Stanford President Jonathan Levin: The Future is Something You Build, Not Something That Happens to You
On September 15, Jonathan Levin addressed the Class of 2030 at the 136th opening ceremony, stating that the core of Stanford's culture is the belief that people can solve problems together and that the future is something you build, not something that happens to you. The ceremony took place at Frost Amphitheater, welcoming about 1,950 first-year and transfer students.
An economist, Levin entered Stanford as a freshman in 1990 and has not left since; he is now the president. He told the new students that they are arriving at a moment when technology will change many aspects of discovery, education, and life; even in a place that has birthed the semiconductor industry, modern computing systems, and the internet era, no one can accurately predict how all of this will unfold.
He offered three pieces of advice. First, explore fearlessly while setting goals and frequently asking yourself: What do I really want to accomplish? He cited his own experience of feeling lost as a freshman before majoring in English and Mathematics, comparing it to Isaiah Berlin's fox and hedgehog: a liberal education should enable one to know many things while also grasping one big thing. Jessica Watkins, who enrolled in 2006 with aspirations of becoming an astronaut, switched from engineering to Earth sciences, interned at NASA Ames, later pursued a PhD, and entered the astronaut program; she is now the commander of the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station. Stanford has produced 27 astronauts.
Second, when encountering differing beliefs and ideas you disagree with, ask questions and maintain curiosity rather than rushing to judgment. He said students come here to become their future selves, and who they ultimately become will largely be shaped by each other. Third, consider the ability to stand in a place designed for continuous self-renewal as a privilege rather than a qualification.
He acknowledged that even Stanford cannot precisely forecast technological paths, but if one were to design a place to be right now from scratch, it would require the freedom to explore and adapt, interdisciplinary expertise, and a forward-looking problem-solving temperament—thus he confidently stated: You have come to the right place. The entire speech focused less on specific models and framed technological upheaval as something that must be built by hand.
In market mechanisms, the buyers are families and students who must price a four-year education even as the skill half-life shortens, while the sellers are research universities packaging exploration, peers, and self-renewal as products. The event was driven by the opening ceremony locking the president's stance into public text. Funds did not flow at the event; what flowed were slots and attention: those who benefit are those who can treat "goal + curiosity + luck" as irreplaceable capabilities; those under pressure are those who understand universities as vocational skill distribution centers. The power of prediction has shifted from prophets back to builders.
Source: Public Information
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Levin is an economist with a background in industrial organization and market design, not a technology prophet. He used the opening ceremony to shift Stanford's self-narrative from "Silicon Valley preparatory" back to "journey of discovery": semiconductors and the internet are products recognized in hindsight, and no one predicted them at the time, so the Class of 2030 should not expect a job map for AI from the president. The fox and hedgehog analogy is not just motivational; it reflects a revaluation of liberal education after models understand a bit of everything—breadth prevents being locked into a single tool, while depth prevents being flattened by general capabilities. Watkins' transition from engineering to Earth sciences and then to space is framed as a legitimate detour, effectively allowing majors to be discarded once within four years.
The capital path is elite universities selling timeless meta-capabilities as skills become obsolete. Tuition buys not a specific course that may be swallowed by models, but the right to explore, a peer network, and a location designed for self-renewal. The 27 astronauts and Crew-13 commander serve as tangible options in recruitment: detours can be capitalized into resumes afterward. The dignity culture clause hedges against algorithmic alignment—those who ask questions first are less likely to be categorized as faction members. Levin's own journey from freshman to president over 36 years in the same campus lends continuity to the endorsement of "self-renewal."
This parallels Harvard's president discussing judgment rather than HTML during the internet bubble, Yale addressing institutions rather than investment banking post-financial crisis, and Berkeley framing free exploration as a counter to professional narrowing during the Cold War. In terms of industry positioning, top research universities have shifted from an expansion phase of delivering specific careers to a control phase of defining what constitutes obsolescence. The stronger the models, the more essential it is for four-year liberal arts to prove they are not selling mere vocabulary.
Structural judgments belong to the transfer of pricing power under technological substitution. The mechanism is: as generative systems drive the marginal cost of "knowing many things" close to zero, the market stops paying separately for the fox and begins paying for "having one big thing and being able to ask questions first in disagreements." If universities continue to price by course catalog, they will be replaced by models; if they price by exploration rights, peer shaping, and self-renewal, the barriers will be higher. The future exits the forecasting market and enters the building market.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
- The future is not a forecasting object, but a construction object.
- After models understand a bit of everything, individuals must have their own big thing.
- Skills will become obsolete, but goals, questioning, and utilizing luck will not.