“`html

The following is the speech delivered by Hank Green on May 29, as it was intended.

I don’t typically experience imposter syndrome—that sensation of feeling out of place. I possess a more unique affliction known as “Hahaha I deceived them again” syndrome, wherein I understand I don’t truly belong, yet I take delight in having once more skillfully persuaded you otherwise.

I, a person you may recognize as a TikTok creator, a fellow who recently ranked AI company logos based on how much they resemble buttocks, have managed to secure a spot delivering MIT’s Commencement address. And I can confess this because there’s no way to remove me now; I’ve already begun talking! It would be strange to stop now… but nonetheless, I will strive to provide a worthy speech.

Hello and huge thanks to everyone for inviting me, all the wonderful individuals up here, the president, the governor, alumni, the Class of ’75, and of course, my utmost appreciation goes to the class of incredibly impressive, charismatic, and attractive graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the graduating Class of 2025.

To convey my gratitude: The typical human skeleton contains over 25,000 calories. More than half of your bones exist in your hands and feet, and collectively, your skeleton holds enough oxygen atoms that, if released, could yield approximately 24 hours of breathable air.

Those were some of my finest skeleton facts, and I presume that sharing good facts about bones is a perfectly normal method for humans to express appreciation.

I shared my best skeleton facts because I feel a particular gratitude toward you, the Class of 2025, as more than half of you participated in the survey I sent out! I presume you filled it out late at night while you ought to have been working on problem sets, whatever those are, but instead you engaged in this.

And I have thoroughly enjoyed reviewing your responses and gleaning a bit about you, and a bit from you.

One of the questions I posed asked what the most quintessentially MIT experience you had was, and this was the section I enjoyed reading the most.

Some of it was undoubtedly not meant for my comprehension, like when several of you calculated the total number of smoots on the Harvard Bridge.

Whatever that indicates… good job.

One of you identified as Tim the Beaver. Another tried to impress a date with railway trivia.

I see you. Same situation… but with bones.

A significant number of you simply said the term “hack,” and I must say, the lack of detail there gives me the impression that whatever you did, the statute of limitations has not yet elapsed.

However, by far the most frequent phrase to open a sentence in this section was “I built…” You constructed robots, bridges, incubators, companies, Geiger counters, a remote-controlled shopping cart, a ukulele, and an eight-foot-wide periodic table. You all built… a lot.

And that is something I found encouraging. We are going to need to engage in extensive building.

I glanced at your footwear as you were arriving, but it seems I didn’t need to see them to know I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.

I believe the only group envious of you at this moment is the Class of 2026, as I’m certain things will be even more chaotic by the time they find themselves in your position. But what a frustratingly tumultuous moment to be graduating from university. The assaults on free speech, science, higher education, trans rights, the federal workforce, and the rule of law… they’re arising from within the very establishment.

Simultaneously, the planet is heating up at an alarming rate. And the swift advancements in artificial intelligence, communication, and biotechnology promise significant potential as well as profound disruption.

So, if I were in your position, I would seek some guidance! But as already stated, I am a TikTok creator who will eternally be remembered as the first individual to utter the term “butthole” during an MIT commencement address. Thus, some of the advice will come from you. I inquired in my survey what you would like to convey to your peers from a stage like I am currently on. Here’s a selection.

One of your classmates penned:

I frequently confuse which Green brother is Hank and which is John!

There is no singular definition of success. The concept of success you have in your mind will evolve, and you should embrace that.

Is one of your classmates 45 years old?

And here’s another 45-year-old hidden among you:

Open a Roth IRA.

Whoa! Did your dad fill out my survey for you? Seriously though, you should.

Here’s one of my genuine favorites:

Collaborate and assist one another, be courageous in reaching out, and be forgiving in your engagements.

Even if it probably won’t yield results, give it a shot.

Don’t launch with the solution, begin with the issue.

Now many of you may be contemplating at this moment: Did he just make us craft his commencement speech for him? And the answer to that is, well, at least you’re aware that Claude didn’t write it.

I’ve enjoyed focusing on the absurd aspects of my career here, and I do intend to underscore its absurdity.

I’ve performed TikTok dances to Elmo remixes, yet I’ve also authored two best-selling science fiction novels. I’ve written humorous articles, and I’ve interviewed presidents. I’ve produced several videos about giraffe reproduction, and I’ve sold multiple businesses. I helped establish an educational media organization that provides free video content to everyone with an internet connection, and our materials are utilized in most American schools.

And yes, that was the portion I included for your parents to feel reassured about my presence here. I delayed it as long as I could.

I excel at possessing a concept I believe in and then simply executing it, consequences be damned, and that has served me well, though not always stress-free.

And I accomplished all of this on the uncertain and rapidly fluctuating terrain of online video and social media for the past two decades. Thus, perhaps I do have valuable insights to offer a graduating class stepping into an unpredictable and unstable future.

If I could credit my success, whatever form it takes, to anything beyond luck, it’s that I genuinely cannot cease believing there is no better use of time than acquiring new knowledge.

And curiosity not only broadens the array of tools you possess and your ability to utilize them, it also enhances your comprehension of the problem landscape.

Therefore, perhaps the advice is quite straightforward. Just remain curious about the world, and you’ll possess everything necessary for the future and, look, it’s nearly that simple.

There’s a really crucial question I posed to all of you in my survey that I have not mentioned yet. I asked, “What’s instilling hope in you?”

And although one of you wrote “Macallan 12,” most of you, in your responses, primarily spoke about individuals: my friends, my family, my peers, time and again.

Individuals who care. Individuals who aim to enhance their communities. Individuals standing firm for their convictions. Individuals recognizing significant challenges and possessing the resolve to address them.

At an institution like MIT, I imagine that the focus can certainly be on the construction rather than the people. This is a technological school, not a humanities one. But I discerned the humanity in your responses.

And this brings me back to the straightforwardness of curiosity guiding you toward both comprehending problems and acquiring new tools. Because your curiosity is not beyond your control. You determine how you direct it, and that direction will influence the entirety of your life. It may be the single most crucial aspect of your career.

And I suspect it will be remarkably easy to concentrate on the challenge of merely creating progressively powerful tools. That’s exhilarating material and can also be surprisingly straightforward. However, even though the problem landscape is substantially broader than just “construct larger tools,” it can be astonishingly effortless to simply fail to recognize that.

The most influential mechanisms that direct our attention are… I’m going to put it plainly… not always
“““html

crafted for our utmost benefits, or the greatest advantages of our planet. Social media platforms excel at guiding our interests and they are, frequently, structured to instill fear, to keep us focused on insurmountable challenges, or toward the most contentious divides in society.

Simultaneously, the capitalist drive effectively directs our attention to issues that can be readily profited from, which results in a disproportionate focus on the issues that the most influential and affluent individuals wish to tackle.

If we allow ourselves to be directed solely by these influences, consider which issues we will overlook. All the everyday solvable challenges faced by ordinary individuals.

I fervently wish for you to remain inquisitive about the intensely varied and vast problem landscape of our world. Addressable challenges! That are overlooked because our society does not steer us toward them. If you can manage your obsessions, you will not only be unstoppable, but you will also leave this world a much better place than you discovered it.

This is not about selecting between economic security and your principles. No. There are profits to be made in these areas. This is purely about who you incorporate into your problem framework, about what you opt to be curious regarding.

With that in consideration, here’s my counsel, from my heart and my experience.

First, don’t graze on grass.

Second, more crucially, one of the issues you will tackle is discovering joy in an imperfect world. You may struggle with not feeling productive until you embrace that your own happiness can be one of the things you create.

Third, concepts do not reside in your mind. They can’t assist anyone there. I sometimes observe individuals become attached to their brilliant idea. They cherish it so much that they cannot bring themselves to reveal it to the imperfections of reality. Stop hesitating. Release the ideas. You may stumble, but in your stumbling, you will develop new tools.

And fourth, since individuals are so intricate and chaotic, some of you might be tempted to build around them instead of for them. But remember to interrogate yourself about the sources of value and meaning, for they do not arise from banks, technology, or cap tables. They originate from people.

Human connections are the most challenging labor but frequently the most vital work. Direct your focus not just toward the creation and acquisition of new tools, but to the needs of individuals, including yourself, your friends, and your family. Sometimes, we might feel so powerful and that the world is so vast that arranging a birthday celebration or curating a playlist for a friend can appear too trivial when compared to the magnitude of AI, climate change, and the decline of democracy. Yet those thoughts distance you from the reality of human experience, from your role as a builder not merely of tools but of significance. And that extends beyond impact and productivity and problem-solving; it’s about living a meaningful life.

Do. Not. Forget. how extraordinary and peculiar it is to live a human existence. It took 3 billion years for the Earth to evolve from single-celled organisms to you. That’s more than a quarter of the lifespan of the entire universe. Something profoundly special and unusual is occurring on this planet and that is you.

The most remarkable creation in your life will be yourself, and believe me, you are not finished yet; I know I am not. But what you will construct is not merely a set of tools. You will be crafting a person, and you will be doing this for others.

When I inquired what you did at MIT, you said you built, but when I asked you what inspired you, you did not respond “buildings”; you said “people.” So, to the graduating Class of 2025, move forward, for yourself, for others, and for this magnificent, peculiar world.

Thank you.

“`