Sometimes the very( 恰好的) technology that is meant to connect us divides us. I'm not worried about artificial(人工的) intelligence giving computers the ability to think like humans. I'm more concerned(有关的) about people thinking like computers without values or compassion(同情), without concern(关心) for consequences. Hello, MIT! Thank you. Congratulations, Class of '17.
I especially want to thank Chairman(主席) Millard, President Reif, distinguished(卓著的) faculty(才能) trustees(受托人), and members of the class of 1967. It's a privilege(特权) to be with you today with your families and your friends on such an amazing, important day. MIT and Apple share so much. We both love hard problems. We love to search for new ideas. And we especially love finding(找到) those ideas, the really big ones, the ones that can change the world.
I know MIT has a proud tradition of pranks, or as you would call them, hacks(砍). And you've had pulled off some pretty great ones over the years. I'll never figure( 认为) out how MIT students sent that Mars rover to the Kresge Oval, or put a propeller(推进者) beanie on the Great Dome(圆屋顶), or how you've obviously taken over the President's Twitter account. I can tell college students are behind it because most of the tweets happen at 3 a.m. I'm really happy to be here. Today is about celebration, and you have so much to be proud of.
As you leave here to start the next leg of your journey in life, there will be days where you will ask yourself, where is all this going? What is the purpose? What is my purpose? I'll be honest. I asked myself that same question, and it took me nearly 15 years to answer it. Maybe by talking about my journey today, I can save you some time.
The struggle( 努力) for me started early on. In high school, I thought I'd discover my life's purpose when I could answer that age-old question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Nope. In college, I thought I would discover it when I could answer, "What's your major?" Not quite. I thought that maybe I'd discover it when I found a good job. Then I thought I just needed to get a few promotions(提升). That didn't work either.
I kept convincing myself that it was just over the horizon(地平线) around the next corner. Nothing worked, and it was really tearing( 撕裂) me apart. Part of me kept pushing ahead to the next achievement, and the other part kept asking, "Is this all there is?" I went to grad school at Duke(公爵) looking for the answer. I tried meditation(冥想). I sought(寻找) guidance(引导) in religion. I read great philosophers(哲学家) and authors.
And in a moment of youthful(年轻的) indiscretion(欠详虑), I might even have experimented with a Windows PC. And obviously, that didn't work. After countless(无数的) twists(扭弯) and turns at last, 20 years ago, my search brought me to Apple. At the time the company was struggling to survive, Steve Jobs had just returned to Apple and had launched(发射) the Thinkdifferent campaign. He wanted to empower(授权与) the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels(造反者), the troublemakers, the round pegs(钉) and the square holes to do their best work. If we could just do that, Steve knew we could really change the world.
Before that moment, I had never met a leader with such passion or encountered(遭遇) a company with such a clear and compelling(强制的) purpose to serve humanity(人性). It was just that simple, serve humanity. And it was in that moment, after 15 years of searching, something clicked. I finally felt aligned(使结盟). Aligned with a company that brought together challenging(向…挑战) cutting(锋利的)-edge work with a higher purpose.