Tim Cook tells Tulane University grads that 'my generation has failed you'

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2020
Apple's CEO has delivered a commencement speech to students at Tulane University in New Orleans and urged them to do better than his generation, and to be bold in what they try to achieve.




As announced in February, Tim Cook has now delivered the 2019 commencement speech to students at New Orleans's Tulane University and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and spoke to issues of how they and future generations need to be bold and to take action.

"In some important ways, my generation has failed you," he said. "We have spent too much time debating, we have been focused on the fight and not focused enough on progress."






"You don't have to look far to find an example of that failure," he continued, referring to New Orleans itself. "Here, today, in this very place where thousands once found desperate shelter from a hundred-year disaster, I don't think we can talk about who we are as people and what we owe to one another without talking about climate change."

Cook looked beyond politics to call fixing climate change an issue for us all.

"This problem doesn't get any easier based on whose side wins or loses an election," he said. "It's about who has won life's lottery and has the luxury of ignoring this issue, and who stands to lose everything."

"When we talk about climate change or any issue with [a] human cost, I challenge you to look for those who have the most to lose and find the real empathy that comes from something shared," continued Cook. "When you do that, the political noise dies down and you can feel your feet firmly planted on solid ground. After all, we don't build monuments to trolls."

He spoke specifically about coastal communities being forced to move because of climate change issues, but he also urged the Tulane students to be bold in everything.

"Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of being too cautious," he said. "Don't assume that by staying put, the ground won't move beneath your feet. The status quo simply won't last. So get to work on building something better. You may succeed. You may fail. But make it your life's work to remake the world. Because there is nothing more beautiful or worthwhile than working to leave something better for humanity."

Cook also recounted how Steve Jobs persuaded to make the move from a seemingly safe position at Compaq to join Apple. He spoke of the saying that if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life. "At Apple, I learned that that is a crock," he said. "You'll work harder than you ever thought possible -- but the tools will feel light in your hands."

As part of the ceremony, Tim Cook was awarded an honorary degree.

Last year Tim Cook delivered a commencement speech to his alma mater, Duke University. In 2017 he did the same for MIT and in 2015 he spoke to graduates of George Washington University.
«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 77
    brasilbrasil Posts: 2member
    So tired of these apology speeches. Especially from someone who has achieved so much.
    bigtdsMetriacanthosauruscanukstormJWSCsdw2001SpamSandwichcat52bugsnwelijahgred oak
  • Reply 2 of 77
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    Climate change, thats a tautology.

    MetriacanthosaurusJWSCLordeHawkcat52designryojimbo007bugsnw
  • Reply 3 of 77
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    I searched the internet for greater demotivational speeches than Tim's and found two candidates, each one is about 45 seconds long (a) Demotivational Speech: Running - YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kGva663lRw and (b) Shia LaBeouf's Demotivational Speech - YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbre5NC_10c I think it would be hilarious if someone would take this Cook speech and convert it into a 45-second demotivational speech like someone did for Shia LaBeouf. That might get you a million hits. (Currently Tim's speech on Youtube has only 111 hits. See if you can top that video in terms of hits.)
    edited May 2019
  • Reply 4 of 77
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,694member
    Steve Jobs was part of Tim Cook's generation.  He was not perfect but I would hardly say he failed newer generations.
    edited May 2019 cat52kestralelijahg
  • Reply 5 of 77
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    knowitall said:
    Climate change, thats a tautology.
    He's talking about anthropogenic climate change, which gets harder and more expensive to deal-with the longer we ignore it.  The economic costs have already been enormous (paid for by us all), and the US military considers this a major risk factor destabilizing the world.
    StrangeDayspropodminicoffeebaconstangmac_dogmontrosemacsdysamoriasteveaulolliverfastasleep
  • Reply 6 of 77
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    As a local, with friends and family graduating, I thought his speech was excellent. Despite the antagonistic headline, he said “in some ways”, which is obviously and irrefutably true.

    Calling these demotivation speeches means you’ve just missed the point. Not surprisingly, since you’re not the target audience of the speech, and in all likelihood are used up and past the point of anything motivating you to do anything other than watch television. Shrug. College grads are different. They’re ready, and hungry, and can use the advice. As a successful southerner, Cook did not disappoint. I hope our new grads take it to heart and do some great things. (Tho anything will be better than bitching on a rumors forum!)
    edited May 2019 thtMisterKitLordeHawkSoliminicoffeebaconstanglarryjwmac_dogmontrosemacsn2itivguy
  • Reply 7 of 77
    NotsofastNotsofast Posts: 450member
    That's the part that is the subject of debate; i.e., how much of the current climate change cycle, which are always occurring, is caused or changeable by man.  We know so little that we can't answer that question yet. 
    JWSCcat52kestral
  • Reply 8 of 77
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Notsofast said:
    That's the part that is the subject of debate; i.e., how much of the current climate change cycle, which are always occurring, is caused or changeable by man.  We know so little that we can't answer that question yet. 
    Nope. We already know the answer and ended the debate. Real scientists did, anyway. Only American conservatives pretend “we can’t know!”

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures/evidence-for-man-made-global-warming-hits-gold-standard-scientists-idUSKCN1QE1ZU

    Evidence for man-made global warming hits 'gold standard': scientists

    Evidence for man-made global warming has reached a “gold standard” level of certainty, adding pressure for cuts in greenhouse gases to limit rising temperatures, scientists said on Monday. [...]

    “The narrative out there that scientists don’t know the cause of climate change is wrong,” he told Reuters. “We do.”

    Mainstream scientists say the burning of fossil fuels is causing more floods, droughts, heat waves and rising sea levels.

    edited May 2019 Soliburnsideminicoffeebaconstangmac_dogmontrosemacsn2itivguydysamoriasteveaubilweeler
  • Reply 9 of 77
    smalmsmalm Posts: 677member
    "In some important ways, my generation has failed you"

    They grew up to become erratic and weepy snowflakes – so yes, my generation failed.
    JWSCbrasillkruppcat52jeffharris
  • Reply 10 of 77
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    Oh boy.

    Loons to the left. Loons to the right.  Moderator switching off comments in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...
    Thrashman
  • Reply 11 of 77
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Regarding climate change and one’s carbon footprint. Does Tim Cook drive an electric vehicle? Does Time Cook use public transportation to get to work? When he flies to China does Tim Cook travel coach on a common carrier or does he fly in the Apple corporate jet? Or is he the same kind of hypocrite that Al Gore is with his three mansions and private jets? You see, this is the kind of thing we peasants wonder about. When the BIG changes the climate advocates want are implemented will the elites still travel in luxury or will they be squeezed into mass transit cigar tubes like the rest of us will be? When we peasants are reduced to rationed heating and cooling will theTim Cooks of the world still be nice and cool in their mansions? Don’t squawk about renewable clean energy when there’s absolutely no hope of that energy source ever catching up with the exponential growth of energy demands. Nuclear Fusion is still a pipe dream that’s been promised for the last sixty years at least with no commercial reactor in sight.
    LordeHawkaplnubgatorguykestraldesignrfirelockmacplusplusLatkorhbellmor
  • Reply 12 of 77
    MisterKitMisterKit Posts: 492member
    Thanks to Tim Cook for using his public stature to tell it like it is.
    Solijeffharrisbaconstangmontrosemacsn2itivguymuthuk_vanalingamdysamoriabilweelercrowleylolliver
  • Reply 13 of 77
    JWSC said:
    Oh boy.

    Loons to the left. Loons to the right.  Moderator switching off comments in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...
    You are worse than any of them.

    "A plague on both their houses, shrug". The lazy center is the doom of our world. You can't be bothered to spend the time to figure out that they are not equal, and the lack of your weight added to the debate is another big nail in our collective coffin.

    There are no "loons to the left" here. If you consider a recognition of anthropogenic climate change to be a left issue (why is it? It wasn't twenty years ago), then two posters here are "left". Neither was by any conceivable stretch of the imagination a loon. You don't have to have my point of view (that anyone on the other side of the issue is a loon, a liar, or willfully ignorant) to recognize that both StrangeDays and Normm posted fact-based statements. Even if you contest the validity of their facts, nothing was "loony".

    Come to think of it, I don't think the deniers are loons either- at least the ones who posted. They may just be liars or ignorant.

    The longer your expected lifespan, the more your willful blindness/laziness/whatever is going to cost *you* as well as the rest of us.

    baconstangmontrosemacsn2itivguymuthuk_vanalingamdysamoriabilweelercrowleylolliverfastasleepchemengin
  • Reply 14 of 77
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    smalm said:
    "In some important ways, my generation has failed you"

    They grew up to become erratic and weepy snowflakes – so yes, my generation failed.
    Speaking of snowflakes take a gander at this article in the NYT. The respected Harvard law professor who is defending Harvey Weinstein is upsetting students because he is, well, defending Harvey Weinstein. The want him removed as dean of the college because they are enraged he agreed to join Weinstein's legal defense team. This professor is responsible for reversing over 6,000 convictions in his career. Guess what? Harvard sided with the students. And these are the future leaders?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/opinion/race-identity/harvard-law-harvey-weinstein.html


    aplnublarryjwdesignrchristophbJWSCmacplusplus
  • Reply 15 of 77
    seankillseankill Posts: 566member
    lkrupp said:
    Regarding climate change and one’s carbon footprint. Does Tim Cook drive an electric vehicle? Does Time Cook use public transportation to get to work? When he flies to China does Tim Cook travel coach on a common carrier or does he fly in the Apple corporate jet? Or is he the same kind of hypocrite that Al Gore is with his three mansions and private jets? You see, this is the kind of thing we peasants wonder about. When the BIG changes the climate advocates want are implemented will the elites still travel in luxury or will they be squeezed into mass transit cigar tubes like the rest of us will be? When we peasants are reduced to rationed heating and cooling will theTim Cooks of the world still be nice and cool in their mansions? Don’t squawk about renewable clean energy when there’s absolutely no hope of that energy source ever catching up with the exponential growth of energy demands. Nuclear Fusion is still a pipe dream that’s been promised for the last sixty years at least with no commercial reactor in sight.
    In my mind, this is exactly it, you are 100% correct. I hope we continue to invest heavily in fusion, who knows what we will find. 

    But the the sad truth is, until we can plateau and maybe even decline our world population, we are chasing a moving target we will never meet. Same is true for world hunger. Technology and advanced methods are the only reasons we’ve made it this far. 
    flyingdpelijahg
  • Reply 16 of 77
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Steve Jobs was part of Tim Cook's generation.  He was not perfect but I would hardly say he failed newer generations.
    He didn't say Steve Jobs or anyone else of his generation failed newer generations in general, the context of his statement was regarding the environment and the other talking points he mentioned like criminal justice and immigration. He was encouraging the audience to look at human needs and leave something better for humanity by not being overly cautious in the face of significant hurdles, not being concerned with unimportant issues and putting humanity's shared interests ahead of their own.

    He actually mentioned Steve Jobs as an example of this where he was convinced by him to leave a comfortable job to work for a near-bankrupt company because of its values in making a significant contribution to humanity. His success at Apple and his statement that the audience likely doesn't even know the name of the company he left demonstrates he made the right choice and encourages the audience not to lack the courage of making a similar choice.

    Tim Cook is a very thoughtful person and it makes a lot of sense why he chose and was chosen to work at Apple. It's good that he can be a positive example to younger generations. If Tim's generation failed anywhere, it's not making enough people like him.
    thtMisterKitmontrosemacsmacxpressn2itivguymuthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMaclolliverbestkeptsecret
  • Reply 17 of 77
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    If anything, it's many universities that have failed us today.

    Many of them have turned into lunatic asylums, centered around anti-free speech movements, they promote segregation, censorship, not open to free thought and different ideas and some of them are basically anti-American.

    They're not preparing students for the real world. They're making a bunch of whiny snowflakes who need safe spaces and when they finally get out and step into the real world, some of those snowflakes are going to find that the real world is not going to be so accommodating and welcoming to them and their mental problems.


    jeffharrislkruppflyingdpdesignrelijahgrhbellmor
  • Reply 18 of 77
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    normm said:
    knowitall said:
    Climate change, thats a tautology.
    He's talking about anthropogenic climate change, which gets harder and more expensive to deal-with the longer we ignore it.  The economic costs have already been enormous (paid for by us all), and the US military considers this a major risk factor destabilizing the world.
    The economic costs have only been enormous because people and organizations have exploited the issue for power, profit, politics and redistribution on a global scale.  The problem itself is moderate at worst and not fully understood relative to long term  climate history and factors which contribute to change. The solutions proposed this far are grotesque, ineffective, unfair, and would have serious negative consequences for humans.  
    MetriacanthosaurusJWSC
  • Reply 19 of 77
    normm said:
    knowitall said:
    Climate change, thats a tautology.
    He's talking about anthropogenic climate change, which gets harder and more expensive to deal-with the longer we ignore it.  The economic costs have already been enormous (paid for by us all), and the US military considers this a major risk factor destabilizing the world.
    LMFAO. 

    Any day now. 
    sdw2001designrJWSCknowitall
  • Reply 20 of 77
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Well, he’s certainly entitled to his opinion...
Sign In or Register to comment.