For all the amazing successes I’ve been lucky to share in, few things have shaped me more thanthe auditions that Ben and I used to do as young actors — where we would get on a bus, show up in New York, wait for our turn, cry our hearts out for a scene, and then be told, “OK, thanks.”Meaning: game over.

We used to call it “being OK thanksed.”

Those experiences became our armor.

So now you’re thinking, that’s great, Matt. Failure is good. Thanks a ton. Tell me something I didn’thear at my high school graduation.

To which I say: OK, I will!

You know the real danger for MIT graduates? It’s not getting “OK thanksed.” The real danger is allthat smoke that’s been blown up your ... graduation gowns about how freaking smart you are.

Well, you are that freaking smart! But don’t believe the hype that’s thrown at you. You don’t have all the answers. And you shouldn’t. And that’s fine.

You’re going to have your share of bad ideas.

For me, one was playing a character named “Edgar Pudwhacker.”

I wish I could tell you I’m making that up.

But as the great philosopher, Benjamin Affleck, once said:

“Judge me by how good my good ideasare, not by how bad my bad ideas are.” You’ve got to suit up in your armor, and get ready tosound like a total fool.

Not having an answer isn’t embarrassing. It’s an opportunity. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

I know so much less the second time I’m fake graduating than the first time.

The second thing I want to leave you with is that you’ve got to keep listening.

The world wants to hear your ideas — good and bad. But today’s not the day you switch from“receive” to “transmit.” Once you do that, your education is over. And your education should never be over. Even outside your work, there are ways to keep challenging yourself. Listen toonline lectures. I just retook a philosophy course online that I took at Harvard when I was nineteen. Or use MIT OpenCourseWare. Go to Wait But Why ... or TED.com.

I’m told there’s even a Trump University. I have no earthly idea what they teach there. But whatever you do, just keep listening. Even to people you don’t agree with at all.

I love what President Obama said at Howard University’s commencement last month: he said,

“Democracy requires compromise, even when you are 100 percent right.”

I heard that and I thought: here is a man who has been happily married for a long time.

Not that the First Lady has ever been wrong about anything.

Just like my wife. Never wrong. Not even when she decided last month that in a family with fourkids, what was missing in our lives was a third rescue dog.

That was an outstanding decision, honey. And I love you.

The third and last thought I want to leave you with is that not every problem has a high-techsolution. I guess this is obvious. But: it is really?

If anybody has a right to think we can pretty much tech support the world’s problems into submission, it’s you. Think of the innovations that got their start at MIT or by MIT alums: the World Wide Web. Nuclear fission. Condensed soup. (This is true! You should be proud.) But the truth is, we can’t science the shit out of every problem.

There is not always a freaking app for that.

Take water again as an example. People are always looking for some scientific quick fix for the problem of dirty and disease-ridden water. A “pill you put in the glass,” a filter, or something likethat. But there’s no magic bullet. The problem’s too complex.

Yes, there is definitely, absolutely a role for science. There’s incredible advances being made in clean water technology. Companies and universities are getting in on the game. I’m glad to know thatprofessors like Susan Mercott at D-Lab are focusing on water and sanitation.

But as I’m sure she’d agree, science alone can’t solve this problem. We need to be just as innovative in public policy, just as innovative in our financial models. That’s the idea behind anapproach we have at Water.org called WaterCredit.

WaterCredit is based on Gary White’s insight that poor people were already paying for their water and they, no less than the rest of us, want to participate in their own solutions. So WaterCredit helps connect the poor with microfinance organizations, which enables them to build water connections and toilets in their homes and communities. The approach is working — helping 4 million people so far — and this is only the start.

Our loans are paying back at over 99 percent. Which is a hell of a better deal than those bankers Iwas talking about earlier.

I agree it’s still not sexy... but it is without a doubt the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of.

So, graduates, let me ask you this in closing: What do you want to be a part of? What’s theproblem you’ll try to solve? Whatever your answer, it’s not going to be easy. Sometimes your work will hit a dead-end. Sometimes your work will be measured in half-steps.

And sometimes your work will make you wear a white sequined military uniform and make love to Michael Douglas.

Well, maybe that’s just my work.

But for all of you here, your work starts today.

And seriously, how lucky are you?

I mean, what are the odds that you’re the ones who are here today?