Kazira

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch (Author), Jeffrey Zaslow (Author)

Randy Pausch, a Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon, struggling with all the physical and phychological issues related to pancreatic cancer – gives his last lecture in front of Carnegie Mellon Students and other audiences. The lecture was given last fall and; subsequently, the professor died on July 25, 2008 at the age of 47. His book has become a phenomenon.

It’s an academic tradition to giving students a last lecture, where the professors hypothesize that if this were their last lecture – what would they say to the students? For Randy Pausch, this was not a hypothetical frame work – it was all too real. He came to know about the fatality of his disease after he was invited to give this last lecture. He used up this opportunity to collect his thoughts and wisdom to pass along not only to his three kids but also to the rest of the world. The wisdom passed along from a dying intellectual is always forceful.

Reading this book has really made me think. If I knew that I would die within 6 months or so; what exactly would I write or say to my son. He is only 2-1/2 years old – What could I possibly leave behind that would tie my trajectory of life so he can use to propagate himself forward? I know its morbid and it is depressing – But face it – life is not always full of fun and frolic – and some times (more than what we would care to acknowledge) life really comes at you fast. "What would you like to see scribed on your tomb stone" is a potent motivational force - But thinking of what you would impart upon the next generation on your deathbed is a different beast altogether.

So, me personally - I would tell my kid about –

• My life’s story (history of family as far and as far out as I can remember)
• His life’s story as perceived by me
• All the life’s incidences and books that have changed my life forever.
• All the dreams and aspirations that I have for him
• A synopsis of world history, religion, and evolution of human psychology as far as I have understood them ….
• Some secrets of religion and history that I have collected over the years

But enough about my morbid thoughts…. Randy, in his book, gives a list of ideals and philosophies to live by – inspired by his life and nicely summarized in the book with stories from his own life. The take away message from his book to me was – It’s not the quantity but the quality of life that matters. Randy also gives some great pointers on work ethics, time management, and work performance optimization. “Don’t sweat over what other people think”, “Dance with the one who brung you”, “Treat the disease and not the symptoms”, and “look for the best in everyone” are some of my favorite pearls of wisdom from this book.

A definite must read for getting some really cool ideas on improving your family life, work life and spiritual life.

You can download an iTunes version of Randy’s actual last lecture from the Carnegie Melon University Website at

http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml

A transcript of his last lecture can be found at –

www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf