timinchin

media type="custom" key="24010030" align="right"Tim Minchin
related: australia twitter: [|@timminchin]

http://www.timminchin.com

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Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Minchin

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/timminchin

Tim Minchin Occasional Address and Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoEezZD71sc http://johnsuhar.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/tim-minchin-occasional-address-and-honorary-degree-of-doctor-of-letters http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201309176069/alumni/tim-minchin-stars-uwa-graduation-ceremony [|A transcript of Tim Minchin's address is available]

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The idea that many Australians including our new PM is believe that the science of anthropogenic global warming is controversial is a powerful indication of our failure to communicate.

Define yourself by what you love. Try to express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in the praise of those you admire. Send thank you cards and give standing ovations. (minute 9.30)

Listen up, or you’ll get lost, like a blind man clapping in a pharmacy trying to echo-locate the contact lens fluid.

Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you… you never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery. Which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye.

Empathy is intuitive, but is also something you can work on, intellectually.

Play a sport, do yoga, pump iron, run… whatever… but take care of your body. You’re going to need it. Most of you mob are going to live to nearly a hundred, and even the poorest of you will achieve a level of wealth that most humans throughout history could not have dreamed of.

We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and hit them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privilege.

Science is not a body of knowledge nor a system of belief; it is just a term which describes humankind’s incremental acquisition of understanding through observation. Science is awesome.

Please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world. You don’t have to do it forever, but if you’re in doubt about what to do, be an amazing teacher. Just for your twenties. Be a teacher. Be a primary school teacher. Especially if you’re a bloke – we need male primary school teachers. Even if you’re not a Teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn, and spray it.

We have tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff; as a comedian, I make a living out of it. But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank-you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro-stuff, not just anti-stuff.

I don’t care if you’re the most powerful cat in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful. So there.

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