Last lecture

Long time ago I was asked a question, "How would you spend your last day of life?" I don't think I have ever answered--it is just too much pain to think down that path.

Randy Pausch, a professor of computer-science, gave his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon University after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, not about science, but about how to achieve dreams from childhood. He meant to do it for his children but obviously others like it as well, according to his website, more than six million people have watched the presentation online. I just watched a start so far, he has a very good sense of humor (even about death) and very impressive push-ups...

He also gave a presentation on "Time management". Again, it was for his children but I learned at least a couple of things (here is the pdf of his powerpoint) from it.

He started both lectures with slides of his cancer image. When somebody said he only got 3~6 months of life left, you have to listen to what he has to offer. But I am more impressed with his easy attitude towards dying, "We cannot change the card we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

"You bet it is about having fun--I am dying!"

The same thing can be said for everybody, really. Do I have to wait for an explicit death sentence to manage my time better? Do I have fun doing what I am doing right now??!

Update: Randy passed away on July 25 2008.