Harvard Commencement Speech

8/8/2019 Harvard Commencement Speech

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My address will follow the classical sonata form of commencement addresses.

The first movement, just presented, were light-hearted remarks. This next

movement consists ofunsolicited advice, which is rarely valued, seldom

remembered, never followed. As Oscar Wilde said, The only thing to dowith good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.So,

here comes the advice.First, every time you celebrate an achievement, be thankful

to those who made it possible. Thank your parents and friends who supported

you, thank your professors who were inspirational, and especially thank the other

professors whose less-than-brilliant lectures forced you to teach yourself. Going

forward, the ability to teach yourself is the hallmark of a great liberal

arts education and will be the key to your success. To your fellow students who

have added immeasurably to your education during those late night discussions,hug them. Also, of course, thank Harvard. Should you forget, theres an alumni

association to remind you.Second, in your future life, cultivate a generous spirit.

In all negotiations, dont bargain for the last, little advantage. Leave the change

on the table. In your collaborations, always remember that credit is not a

conserved quantity. In a successful collaboration, everybody gets 90

percent of the credit.

Jimmy Stewart, as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie Harvey got it exactly right. He

said: Years ago my mother used to say to me, In this world, Elwood, you must be

she always used to call me Elwood in this world, Elwood, you must be oh so

smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.

You may quote me on that.

My third piece of advice is as follows: As you begin this new stage of your lives,

follow your passion. If you dont have a passion, dont be satisfied until

you find one. Life is too short to go through it without caring deeply

about something. When I was your age, I was incredibly single-minded in my

goal to be a physicist. After college, I spent eight years as a graduate student and

postdoc at Berkeley, and then nine years at Bell Labs. During that my time, my

central focus and professional joy was physics.

Here is my final piece of advice. Pursuing a personal passion is important,

but it should not be your only goal. When you are old and gray, and

look back on your life, you will want to be proud of what you have

done. The source of that pride wont be the things you have acquired

or the recognition you have received. It will be the lives you havetouched and the difference you have made.


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After nine years at Bell labs, I decided to leave that warm, cozy ivory tower for

what I considered to be the real world, a university. Bell Labs, to quote what

was said about Mary Poppins, was practically perfect in every way, but I wanted

to leave behind something more than scientific articles. I wanted to teach andgive birth to my own set of scientific children.

Ted Geballe, a friend and distinguished colleague of mine at Stanford, who also

went from Berkeley to Bell Labs to Stanford years earlier, described our motives

best:

The best part of working at a university is the students. They come in

fresh, enthusiastic, open to ideas, unscarred by the battles of life.

They dont realize it, but theyre the recipients of the best our society

can offer. If a mind is ever free to be creative, thats the time. Theycome in believing textbooks are authoritative, but eventually they

figure out that textbooks and professors dont know everything, and

then they start to think on their own. Then, I begin learning from

them.

My students, post doctoral fellows, and the young researchers who worked with

me at Bell Labs, Stanford, and Berkeley have been extraordinary. Over 30 former

group members are now professors, many at the best research institutions in the

world, including Harvard. I have learned much from them. Even now, in rare

moments on weekends, the remaining members of my biophysics group meet

with me in the ether world of cyberspace.

A scientific discovery and a new dilemma

I began teaching with the idea of giving back; I received more than I gave. This

brings me to the final movement of this speech. It begins with a story about an

extraordinary scientific discovery and a new dilemma that it poses. Its a call to

arms and about making a difference.

In the last several decades, our climate has been changing. Climate change is not

new: the Earth went through six ice ages in the past 600,000 years. However,

recent measurements show that the climate has begun to change rapidly. The size

of the North Polar Ice Cap in the month of September is only half the size it was a

mere 50 years ago. The sea level which been rising since direct measurements

began in 1870 at a rate that is now five times faster than it was at the beginning of

recorded measurements.Heres the remarkable scientific discovery. For the first

time in human history, science is now making predictions of how our actions will


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affect the world 50 and 100 years from now. These changes are due to an increase

in carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial

Revolution. The Earth has warmed up by roughly 0.8 degrees Celsius since the

beginning of the Revolution. There is already approximately a 1 degree rise builtinto the system, even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today. Why? It will

take decades to warm up the deep oceans before the temperature reaches a new

equilibrium.

If the world continues on a business-as-usual path, the Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change predicts that there is a fifty-fifty chance the temperature will

exceed 5 degrees by the end of this century. This increase may not sound like

much, but let me remind you that during the last ice age, the world was only 6

degrees colder. During this time, most of Canada and the United States down toOhio and Pennsylvania were covered year round by a glacier. A world 5 degrees

warmer will be very different. The change will be so rapid that many species,

including Humans, will have a hard time adapting. Ive been told for example,

that, in a much warmer world, insects were bigger. I wonder if this thing buzzing

around is a precursor.

We also face the specter of nonlinear tipping points that may cause much more

severe changes. An example of a tipping point is the thawing of the permafrost.

The permafrost contains immense amounts of frozen organic matter that have

been accumulating for millennia. If the soil melts, microbes will spring to life and

cause this debris to rot. The difference in biological activity below freezing and

above freezing is something we are all familiar with. Frozen food remains edible

for a very long time in the freezer, but once thawed, it spoils quickly. How much

methane and carbon dioxide might be released from the rotting permafrost? If

even a fraction of the carbon is released, it could be greater than all the

greenhouse gases we have released to since the beginning of the industrial

revolution. Once started, a runaway effect could occur.

The climate problem is the unintended consequence of our success. We depend

on fossil energy to keep our homes warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and

lit at night; we use it to travel across town and across continents. Energy is a

fundamental reason for the prosperity we enjoy, and we will not surrender this

prosperity. The United States has 3 percent of the world population, and yet, we

consume 25 percent of the energy. By contrast, there are 1.6 billion people who

dont have access to electricity. Hundreds of millions of people still cook with


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twigs or dung. The life we enjoy may not be within the reach of the developing

world, but it is within sight, and they want what we have.

Here is the dilemma. How much are we willing to invest, as a world society, to

mitigate the consequences of climate change that will not be realized for at least100 years? Deeply rooted in all cultures, is the notion of generational

responsibility. Parents work hard so that their children will have a better life.

Climate change will affect the entire world, but our natural focus is on the welfare

of our immediate families. Can we, as a world society, meet our responsibility to

future generations?

While I am worried, I am hopeful we will solve this problem. I became the

director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in part because I wanted

to enlist some of the best scientific minds to help battle against climate change. Iwas there only four and a half years, the shortest serving director in the 78-year

history of the Lab, but when I left, a number of very exciting energy institutes at

the Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley had been established.

I am extremely privileged to be part of the Obama administration. If there ever

was a time to help steer America and the world towards a path of

sustainable energy, now is the time. The message the President is delivering

is not one of doom and gloom, but of optimism and opportunity. I share this

optimism. The task ahead is daunting, but we can and will succeed.

We know some of the answers already. There are immediate and significant

savings in energy efficiency and conservation. Energy efficiency is not

just low-hanging fruit; it is fruit lying on the ground. For example, we

have the potential to make buildings 80 percent more efficient with

investments that will pay for themselves in less than 15 years.

Buildings consume 40 percent of the energy we use, and a transition

to energy efficient buildings will cut our carbon emissions by one-

third.

We are revving up the remarkable American innovation machine that will be the

basis of a new American prosperity. We will invent much improved

methods to harness the sun, the wind, nuclear power, and capture

and sequester the carbon dioxide emitted from our power plants.

Advanced bio-fuels and the electrification of personal vehicles make

us less dependent on foreign oil.

In the coming decades, we will almost certainly face higher oil pricesand be in a carbon-constrained economy. We have the opportunity to


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lead in development of a new, industrial revolution. The great hockey

player, Wayne Gretzky, when asked, how he positions himself on the ice, he

replied, I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where its been. America

should do the same.The Obama administration is laying a new foundation for a prosperous and

sustainable energy future, but we dont have all of the answers. Thats where you

come in. In this address, I am asking you, the Harvard graduates, to join us. As

our future intellectual leaders, take the time to learn more about whats at stake,

and then act on that knowledge.As future scientists and engineers, I ask

you to give us better technology solutions. As future economists and

political scientists, I ask you to create better policy options. As future

business leaders, I ask that you make sustainability an integral part ofyour business.

Finally, as humanists, I ask that you speak to our common humanity.

One of the cruelest ironies about climate change is that the ones who

will be hurt the most are the most innocent: the worlds poorest and

those yet to be born.

The coda to this last movement is borrowed from two humanists.

The first quote is from Martin Luther King. He spoke on ending the war in

Vietnam in 1967, but his message seems so fitting for todays climate crisis:

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern

beyond ones tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-

embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft

misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed

by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now

become an absolute necessity for the survival of man We are now

faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are

confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding

conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.

The final message is from William Faulkner. On December 10th, 1950, his Nobel

Prize banquet speech was about the role of humanists in a world facing potential

nuclear holocaust.

I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is

immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible

voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion andsacrifice and endurance. The poets, the writers, duty is to write about


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these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart,

by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and

compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his

past.Graduates, you have an extraordinary role to play in our future. As you pursue

your private passions, I hope you will also develop a passion and a voice to help

the world in ways both large and small. Nothing will give you greater satisfaction.

Please accept my warmest congratulations. May you prosper, may you help

preserve and save our planet for your children, and all future children of the

world.

What can old people teach young people?I am acutely conscious of the difference between our ages. I studied and left

university at a time when the world and Singapore were very different from today. Cananything I say about my experience be relevant to yours? In this fast changing technologicalworld, having experience is knowing about yesterday and many believe that yesterday can nolonger tell you as much about tomorrow as it could when the world was less complex andmoving much more slowly. In this internet world, the younger you are, the nimbler and moreagile your reflexes will be and the better you can use the gadgets that Microsoft and Applekeep producing. It is quite easy for the young to assume that the old have little to teach them.

2. We are also told, from time to time, that for Singapore to move to the next level,innovation is the key, and sticking to the old ways and solutions can no longer generate thegrowth we seek. And innovation requires new, creative and imaginative ways of doing things.

The buzz word I grew up with in my public service career efficiency has been overtakenby other buzz words. Making things work well is no longer enough. It seems logical to ask : Ifthe world has become much more complex and difficult to predict, can anyone really tell youwhat to do and how to live, after you graduate?

3. Besides, those of us who are parents realise that young people do not always listen toadvice. The US Energy Secretary and Nobel Laureate in Physics, Steven Chu, in his recentcommencement address to Harvard University had this to say about giving unsolicited advice:it is rarely valued, seldom remembered, never followed. The smarter young adults withhigher EQ will pretend to listen. During PSC interviews, some candidates tell me that they putdown medicine or law as career options only because they want to please their parents,not because they have a real interest. They thus fulfil their obligation as filial children but, atthe same time, are signalling very clearly to the PSC that their passion lies elsewhere.

4. I am also mindful that many of you here will be heading to the private sector, a worldthat is quite alien to me, since I have never worked there.

5. Given all the above, I thought it more temperate for me to eschew too didactic anapproach and merely offer you a few simple tips which I think apply to both the private andpublic sectors, are relevant to all ages and will not be circumscribed by how fast the worldmoves.

6. First, I feel it is vital to know yourself. This is easier said than done. Sometimes, youfind yourself not at work, but when you engage in activities outside your comfort zone. I knowthat the President of your University finds himself this way, when he pushes himself to thepeak of his physical and mental ability, trekking in remote places in the world. Only a few

people are lucky enough to discover their true calling or passion early in life. Mostrealise that they enjoy and are good at what they do only after having tried severaljobs. A great many never do what they ought to do, either because of a lack of self-


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realisation or opportunity. I was one of the fortunate few to find a career in the PublicService which I enjoyed and found thoroughly fulfilling. But when I was in school, I wanted tobe a journalist.

7. Second, you are even more fortunate if you find a great mentor in working life toobserve and learn from. My good fortune was to have Dr. Goh Keng Swee as my first

Minister. He was someone who dedicated his life selflessly to public service, eschewingwealth for himself, but building great wealth for Singapore. You would have read about hisfrugality tearing tissue papers into two, washing his underwear in hotel rooms, and notcarrying money in his pocket. He was intrigued by ideas, read about anything that interestedhim deeply and voraciously, and applied his knowledge single-mindedly to making Singaporesurvive and prosper. Despite his brilliant mind and sharp intellect, he was always keen tolearn from others. He was what I would term a pragmatic nationalist, applying what worked forother countries to Singapores special circumstances. What a teacher. What a mentor. Ofcourse, a mentor need not only be a great man. You will find that there are many things tolearn from your peers and your subordinates if you are prepared to listen and are open toother peoples views.

8. Third, always make the most of what you find and give of your best. I have had a

number of jobs in my career, some of which I enjoyed more than others. But I never foundany one of them boring because I did my best to make them interesting, challenging andfulfilling. As a rookie, I would advise that you look at every task as a challenge and alearning opportunity. If things are not right, dont just gripe but do something toimprove the situation for yourself and the organisation. The ability to work as part of ateam is absolutely essential for any member of an effective organisation, as this willensure that your individual ability can unite with those of others and create somethingmuch bigger than each single person can achieve. As a leader, deploy peopleaccording to their ability and talent and give them room to grow anddevelop. Appreciate diversity and listen to the ground. Difficult people with new ideasmay be a pain to manage, but the time spent will be worth it if they truly havesomething useful and original to contribute. You yourself should know both the smallpicture and the big picture, but please try not to micro-manage. If you only see the

small picture, you will get lost in the trees. If you only see the big picture, your staff willsoon ignore you and take over real control of the organisation. If you micro-manage,you stifle initiative and discourage creativity.

9. Fourth, always be mindful that if you are successful, no matter how that is defined, it isnever due only to your own effort and achievements but to the support you have received from your boss, your colleagues, your family and your friends. If you dont succeed, try not toblame everybody else except yourself. It is human to do so, but if you are truly honest, youwill often find that you must share the responsibility when something goes wrong. Takingresponsibility for mistakes should spur you on to do better, not paralyze you with zeroself-esteem.

10. Fifth, do not be afraid to be critical and question assumptions, but there is no need to

be nasty about it. Knowing when and how to criticize is as important as knowing what tocriticize. That is called EQ, and more and more people now believe that EQ and softskills will get you further in life than IQ. And always have balance and a sense ofperspective. Nothing and nobody is all bad or all good. So if you see something that youthink is not quite right about what is happening in Singapore, speak up, but never forget allthose things that are going right as a result of good, honest governance and a first-classPublic Service.

11. Please do not get me wrong. Having a university education is about securingbetter pay, becoming gainfully employed and starting a successful business venture.Having the right university degree will help you start off. But whether you succeed in theuniversity of life will require you to be mindful of other skills and qualities and I hope my fewtips will be helpful in pointing you to some of them. In other words, what really matters is

not how well-educated you are, but what kind of person you are. Let me end by againshamelessly borrowing from US Energy Secretary Steven Chu because I share hissentiments:


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Pursuing a personal passion is important, but it should not be your only goal. When you areold and gray, and look back on your life, you will want to be proud of what you have done.The source of that pride wont be the things you have acquired or the recognition you havereceived. It will be the lives you have touched and the differences you have made.

Number 10: Dont ever believe that men cant change. She gave the example of a

notion that once prevailed: only women possessed the fine-motor skills to type. Then,

Suddenly computers appeared and voil! Men could type! Number 9 was: All

grownups should be able to get married as long as they dont hit each other, but I hope we

stop thinking that only lifetime partnerships mean success. She quoted Margaret Mead

to the effect that marriage worked better in the nineteenth century because people only

lived to be 50. Number 6 was: Nothing much is going to change until men are

raising children as much as women are, with its corollary, Women wont beequal outside the home until men are equal inside the home. She added that

Superwoman was created by anti-feminists. Item 4 lamented the fact that young

women in their twenties think that life is over if success hasnt arrived by age 30;

Steinem countered, from the bottom of my heart: Life gets greater and more surprising

after 40, 50, 60, and, yes, 70.

We cant plan effectively in this country, she stated, because caregiving in the home90percent of which, she said, is done by women, and which is an indispensable 30 percent

of all productive work in this nation, whether its for elderly parents or childrenhas no

attributed value. It could be valued at replacement level, made tax deductible for those

who pay taxes, and tax-refundable for those below tax level, thus rewarding work and

substituting for welfare. Such an attributed value for caregiving would make the national

system of accounts reflect realities, and would be exceeded only by attributing an

economic value to the environment. This is a project for a deep thinker at the Institute

we need you.

She also probed the connections between violence in homes and in the wider

society. One can directly predict the violence in a country, in its foreign policy, in

its degree of reliance on the military, by the normalization of violence in the

home, she said. Yet, because family forms and child rearing are so often

feminine areas of study, and foreign policy and militarism are so often

masculine fields, academia tends to divorce the cause from the effect. She went

on to assert that all violence that is not about money or material gain is about

proving superiority and control. Indeed, so many crimes should really be called

supremacy crimes, because that is their motive.


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Steinem explained that a woman is in greatest danger of being beaten or killed

when she is leaving a violent homewhen she is about to escape or has just

escaped. Well, I submit to you that this country is escaping. Think about it. Were

less likely to support foreign interventions, more likely to protest our big financial

institutions, far less likely to create hierarchical families, deeply hostile to oil

companies destroying the environment, and about to become a country in which

European Americans are no longer the majority, for the very first time. And we

have elected a proud African-American president and family to the White House.

This country is becoming free. Consequently, she asserted, This is a time of

maximum danger, but just as we would never tell a woman to stay in a violent

home, we will not stop seeking freedom, either.

Harvard Commencement Speech

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