Math/Sci High School Convocation Speech

This year, after all the college stuff was done, everybody asked me what I was planning to major in. When I told them I am thinking about a double major in international relations and philosophy, with minors in Chinese and Russian, they all made a funny face and repeated, "philosophy?" Honestly, what do all of you think of when you hear the word, philosophy? Well, when all the people I knew started to question my decision to major in such a seemingly old and useless subject, I became doubtful and decided to figure out what the word actually meant. Now, according to dictionary.reference.com/browse/philosophy, the word means the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. So what does it all mean? Truths? principles of being, knowledge, or conduct?I still don’t know. It still sounds like gibberish to me, and apparently, to everybody else as well. So what I'm going to talk about today is how I became interested in philosophy, and how that has shaped my opinion of the world and my purpose by deriving all of this from what I believe is a philosophical approach to the concept of truth and reality. Now, I'm not up here advertising for any philosophy classes, especially for Mr. Fout's new Philosophy/Bioethics class next year open for all of you interested in humanity and the progress of human thought. (By the way, if any of you see Mr. Fout today, please remind him to leave the check in my locker by this afternoon.)

I first took interest in philosophy in my AP Euro class last year, when we were going over late 19th and early 20th century western thoughts, such as those of Sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. Now, I'm pretty sure that everybody who has met me know that I'm quite a Nietzsche fan, just like the guy from Little Miss Sunshine. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't even have been interested in philosophy itself if I hadn't seen the picture of Nietzsche in the AP Euro textbook. I mean, look at that mustache! I would grow mine out like that, if only I had facial hair. So when I first saw this amazing picture, I decided to go to Barnes and Nobles and check it out, thinking, "What in the world would drive a man to grow out his mustache like that?" Of course, later on I found out that he went crazy in his thirties and the mustache was the result of his sister's negligence... or maybe her own, I don’t know, amusement. Anyways, starting with the short segment in the textbook, I learned about Nietzsche's idea of master and slave morality. The Ubermensch, the Untermensch, and the Last Man. I learned about the concept of God in society, and the nihilism of postmodern values as a result of the evolution and power struggles of religions. Later on, I moved onto his books, and carried them around. And I'll admit it. I liked the fact that carrying around philosophy books made me look smarter than I really am. But hey, Machiavelli wouldn’t have had a problem with that.

So how does the world and my view of it fit into all of this? German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer once said, "the world is my invention." It seems that the one idea that modern philosophers have emphasized over the years is the idea that life is not reality, and that universal truth does not exist. Without perspective, without perception, there is no life, only existence. And mere existence is never sufficient to provide meaning, and what good is a life without meaning? With that statement, I would like to implore you to think even further by saying that there exist no children dying of hunger and malnutrition in this world if they do not already exist in your minds, and for most of us here, they do not. They are merely words and images that are buried in the deepest crevices of our brains, the cancerous root, the darkness of our souls that we call apathy. Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him.” You have decided to attend this school as Math and Science scholars, but only in title. The goal of this institution, the goal of any academic organization is to create thinkers; to create the leaders of this generation; and most of all, to create individuals. The common belief among the students here in Math/Sci is that there is a Math/Sci student stereotype to fall into, or more likely, to avoid. Yet our mission is to create the Math/Sci image from within ourselves. There are no rules, there are no guidelines to life. Society, laws, and rules, are all meant to be broken down to make way for the new and better ones. This is known as progress. Thus, you have to take up the responsibility to create your own morals; to make your own values blossom out of your education. And for that, you must be diligent gardeners, never afraid of hard work to weed out the negative influence of a gray, uncaring, and apathetic world, and to create your own truths and realities by nurturing your mind.

Now we come to the question of where you and I fall into the equation. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 21st Century. Welcome to the pinnacle of Capitalist Democracy. There is a famous saying, that states, "history repeats itself." Yet, I am sure that Mr. Loret and others in this school like me, can disagree. By taking a look back into philosophy, I find the quote, "Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it is even becoming mob." Friedrich Nietzsche again. But what does he mean!? The spirit is becoming mob. Reading that, I can't help but to think about this idea of popular culture and mainstream media. This is the age of globalization. Where the world becomes smaller, and the individual becomes more impersonal. Furthermore, this is the age of information. Maybe too much information, where the verbosity of self-proclaimed experts sway the general public back and forth like a pendulum without purpose or meaning. Politics, government, even day-to-day living... they are inane and senseless when there are no individuals stern enough to hold their grounds and their values, only to be swept away by the momentum of this mob. Therefore, I challenge you, along with myself, to be the gardeners of your own lives, and not just the soil. To be fertile for all ideas, yet wise enough to weed out the harmful ones. And lastly, I will leave you with this advice: Do not let the jungle of society overtake your lives, your morals, and your values that you have created and will further create for yourself through your dedication as pupils, the gardeners, of wisdom and life.