilizing technology for an immersive experience - either as augmented reality with a stationary yet reactive 'kart' or actual kart-racing.

The idea's have been around for a while like this (way back) mentioned from Randy Pausch's lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&t=26m32s

Are the parks slow because it's hard to change or are they being cautious? Wouldn't they want to try outlandish things?

⬐ delinka

I think the slowness is intentional- if they try every outlandish thing, it would become very easy to spend loads of money without seeing a good return. Being slow about these things lets them plan, analyze, consider ... all while technological advancements march on. When they're ready to implement, it's even better than it would have been at first inception.

The late Dr. Randy Pausch, of Last Lecture fame, said that his rule was to archive all emails, no exceptions. [1] IIRC it was because he figured that if everyone saved all their emails, it would would provide future historians with a treasure trove of contemporaneous research material.

From a legal perspective, purging emails can lead to accusations of "spoliation of evidence," [2] which in some circumstances can lead to the judge instructing the jury that the jurors can presume that what you destroyed was harmful to your case. You can argue that you didn't purge any relevant emails, but that becomes a he-said/she-said issue.

[1] I believe it was in his Last Lecture at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo, but it might have been his time-management lecture at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blaK_tB_KQA

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoliation_of_evidence

⬐ keithpeter

"From a legal perspective, purging emails can lead to accusations of "spoliation of evidence," [2] which in some circumstances can lead to the judge instructing the jury that the jurors can presume that what you destroyed was harmful to your case."

What if there was a policy to delete all email older than some cut-off age, e.g. 2 years? Would that assumption still be made?

⬐ dctoedt

> What if there was a policy to delete all email older than some cut-off age, e.g. 2 years? Would that assumption still be made?

You'd have to talk to a lawyer about the specific facts and circumstances, but in general:

1. If you didn't have reason to anticipate litigation when you implemented the policy, it normally shouldn't be a problem;

2. Once you do have reason to anticipate litigation, you're supposed to suspend any such policy and preserve evidence; [1]

3. If a dispute looks as though it's likely to turn into a lawsuit, your adversary's lawyer likely will send you a "litigation hold" letter reminding you of the duty to preserve evidence.

In situations 2 and 3, continuing with an automatic purging routine can get you in trouble.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_hold

I also try to enable the dreams of others, but this ultimately makes me happy, too.

[ Taken from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo ]

I was introduced to this recently and it has become one of my favourite talks. Maybe also of interest on the topic of doing important work, Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

It's not a blog post, but I think Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" is perhaps the most inspirational "thing" I've found on the Internet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ noblethrasher

About ten years beore he was famous for the his Last Lecture, he gave a fantastic talk on time management: https://archive.org/details/GabrielRobins_TimeManagement_byR....

He also gave a revised version of his time management lecture during his brief post-Last-Lecture fame, but I prefer the original.

"Trying to capture as many future histories as possible" (keeping your options open) harmonizes well with Paul Graham's view on procrastination (http://paulgraham.com/procrastination.html) and the tenet of "put off decisions as long as possible".

UPDATE: Evidently several smart people have had this intuition. I just remembered who said, "Never make a decision until you have to" -- it was Randy Pausch in the "The Last Lecture" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo).

And "delay commitment until the last responsible moment" is also an agile principle (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/10/the-last-responsibl...).

⬐ melipone

Yes, there is also something similar in game theory. You're losing if your adversary reduces your branching factor.

You know what's interesting? The immediate follow up to that first message, by Richard Chimera, mentions Randy Pausch. Does anybody remember him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Small world.

Here's the link to the actual lecture with relevant quote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&t=5m45s

⬐ thebigshane

   The brick walls are there for a reason. Right? The brick 
   walls are not there to keep us out, the brick walls are 
   there to give us a chance to show how badly we want 
   something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the 
   people who don't want it badly enough.

   -Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture is an inspiring book - Randy Pausch was another great man that the technology community had lost and I recommend everyone to both watch the Last lecture and read the book.

The video is viewable here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&feature=playe... (as embedded on the OP's submission)

So what did I love doing when I was 12? Playing soccer. But as I explored what it was that I loved about soccer, I loved being the best player on the team. I loved leading the team. I loved playing creatively, doing the unexpected. I loved quickly finding solutions to problems on the field and planning tactics before the game to get an advantage. I loved practice and constantly improving. Now I do the same things that I loved when I was 12- but I do them with tech companies.

This greatly reminded me of Randy Pausch's last speech [1]. Please, if you haven't seen it already, you should find some time, today.

As for the author's points, it seems like some people are missing the point. He is not saying you should work for free. He is saying that if you involve yourself professionally in something you are deeply passionate about, something you would enjoy doing in your free time, everything else will come. And by everything else one means fulfillment, expertise and inevitably money.

You are better off seeking that something sooner rather than later. Hence, quit now. Find in. Enjoy it. Make money.

My 0,02 €.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

This reminds me of Randy Pausch's method of getting someone to sit down for lunch. [1]

"And he asked a question. And I was like, I’m sorry did you say you were Tom Furness? And he said yes. I said, then I would love to answer your question, but first, will you have lunch with me tomorrow? And there’s a lot in that little moment. There’s a lot of humility, but also asking a person where he can’t possibly say no."

Although, admittedly, that's after you got them to say a few words to you and you're in front of a large group of people.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo 19:40

Edit:

For those who don't know, here's the setting of this talk:

This talk is one in a series given at CMU called the "Last Lecture" series with the hypothetical setting of 'what if you had one last talk to give?'. Randy Pausch, a professor at CMU, didn't have to pretend. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and in August of 2007 (when he gave the talk) was told he had three to six months left to live.

If you haven't seen it, watch the whole talk. It's really good.

⬐ gnosis

"And he asked a question. And I was like, I’m sorry did you say you were Tom Furness? And he said yes. I said, then I would love to answer your question, but first, will you have lunch with me tomorrow? And there’s a lot in that little moment. There’s a lot of humility, but also asking a person where he can’t possibly say no."

Awful advice. Not only does it not come across as humble, it comes across as cheap flattery and obnoxious insistence on something you don't deserve.

The initial moments after meeting someone are the moments when that person has the least interest in doing anything for you (next to the point before that, when you haven't met them at all). They lose almost nothing by making up some excuse not to do what you ask of them.

It's only after they've gotten to know you a bit, and after you've proven that you're interesting and valuable in some way, that they'll have a bit more incentive to do you a favor.

⬐ spleeyah

I just watched the whole video and all I can say is wow. That guy was truly a smart man.

I watched it all the way to the end without losing focus for a second. The head fake at the end really hit hard.

Great video.

⬐ ColinWright

Again? Really?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=61434

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=163630

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=234790

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=257328

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=257653

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1072030

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1405546

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1834631

"Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. "

~Randy Pausch, Last Lecture (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo)

I don't think he spent time making a custom iPad app for his daughter so he could make learning independent enough to not participate. He was merely trying to apply one of his strengths (programming), his background (a startup designing educational games), and background knowledge (knowing his daughter loved Harry Potter) to try to create a better learning experience for his daughter, which is something I think every good educator, whether it's a teacher, parent, or peer, should do. You have to teach people to your strengths and their strengths - if he was an author and chose to teach math to his daughter in the context of elaborate stories and fairy tales, would you call that self-defeating as well?

This reminded me of Randy Pausch's last lecture (if you haven't had a chance to watch it, I highly recommend it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo). Teaching kids is all about headfakes* - you are't encouraging them to play soccer so they can go and play in the World Cup, but rather so they have a fun context to learn about things like hard work, practice, and teamwork. Analogously, I think this personalized Harry Potter app just teaches his daughter that learning doesn't always have to feel like work, not specifically that she should spend all day trying to get praises from Hermoine and British men answering math problems.

* Disclaimer: I don't have kids and know little to nothing about raising or educating kids.

⬐ mcyger

Great points. There are 2+ ways to view everything. I appreciate your input! :)

⬐ pbhjpbhj

>you are't encouraging them to play soccer so they can go and play in the World Cup, but rather so they have a fun context to learn about things like hard work, practice, and teamwork

I'm sure many people (parents|teachers|other educators)see things like sports in this way. Personally I'm teaching my kids football because I enjoy kicking a football around and playing the game - it's not a direct proxy for learning something else, that is not the motivation.

The reason I'm teaching my eldest about maths is because I find it interesting, stimulating and often fun; not because I see it as a gateway to being an accountant or whatever.

Having said that I see nothing novel educationally in the article except the very specific combination of movie franchise + ipad + maths. Remember Britney Spears being used to teach physics a few years ago?

Slightly OT: I don't think his reasons as stated indemnify him from a successful claim of copyright infringement. He chose the specific franchise as a promotional tool both for his blog and for, it seems, KnowPro Apps. This was apparently a decision rooted in the profitable promotion of business entities. The fact that the app he mention itself was created for sole personal use is immaterial. If there is a KnowPro paid for this app in any way then I'd expect a successful suit could follow. IANA&copy;L

⬐ mcyger

Thanks for your feedback.

I think the novelty comes in exactly what you state, and I think that the educational system relies too heavily on the status quo. There would be nothing wrong with a classroom posting pictures of Harry Potter and couching a lesson in the Harry Potter clothes in order to drive more student involvement. It's no different than when Jeopardy was popular 10 years ago and Jeopardy-like student challenges spread across schools.

With respect to the copyright infringement aspect, I hope that is not the case. I believe that many people are visual learners and seeing an example can have a much more powerful result than a mere description. It was with that intention that I posted the video. I do not plan to distribute the app as that would clearly be in copyright violation.

If you're looking for something different then check out The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It's is an eye-opening book in a very nontraditional sense.

You may remember Pausch as the computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who was told that he had but a few months left to live (cancer). This book doesn't stray from its topic: "What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?" If you're looking for motivation and an "out of the box" approach to analyzing daily life then this is it.

Here's the book: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Lecture-Randy-Pausch/dp/140132325...

Here's the famous speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ bobds

I didn't know he wrote a book about it, thanks. I've watched the speech a few times and it is excellent.

Welcome to the law of Diminishing returns. Your choices fundamentally boils down to the following:

-Take the blue pill. Stay in wonderland. Pick a technology, any technology. Drive yourself into it deeper. The rabbit hole goes much, much further, than you can imagine.

-Take the red pill, and wake up: the rabbit hole goes the other way, too. On first basis, you have the ever-exploding number of scientific disciplines ( http://www.turtlshel.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/43056172... ). Even further, society isn't merely a collection of engineers, and scientist: other people have all kind of different jobs.

Furthermore, they are equally convinced, that their field of choice was the right one; and from their own perspective each one of them was right.

Since you're HN, you might have a particular interest towards this field we call "business". Now, this is not what people around you -who are called "managers" btw- do. A good working definition for engineers is: Business is the ability to actualize a job that needs to be done, on which you're retroactively hired (or fired) by society as a whole. Or, as PG put it: doing stuff what people wants.

Regardless of how you choose, a good partition of it is going to be soul-searching. There are 2 pieces of media I'd strongly recommend for that:

-Randy Pausch Last Lecture [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo], and

-wishcraft, which is a short book, available freely from http://wishcraft.com/.

On an ending note, I feel for you. Every time I've been down to this alley, I always always wished I'd have done it earlier. If anything, you should know this: the direction of your life does not boil down to singular moments, as you've described in your initial post. It's something that must must must be constantly evaluated, and course-corrected based on any new piece of life-data you happen to stumble across. And it's never to late to change things.

⬐ glenra

I'd toss in another piece of media, Elizabeth Gilbert's short (20-minute) TED talk on creativity and "genius":

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

(I tend to re-watch that one whenever I feel like I'm stuck in a creative rut, have run out of ideas, or just aren't talented enough to achieve my current artistic goals.)

Also useful advice: Find ways to hang out with a peer group. Try browsing meetup.com in your areas of interest.

One of the most inspiring lectures in history, filled with life lessons, is Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Watch it. Many times.

A quick response to your comment above: "Oh lord, I don't even watch the Daily Show and Conan which seem to be mindless trite that other people watch. Heck I don't even know what these shows are."

A friendly warning: be wary of thinking yourself superior to others, especially intellectually, or assuming that calling something "mindless trite" (or tripe) makes you smart. What makes you smart is your own knowledge, not whether you can put various forms of entertainment down.

I'm a grad student and have been teaching freshmen for the last two years, some of whom have the know-it-all disease that you might be manifesting. If you haven't watched The Last Lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo , do so. Notice the part where Randy tells the story of a mentor telling him, "If people perceive you as arrogant, you won't be able to accomplish what you want to accomplish." I would say the same to you, especially with comments like this:

"You have yet to demonstrate actual evidence of adults having the proper wisdom," which is a) vacuous and b) will make people think less of you.

Anyway, you'll likely perceive my comment as a) demonstrating my inferior intelligence or b) hostile to you. I make it anyway out of hope rather than expectation.

⬐ kiba

A friendly warning: be wary of thinking yourself superior to others, especially intellectually, or assuming that calling something "mindless trite" (or tripe) makes you smart. What makes you smart is your own knowledge, not whether you can put various forms of entertainment down.

Why the hell are you trying to pyscho-analyze me? Alright, I made a dumb comment and will try to avoid that in the future.

"You have yet to demonstrate actual evidence of adults having the proper wisdom," which is a) vacuous and b) will make people think less of you.

Lady and gentleman, this is called an appeal to authority. Calling my comment stupid and dumb isn't addressing the issue. Demonstrate why it is dumb and stupid.

Anyway, you'll likely perceive my comment as a) demonstrating my inferior intelligence or b) hostile to you. I make it anyway out of hope rather than expectation.

Well I don't know what to think about this. I respect some adults, and know that I am not most experienced person in the world, don't know everything, and can be wrong. However, I won't be tricked by logical fallacies.

You know, I actually think beyond "HAHAHA, I am superior" steps sometime. Not alway successful mind you, but enough to meta-analyze myself.

Reminds me of "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. That was one of the most inspiring talks I've ever heard. Check it out if you haven't yet - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ ArturSoler

Oh, man, I wondered before watching it if it was worth the 1 hour 16 minutes it's long.

Now I've watched it and I know it would have been worth even if it lasted 100 hours.

Thank you very much for letting me know about it.

⬐ ashishbharthi

I got the exact same thought. I still remember seeing above YouTube link on google homepage and clicked on it. I missed my dinner, my wife kept calling me, but I just got sucked into Randy's talk. It definitely changed me and how I look at my life. I think this is another powerful message. Thanks for sharing this.

I enjoyed this article. The part about helping other people reminded me of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture and what he said about enabling the dreams of others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ krmmalik

That was a great video. I watched it a few months ago, which inspired me to write this blog post too. Thanks for the link!

Thankyou, I'd lost sight of this a little. teaching someone how to deal with a type of situation rather than a specific one is always useful in the long run.

If anyone else appreciates this type of thing then Randy Pauche's "Last Lecture" is very inspirational http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Randy Pausch put it best:

"The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

If you haven't heard this phrase, you really should watch his "Last Lecture": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

⬐ wallflower

The interesting thing about Pausch's last lecture is I've met people who don't normally go for self-discovery, self-help type motivational materials who have really identified with it/recommend it to their friends. My boss even has the book.

I think most motivational content is a scam because it is heavily tilted/skewed in favor of positive-only (e.g. don't talk about real failures). Randy Pausch wasn't trying to make a motivational speech - he was trying to deliver an important message (to his kids). He was real and passionate.

⬐ tsally

The Last Lecture is absolutely worth watching (and reading, there is a book). Just as a note for those who haven't seen it yet, Randy was rejected from Carnegie Mellon when applying there for graduate school. He was also rejected when he applied to be an Imagineer with Disney. Eventually he ended up getting his PhD from CMU and was offered a job as an Imagineer. You'll have to watch/read the Last Lecture to find out exactly how all of it went down :-).

⬐ froo

Another similar story is about John Lasseter (one of the founding members of Pixar, who is also responsible for drawing the BSD daemon) was fired from Disney after trying to introduce 3D technology into their animation pipeline.

He never gave up and after a brief stint at Lucasfilm went onto founding Pixar with Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs.

Disney ended up purchasing Pixar in 2006 for about $7.4 billion

⬐ vlad

Many years prior to his "Last Lecture", Randy was Pausch was first famous for his Time Management lecture. I posted the video here 8 days ago.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=459095

⬐ adamsmith

Watching it now. It seems like a breakage that the video didn't get voted higher!

⬐ zkinion

Yeah, I finally sat down and watched this whole thing last night. He gives some really good advice about achieving your dreams. It goes off on some tangents sometimes, like when talking about the specifics of his student's projects, but its still pieced together nicely, and towards the end it gets good when he really nails down his message.

Is Randy still alive? I hope he's doing well.

⬐ rms

http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/

Randy Pausch (speaking of apparent barriers between you and your goals): "The wall is there for you to show how bad you want it."

(From his "Last Lecture", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo)