Mark Zuckerberg's speech to Harvard graduates and all of us - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

Mark Zuckerberg's speech to graduates of Harvard and all of us

Фото: Depositphotos

Mark Zuckerberg decided to take a break from school in 2004 and dropped out of school at Harvard. Then he went to Silicon Valley to work on the social network Facebook, which made him one of the most famous and wealthy people in the world.

25 May 2017, Zuckerberg received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University after an 13-year hiatus. He gave a speech in front of Harvard graduates.

"Present" translated Zuckerberg's speech in Russian. ForumDaily leads this translation completely

President Faust, Board of Trustees, teachers, alumni, friends, proud parents, advisory council and alumni of the greatest university in the world.

It is a great honor for me to be here with you today, because, to be frank, you have achieved what I could not. If I conclude my speech to the end, for the first time I will end up at Harvard. 2017 graduates of the year - congratulations!

I am an unusual speaker in this role, not only because I left the university, but also because we formally belong to the same generation. We walked around this yard with a difference of less than 10 years, studied the same ideas and slept in the same lectures on economics. We may have come here on different roads, especially if you have come all the way from [Harvard Hostels] Quad. But today I would like to share what I learned about our generation and the world we are building together.

But first, that the last couple of days brought a lot of good memories.

How many of you remember exactly what you were doing when you received the email that you were being accepted into Harvard? I was playing Civilization and ran downstairs, called my father, and for some reason he decided to film me opening the letter. The video could have been very sad. I swear that me getting into Harvard is what my parents are most proud of about me.

And your first lecture at Harvard? I had computer science with incredible Harry Lewis. I was late, put on a T-shirt and only then I realized that it was all inside out with a label sticking out in front. I still could not understand why no one spoke to me except for one guy, Kei Xin Jin. He didn't care. As a result, we solved problems together, and today he manages a large part of Facebook. And this is why, release-2017, you should treat people well.

But my best memory of Harvard is a meeting with Priscilla. I just launched my playful site. Facemash, and the university authorities wanted to “talk to me.” Everyone thought they would kick me out. My parents came to help me pack my things. Friends had a farewell party. Luckily, Priscilla and her friend came to this party. We met in line for the toilet in the bell tower of the hostel Pfoho, and I said probably one of the most romantic phrases: “In 3 days I will be kicked out, so we urgently need to go on a date.”

By the way, any graduate can use this phrase.

In the end, I was not kicked out, I left myself. Priscilla and I started dating. You know, in that movie [about Facebook] it seems that Facemash was very important to create Facebook. But it is not. Although without Facemash I would not meet Priscilla, and she is the most important person in my life. So you can say [Facemash] Is the most important thing I have created for my time here.

We all found here lifelong friends, some of us - even families. And so I am so grateful for this place. Thanks, Harvard.

Today I want to talk about the goal.

But I am not here to give a standard speech about her search. We are the millennials (people born at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries - note. Lane), we will do it already, instinctively.

Instead, I'm here to tell you that finding your purpose is not enough. Our generation's challenge is to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose.

One of my favorite stories is about John F. Kennedy's visit to the NASA Space Center. He saw a janitor carrying a broom. He approached him and asked what he was doing. The janitor replied, “Mr. President, I am helping put a man on the moon.”

The goal is to understand that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. What is needed is that we have in front of us something better to strive for. The goal is what creates true happiness.

You are released at a time when this is especially important. When our parents were graduates, work, church, society provided people with convenient goals. But today technology and automation destroy many jobs. Fewer people are actively involved in various communities. Many people feel detached and depressed, they are trying to somehow fill this void.

When I traveled, I became acquainted with drug-addicted children in detention centers for juvenile offenders. They told me that their life could have been different if they had something to do, if there were any extracurricular activities or a place to go. I met with the workers of the factories who knew that their old work would not return, and tried to find a new place for themselves.

In order for our society to move forward, we are faced with the problem of generations - not only creating jobs, but also creating a renewed sense of purpose.

I remember that evening when I started Facebook from a small room in your dorm Kirkland House. I went to [pizzeria] Noch's with his friend Kay Eks. I remember, I told him that I was glad to have the opportunity to unite Harvard, but someday someone will unite the whole world.

It never even occurred to me that we could become that “someone.” We were simple students. We didn't know anything about it. There were all these big tech companies with their resources, and I thought one of them would do it. But the idea that all people want to be connected seemed very clear to us. And we just moved forward, day after day.

I know that many of you will have exactly the same stories. When the changes are so obvious that you will be sure, they say, it will be implemented by someone else. No, they won't. Do you.

But it is not enough that only you have a goal. You have to create this feeling for others.

I learned this in a difficult way. You see, I was never going to build a company, I just wanted a result. And when people started coming to us, I thought they wanted the same, so I never explained what I hoped to build.

After a couple of years, some big companies wanted to buy us. I did not want to sell. I wanted to see if we could unite more people. We were building the first news feed, and I thought that if we could only launch it, it would change the way we understand the world.

And almost everyone else wanted to sell [their companies]. If there is no lofty goal, selling is the dream of any startup. It ruined our company. After one loud argument, the adviser told me that if I refused to sell, I would regret it all my life. Relations have deteriorated so much that for about a year our entire leadership has quit.

It was the most difficult time for me to Facebook. I believed in what we did, but I felt lonely. And worse, it was my fault. I asked myself: was I wrong? Was I a poser, an 22-year-old child who had no idea how the world works?

Now, years later, I understand that this is how it works, if there is no sense of a higher goal. We have to create it in order to move forward together.

Today I want to talk about three ways to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose - to start large, significant projects together; give a new concept of equality, so that everyone can freely pursue their goal; build a community of the whole world.

First, let's talk about big, significant projects.

Our generation will have to deal with tens of millions of jobs that will be replaced by robots, for example, self-driving cars or trucks. Together we have the potential to do much more.

Every generation has a decisive achievement. More than 300 thousands of people worked together to send a man to the moon - including a janitor. Millions of volunteers vaccinate children against polio around the world. Millions of other people built the Hoover Dam and other great projects.

These projects did not just give a sense of purpose to the people who worked on them, they gave our country a sense of pride in the fact that we can do great things.

Now it's our turn to do great things. I know you're probably thinking, "I don't know how to build a dam, or get a million people to work on anything."

I will tell you a secret: at first no one knows. Ideas are not born completely ready. They become clearer only as you work on them. Just need to start.

If I had to know everything in advance about how to bring people together before launching [a project], I would never have created Facebook.

In movies and pop culture this is shown incorrectly. This is the idea of ​​the only moment-insight - a dangerous lie. It makes us feel inferior, because we have no such idea. It does not allow people with the beginnings of good ideas to begin. By the way, do you know how else films lie about innovation? No one writes mathematical formulas on glass. This does not happen.

To be an idealist is good. But we must be prepared for misunderstanding. Everyone who works on something large-scale will be called crazy, even if everything works out for you. Everyone who works on a difficult task will be blamed for its incomplete understanding, even if it is impossible to know everything at once. Anyone who takes the initiative will be criticized for moving too fast. There is always someone who wants to slow you down.

In our society, we often do not commit big deeds, because we are so afraid of making a mistake that we ignore all the bad things that exist in society today and do nothing. In fact, everything that we do will have shortcomings in the future. But this should not prevent us from starting.

So what are we waiting for? The time has come for the things that will shape our generation. How about stopping climate change before we destroy the planet, and involving millions of people in the production and installation of solar panels.

How about curing all diseases and asking volunteers to track their health data and share genomes? Today, we spend more time on 50 to treat patients than we spend on finding the means that would allow people to not get sick. It's pointless. We can fix it. How about modernizing democracy, so that everyone can vote online, and personalize their studies so that everyone can learn?

We can achieve this. And let's do it in such a way that everyone has a role in our society. Let's do great things, and not only move progress, but also create a goal.

Therefore, large-scale projects - this is the first thing we can do on the way to creating a world where everyone has a goal.

The second is to find a new understanding of equality, so that everyone can freely pursue goals.

Many of your parents have had a stable job throughout their careers. Now we are all entrepreneurs, no matter whether we are launching any projects or looking for our own role. It's fine. Our culture of entrepreneurship is what makes this progress possible.

An entrepreneurial culture thrives when it is easy to try many new ideas. Facebook is not the first thing I created. I developed games, chats, programs for learning and playing music. I'm not the only one. JK Rowling was rejected from publishing Harry Potter 12 times. Even Beyoncé had to write hundreds of songs before [creating a popular song] Halo. The greatest successes come with the freedom to fail.

But today we have a material inequality that everyone suffers from. When you do not have the freedom to turn your idea into a historical enterprise, we all lose. Now our society is too fixated on the reward of success, and we are not doing enough for everyone to have many attempts.

Let's be honest. With our system, something is not right when I can get out of here and make billions of dollars in 10 years, while millions of students can not afford to pay their debts [for study], not to mention starting a business.

Listen, I know many entrepreneurs, but I don’t know anyone who would refuse to start a business just because they might not make enough money. But I know many people who did not follow their dreams because they had no safety net in case of failure.

We all know that no one succeeds only through hard work or a good idea. We become successful and thanks to luck. If I had to support my family as a child, instead of learning how to write code, if I didn't know that everything would be fine with me, even if Facebook fail, I would not be standing here today. If we are honest, it is clear how much luck we had.

Each generation expands the concept of equality. Previous generations fought for voting rights and civil rights. They had the New Deal and the Great Society. It's our time to create a new social contract for our generation.

Our society must measure progress not only by economic indicators, such as GDP, but also by how many of us have a significant role. We should think about ideas such as, for example, the total basic income, so that everyone has insurance in order to try new things. We will change jobs many times, so we need affordable childcare to be able to work, and health care, which would not be tied to one company. We will make mistakes, so our society should be less aimed at limiting or stigmatizing us. And as technology continues to change, we need a society that pays attention to lifelong education throughout our lives.

And yes, freedom to pursue a goal for everyone is not free. People like me have to pay for it. Many of you will succeed, and then you too will have to do so.

That's why Priscilla and I founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and decided to use our wealth to advance equal opportunity for all. These are the values ​​of our generation. There was never a question of whether we would do it. The only question was when.

The Millennials are already one of the generations that sent the most money in charity to charity. In one year, 3 of 4 American young people made such donations, and 7 of 10 made money for charity.

But it's not just about the money. You can donate time. I promise, just an hour or two a week is enough to help someone, help them reach their potential.

You may think this is too much time. I thought so too. When Priscilla graduated from Harvard and began teaching, but before she began doing educational work with me, she told me that I should teach someone too. I denied: “well, I’m busy, I run the company.” But she insisted that I teach an entrepreneurship program at the local Boys and Girls Club.

I taught them to create products and marketers, and they taught me what it was like to feel targeted only because of their race or because a member of your family is in prison. I shared my student stories, and they shared their hopes that they would also study at the university one day. For the past 5 years, I have dinner every month with these children. One of them even gave me and Priscilla a party before the birth of a child. And next year they will all go to the university. Each of them. For the first time in their families.

We can all find time to help someone. Let's give everyone the opportunity to pursue their goal, not only because it is right, but also because the more people turn their dreams into something great, all of us from this better.

Purpose can be found not only in work. The third way we can bring purpose into everyone's lives is through community. And when our generation talks about “everyone,” we mean the whole world.

Raise your hands: which of you is from another country? How many of your friends are foreigners? About that and speech. We grew up in touch with each other.

In a survey of young people around the world about what primarily defines their personality, the most frequently mentioned concept was not nationality, religion or ethnicity, but the concept of “citizen of the world.” It is very important.

Each generation expands the circle of people we consider “ours.” Now we include the whole world in this circle.

We understand that the great course of human history leads to the fact that people must come together in large numbers - from tribes to cities and nations - in order to achieve what we cannot do alone.

We understand that our most important opportunities are now global - we can become a generation that will overcome poverty, cope with diseases. We understand that our most important tasks also require global solutions - no country can fight climate change or prevent pandemics on its own. Progress requires us to unite, not only at the level of cities and nations, but also at the level of the world community.

But we live in turbulent times. There are people all over the world who live beyond globalization. It is difficult to take care of people living far away when you do not feel calm at home. It makes us look at ourselves.

This is the struggle of our time. The forces of freedom, openness and the world community are against the forces of authoritarianism, isolationism and nationalism. The forces fighting for the flow of knowledge, trade and immigration against those who want to slow them down. This is not a struggle of nations, but a struggle of ideas. In each country there are those who maintain global connections and those who oppose them.

Such things will not be decided at the UN level. This can happen only at the level of us, at the local level, when enough people will gain a sense of stability in life and set a goal, then we can open up and start taking care of everyone else. The best way to do this is to start building local communities right now.

We all find meaning in the society around us. Regardless of what exactly our community is - [neighbors] at home or sports teams, churches or a cappella groups, they all give us the feeling that we are not alone. They give us the strength to expand horizons.

This is why it is so striking that over the decades, membership in various groups has been reduced by a full quarter. There are many people who need to find a goal in something new.

But I know that we can rebuild our communities, or create new ones - and many of you are already doing this.

I met Agnes Igoy, which is being released today. Where are you, Agnes? She spent her childhood in conflict zones in Uganda, where they trafficked people, and now she trains thousands of law enforcement officers on how to ensure the safety of villages.

I met Kayla Oakley and Niha Jane, who are also released today. Stand up please. Kayla and Niha created a non-profit organization that brings together people suffering from chronic diseases with their neighbors who are ready to help.

I met David Raza Aznar, who is graduating from the Kennedy School today. David, please stand up. He was a member of the city council who managed to win the battle to make Mexico City the first Latin American city to recognize the equality of marriages [LGBT with non-LGBT] - even before it was done in San Francisco.

There is my story. A student from a hostel that brings together one community after another, until one day we can unite the whole world.

Changes start small. Even global changes start small - with ourselves. For our generation, the struggle to unite more strongly, whether we will be able to realize our main capabilities, comes down to the following: your ability to build communities and create a world in which every single person has a sense of purpose.

Graduates-2017, you are entering a world that needs a goal. You can create it.

Maybe you are thinking now: can I do this?

Remember how I told you about the activities that I conducted in the club? One day after the lesson, I spoke with the children about the university, and one of my best students raised his hand and said that he was not sure what he could do - he had no documents.

Last year I invited him to breakfast on his birthday. I wanted to give him something, so I asked him what he would like. He started talking about students facing challenges and said, “You know, I'd actually really like a book about social justice.”

It struck me. In front of me was a young guy who had every reason to be cynical. He did not know whether his country, the only one he considers home, is ready to give him a chance to fulfill his dream and go to university. But he had no self-pity. He did not even think about himself. He has a desire for a higher goal, and he will lead people.

I can’t even give his name because I don’t want to put him at risk, and this already indicates the situation we are in. But even if a high school student who does not know what awaits him in the future can make his own contribution to improving the world, we must do the same to this world.

Before you go out of the gate for the last time, since we are sitting opposite the church, a prayer comes to my mind Mi shebeirach (prayer for healing in Judaism - NV), which I always repeat in difficult times, I sing it to my daughter before bed. It sounds like this:

“May the source of strength that has helped those who came before us help us find the courage to make our lives blessed.”

I hope you find the courage to make your life a blessing.

Congratulations to you, graduates-2017! Good luck in this big world.

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