Tao gives the 2024 UC Berkeley Commencement Speech

Being in the World

I had the incredible honor of delivering the commencement address to UC Berkeley Philosophy department's graduating class of 2024 during this time of momentous social upheaval. As an alumnus who studied under legendary professor Hubert Dreyfus, a pioneer in applying existential phenomenology to critique technology and "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), it was powerful to return and share reflections with these bright young minds. In my speech, I recounted how studying the work of Bertrand Russell and other great philosophers at Berkeley changed my life. Bert Dreyfus's courses in existentialism opened my eyes to how philosophy embodies everything from our skills to our cultural practices, inspiring me to switch my major and subsequently use film to explore the human condition. I shared stories from my philosophical journey putting theory into praxis - from studying flamenco in Spain, to making films examining monogamy and technology through an existential lens, to establishing a philosophy conference in Bombay Beach, on the shore of the Salton Sea. I explained how existential anxiety from the groundlessness of existence can transmute into awe and authenticity. Referencing the courageous student protests against injustice, militarism, and the violent suppression of Palestinian rights that have rocked campuses, I applauded the graduates for embodying philosophy's highest calling by questioning entrenched power structures and assumptions. Like the great philosophers before them, they must continue to challenge authority, respond authentically to circumstances, and take pride in being of no "value" to the status quo. Their critical thinking and reevaluation of values is urgently needed. I ended with an encouragement to creatively marry theory and praxis as modeled by philosophers like Dreyfus and Angela Davis, and to embrace the groundlessness of existence with wonder. Congratulations UC Berkeley Philosophy class of 2024 - go forth, be philosophers and change the world! Thank you to Alva Noe for the invitation, to Dulcinee DeGuere for help with editing both the speech and the video, to Patrick House for his deep insights, as well as to Mark Wrathall, Eric Kaplan, Aaron Bornstein and Iain Thomson for their suggestions.