CMU Professor Randy Pausch's 'Last Lecture'

This is a bit of an unusual story for Slashdot- it's the "Last Lecture" of a professor at CMU who is terminally ill. His early research in VR has benefited everyone and even if you have never heard of Randy Pausch I think this is worth your time. It's a 2 hour long wmv filled with insight, laughs and wisdom from a man who has really done some amazing work. I've been watching it all morning and I think it would really be worth your time if you can spare it to listen to what he has to say. From virtual reality to education to stuffed animals and childhood dreams, there's a lot here worth your time. Thanks drew for the link. Update: 09/21 15:44 GMT by Z : The link is already a little shakey, so you might want to turn to this cut up YouTube version of the talk instead.

Comments

Time management talk

[Anonymous Coward]

It's kind of off-topic, but I read some inspirational lecture slides by Randy Pausch about time management a little while ago. In light of his illness, I guess there's two ways to take it: Perhaps time management isn't that important in the end, or perhaps the limited amount of time each of us may have makes it even more important.

(Or, I suppose, the stress related to worrying about time management may affect your health...)

Re:Great Professor

[viega]

Ah, yes, who could forget Randy taking out his frustrations with a VCR by smashing it with a sledge hammer on the first day of class? I definitely credit Randy and that class for getting me to prioritize the end users above almost everybody else.

Re:Time management is (probably) for the birds

[Tyler Durden]

I finally managed to refute Pausch's dictums by imagining myself trying to persuade a Zen Buddhist practitioner to follow them.

Actually Zen Buddhist monks live very strict, regimented, structured lives. Espcially those in Japan. They would consider anybody with a tendency to daydream or procrastinate as failing to live "in the moment". One great quote I remember hearing goes, "Don't do nothing. Do nothing." One monk from the non-fiction book "Ambivalent Zen" would pay any bills he received as soon as he received them so that he could better keep his mind clear.

That said, I'd have a hard hard time changing my own daydreaming, procrastinating ways.