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Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon University · lecture · Watch on YouTube

Productivity & self-improvementUniversity lectures & coursesPsychology & human behavior

What it is

Randy Pausch's 2007 last lecture at Carnegie Mellon, given as he was dying of pancreatic cancer. He reflects on achieving childhood dreams, overcoming obstacles and helping others reach theirs.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Perennially recommended as an inspirational talk for people facing setbacks or choosing a direction, and a source of oft-quoted lines like the brick wall.

  • 12 people recommended it
  • 12 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2008, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “There are 2 pieces of media I'd strongly recommend for that”

    Soul-searching media for deciding direction.

    sdrinf, 2010-09 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: After almost 30 years the romance is over - What now?”

  2. “If you haven't watched this, it will change your life.”

    Dying professor shares life lessons for his kids.

    rebase, 2018-06 · Strong recommendation · in “YouTube’s top creators are burning out”

  3. “is very inspirational”

    Inspirational talk.

    Tarks, 2009-05 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Just lost my year long placement because they have no work. Begging for advice ”

  4. “Here's the famous speech”

    Famous speech on wisdom imparted in a last chance.

    andre3k1, 2010-10 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Good books?”

  5. “If you haven't seen it, watch the whole talk. It's really good.”

    Pausch's lunch-asking method and the full talk.

    Xk, 2011-06 · Recommendation · in “Hacking the system: how to land meetings with anyone you want”

  6. “I recommend everyone to both watch the Last lecture and read the book.”

    Inspiring last lecture by Pausch.

    elliottcarlson, 2011-10 · Recommendation · in “Pancreatic Cancer”

  7. “Maybe also of interest on the topic of doing important work, Randy Pausch's Last Lecture”

    Relevant talk on doing important work.

    ehurrell, 2014-05 · Recommendation · in “Hamming, "You and Your Research" (1995) [video]”

  8. “The Last Lecture is good.”

    Reminder for younger readers who may have missed it.

    delibes, 2017-11 · Recommendation · in “Business questions engineers should ask when interviewing at ML/AI companies”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: randy pausch, inspiration, mortality, career advice, carnegie mellon

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