On Nothing Much
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Randy Pausch Delivering The Last Lecture
The Last Lecture in Print
Brick Walls Test Some and Keep Others Out
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The Next President As I write this in the dawning days of 2009, the nearness of Barack Obama's inauguration fills the news and my personal thoughts. When the next President of the United States is your high school classmate, you catch yourself thinking, "Wow, he's done really well for himself since graduation." Then you try to curb the next unbeckoned thought, "And me, not so well. What have I been doing with all my time?" A little reading, I guess. The Last Lecture Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to read The Last Lecture by Carnegie Mellon University Computer Sciences Professor Randy Pausch, who died this past July of pancreatic cancer. The title of his book refers to an inspiring and now famous on-campus talk that he delivered to colleagues, family and friends in September 2007, soon after his terminal illness was diagnosed and just ten months before his death at age 47. By the way, that's also my age and the age of the President-Elect. The Last Lecture also refers to the original name of the Carnegie Mellon lecture series that sponsored his address, and that asks speakers to consider what wisdom they would share with others if they thought it was their last chance. Because of Pausch's illness, the underlying conceit of the speech was, and remains even now, glaringly real. Perhaps that is why the lecture series is now called Journeys. Dreams Pursued and Lessons Learned In his lecture, Pausch spoke of the importance of childhood dreams, described how he had realized most of his (experiencing zero gravity, winning stuffed animals, authoring an encyclopedia entry, meeting Captain Kirk, and becoming a Disney Imagineer), and explained the ways he has helped others to fulfill theirs. Then he shared several lessons he learned along the way. Here is my favorite Pauschism: "Brick walls are there for a reason -- they give us a chance to show how badly we want something." I've encountered a brick wall or two around Watergate this past year, and appreciate what Pausch is talking about. I also love his observation that "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." It rings true for me. Loudly. I certainly have picked up a lot of experience since I joined the Watergate Board. Living Your Life When I think of peers like Obama and Pausch, and learn of their exceptional accomplishments and aspirations, I sometimes wonder if I've failed to work hard enough or dream bold enough by comparison. I really don't know. Or maybe I do, but don't want to concede an answer. I can't even say whether a comparison like this is meaningful or helpful. But here is Pausch's answer to my quandary and a tidy summation of his talk: "It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you." Well, let's hope Pausch is right, because I could use a few new dreams -- good ones -- and don't mind living the necessary life to earn them. The Alice Project Pausch was an expert in virtual reality and, given the nature of his work, I'm impressed at how grounded he was in real virtue. What he accomplished in his life and the legacy he left behind stir me. One such legacy is the non-commerical Alice Project, which has developed an innovative 3-dimensional programming environment that makes it relatively easy for lots of folks to produce animated stories, videos and games. It is a self-teaching virtual reality system, and free to the public. What a gift! I'm hoping to incorporate Alice-generated graphics into this website as soon as Alice teaches me how. I wanted to slip a bit of Pausch DNA into Watergate, and see if it takes hold. I imagine that if Pausch had lived a bit longer he might have developed a self-teaching actual morality system. Now that would be a thing to see. Maybe Barack and I could work on it after he's done fixing the country. I might have some free time then, too. Oh well, it's just a dream. Click here if you would like to learn more about Professor Pausch or view a streaming video of The Last Lecture (it is approximately one hour long). Brian
Lam On Nothing Much is a periodic feature of this website that considers life about us. I wish to thank those of you who are reading these postings and sending me notes of encouragement, gentle criticism, or otherwise. |
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