Bill Gates, one of the richest and (subjectively) smartest men in the world, spends most of his time trying to solve world problems like disease, injury, and condom engineering. As a result, he’s asked the same question by new grads every year: Where should they go? What should they do? And how can they live lives that matter?
This year, the tech mogul decided that to do the most good, he’d just answer those questions in an inspirational tweetstorm that dropped this morning.
Gates starts off with a classic joke:
1/ New college grads often ask me for career advice. At the risk of sounding like this guy…https://t.co/C68mjJ5g44
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
Then he lays out that artificial intelligence, energy, and biosciences are where he’d work if he’d started today. He also notes that intelligence isn’t as big a deal as he thought, before veering into more interesting territory: His biggest regret.
1/ New college grads often ask me for career advice. At the risk of sounding like this guy…https://t.co/C68mjJ5g44
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
2/ AI, energy, and biosciences are promising fields where you can make a huge impact. It's what I would do if starting out today.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
3/ Looking back on when I left college, there are some things I wish I had known.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
4/ E.g. Intelligence takes many different forms. It is not one-dimensional. And not as important as I used to think.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
5/ I also have one big regret: When I left school, I knew little about the world’s worst inequities. Took me decades to learn.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
In other words, according to Gates, it’s not just building cool stuff new grads should be focused on; it’s fixing the social and cultural inequities around us every day. Gates recommends reading Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels Of Our Nature, Pinker’s analysis of how, despite how awful the planet can seem right now, humans are actually, overall, more peaceful and better as people now than at any point in our history. Gates’ fundamental point is that new grads need to believe the problems of the world can be solved and to go out there and get it done.
6/ You know more than I did when I was your age. You can start fighting inequity, whether down the street or around the world, sooner.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
7/ Meanwhile, surround yourself with people who challenge you, teach you, and push you to be your best self. As @MelindaGates does for me.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
8/ Like @WarrenBuffett I measure my happiness by whether people close to me are happy and love me, & by the difference I make for others.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
9/ If I could give each of you a graduation present, it would be this–the most inspiring book I've ever read. pic.twitter.com/P67BuvpELJ
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
10/ @SAPinker shows how the world is getting better. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. This is the most peaceful time in human history.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
11/ That matters because if you think the world is getting better, you want to spread the progress to more people and places.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
12/ It doesn’t mean you ignore the serious problems we face. It just means you believe they can be solved.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
13/ This is the core of my worldview. It sustains me in tough times and is the reason I love my work. I think it can do same for you.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
And he offers this as an ending:
14/ This is an amazing time to be alive. I hope you make the most of it.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 15, 2017
(Via Business Insider)