Matt Damon

Matt Damon MIT Commencement Speech June 3 2016

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• published: 03 Jun 2016
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Matt Damon is a super genius working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a janitor. Well, he went back to MIT today to give the commencement speech for the class of 2016, and it got even more dramatic than a movie. First, he talked about simulation theory, which is the idea that we are all living in some sort of game played by a much more advanced civilization. He questioned why we have to be living in the one where Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for president. “[T]his world — real or imagined — this world, has some problems that we need you to drop everything and solve,” he told the graduates. “So go ahead and take your pick from the world’s worst buffet. Economic inequality, that’s a problem. How about the refugee crisis? Massive global insecurity, climate change, pandemics, institutional racism — and add to that an American political system that’s failing. We’ve got congressmen on a two-year election cycle who are incentivized to think short-term and simply do not engage with long-term problems. And add to that a media that thrives on scandal and people with their pants down, anything to get you to tune in so they can hawk you products that you don’t need. And add to that a banking system that steals people’s money.” Watch above to see the whole impassioned thing and stick around until the end to see the Massachusetts native give a special shoutout to a senator you might have heard mentioned once or twice lately.Matt Damon is passing on to Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates a little bit of advice that he got from former President Bill Clinton. The actor spoke to more than 1,000 undergraduates and almost 1,800 graduate students at MIT's commencement Friday. After listing some of the world's greatest problems, he told them to "turn toward the problems you see, you have to engage." The actor and filmmaker grew up near the Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus and played a mathematically gifted custodian at the school in the 1997 movie "Good Will Hunting." Damon dropped out of Harvard so he could pursue his acting career."The Bourne Identity" star told MIT students that it was an honor to be part of their day, although it was an honor he didn't earn.Matt Damon Delivers MIT Commencement Speech June 3 2016 Matt Damon is returning to MIT, but this time he won't be mopping the floors. The 45-year-old actor will deliver his first-ever commencement address for MIT's graduating class of 2016 on Friday morning Matt famously won an Oscar for his role in the 1997 hit "Good Will Hunting," in which he played an MIT janitor, who also happened to be a mathematical genius "I am humbled and thrilled by this invitation," Damon, who is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, said last December. "I feel a deep affinity for MIT, having grown up in the neighborhood. It's quite an honor to be the commencement speaker at a school that I couldn't have gotten into." Matt attended Harvard University in the 90s but dropped out to pursue acting, which has clearly worked out. His most recent movie "The Martian," directed by Ridley Scott, grossed over $600 million worldwide in 2015. Matt wrote the first draft of "Good Will Hunting" with his childhood friend, Ben Affleck, when Matt was at Harvard. They both won an Academy Award in 1998. Matt went on to star in a slew of Hollywood blockbusters: "The Departed," "The Bourne Ultimatum," and of course, "Ocean's 11," and its sequels. This is MIT's 139th commencement, and Matt will be the first Hollywood star to give the address in 17 years.