Now these connections，they’re important in and of themselves，but I have to admit，I don‘t want you to connect for connection sake alone.I want you to connect because I believe it will inspire you to do something，to take action，to make a difference in the world.Humanity in the abstract will never inspire you the way meeting another human being will.Poverty is not going to motivate you to do something，but meeting people，that will motivate you to do something.
When my husband and I started our foundation，I really didn’t know much about global health.We got ourselves immersed in the data.We met a lot of academics.We were reading all these morbidity and mortality ratios，but 2001，I wanted to take my first foundation trip to really see the people behind the statistics.I went to India and Thailand，and so when I was in the foot of the Himalayas，I was in a village；I toured the village most of the day，spent a lot of time with the villagers and the people.
And the end of the day，a woman invited me into her home and I have to admit I didn‘t quite know what to expect.And as we walked into her small home，she pulled two lawn chairs off the nail from her kitchen wall.And they were those aluminum kind of folding lawn chairs.You know what，that itchy fabric seat you might’ve sat on a few for a few hours in Krzyzewsikiville.She whipped them out and put them on a back porch，and what she wanted to do was to gaze up at the Himalayas.And it reminded me of that my family used to use those same lawn chairs in Dallas.We‘d sit out in the back patio at night gazing at the stars.And this woman wanted to talk to me about what my family life was like，what inspired me.She wanted to tell me the dreams and the hopes she had for her children and her family.As I left her village and I was traveling home，I realized that the biggest difference between her and me was not what we dreamt about，but about how hard it was going to be for her to make her dreams come true.
Now some people assume that Bill and I are too rich to make a connection with somebody who’s poor，even if we have the right intent.But I want to tell you that words like rich and poor，they don‘t define who we are，they don’t define who we are as human beings.The universe is like computer code in that way.It‘s binary.There’s life，and then there’s everything else.There are zeros and ones.I’m a one，you’re a one.My friend in the Himalayas，she is a one.
Martin Luther King Jr.，he was not a computer programmer，so he called this concept a brotherhood.His hope was that college students would bring a brotherhood into being.Dr King thought at that time that the world has shrunk as much as it was going to shrink，and it‘s his words we dwarfed distance and placed time in chains.So the fact that people still don’t treat each other like brothers and sisters，to him，was an ethical failure.
I take a slightly different point of view.I believe we are finally creating the scientific and technological tools to turn the world into a neighborhood.And that gives you an amazing ethical opportunity you can light up network of 7billion people with long-lasting and highly motivating human connections.
You have spent the last few years at one of the most amazing universities on the planet.You‘ve gained the knowledge and the skills to go out and do in the world，whatever it is that you choose to do.So what will you do？I hope you’ll use the tools of technology to do what you already had it in your heart to do，to connect，to make of this world a brotherhood and a sisterhood.And I can‘t wait to see what you do.Congratulations！
译文参考
人际关系是一切
——梅琳达·盖茨在杜克大学的演讲
布罗德海德校长，董事会以及杜克大学的各位师生，能够回到母校真是太美妙了，能获得学位，能站在这里为毕业生致辞，让我感到分外欣喜。
首先我要对2013届毕业生们说的是——恭喜你们……
请记得感谢你们的母亲，今天是母亲节。
我还想说的是，我仍然对路易斯维尔的比赛耿耿于怀。
当1986年K教练带着球队打入决赛时，我还在校就读。但是当时我们输给了路易斯维尔，所以我和你们都有相同的痛苦回忆。
然而，你们在校期间能看到杜克赢得第四次全国冠军是非常幸运的。
我从来没有看到过夺冠，但是我却到过教堂山观看过迈克尔·乔丹母校——北卡大学的比赛，并且赢得了比赛。
但是乔丹现在已年近5旬，这让我意识到我也毕业很多年了。
不管多少年过去了，我仍然能够感受到与杜克之间的微妙的联系，特别是这里的地标，杜克公园，我经常在那里学习，也经常到那里缓解考试带来的压力。昨天午后下过雨后我又去了那里，为此次讲演做准备。不过除了地标之外，给我留下最深记忆的是这里的人，和那些和我一起生活学习四年的伙伴们的联络。如果要用一个词来形容与杜克大学所有有关系的人和事情，共同标上“杜克”的话，我认为这个词便是“联系”。联系，正是今天毕业日我要跟你们讨论的主题。
1982年的8月我离开了老家，德克萨斯的达拉斯，来到了达勒姆。我的双亲为我此次的人生重要之旅送上特别的礼物——一台打字机，奥林巴斯B12型便携打字机，它最大的优点就是只有12磅重，轻的可以放到箱子里。在就读于杜克大学期间，计算机已经真正取代了打字机的地位，成为写论文的首选工具。当时我们这些计算机系的学生最讨厌的就是你们这些文科生了。因为你们总是占着我们的电脑来写论文。这就害得我们不得不长时间待在某些阴森的地下室里，特别是在生物楼的地下室里。我们在那栋楼的地下室里比赛写代码，看谁的代码写的最快最高效。现在你们好像给它们起了个名字叫做编程马拉松。比赛输掉的人，就被罚到礼堂里摸生物系学生培育的变种青蛙。个人电脑，以及后来我到微软工作后才出现的互联网，才真正地开启了一场通讯革命。
我有三个孩子，我观察了他们如今使用电脑和电话的方式，跟我读书时有很大的差异。最大的差异在于通讯方式，用一句流行语来描述你们生活中的这一方面，那就是你们联系得很紧密。
一些专家们已经开始称你们为C一代，甚至最近的一篇报道把这个概念无限放大了，说你们的生活是以联络、通讯为中心的生活，以群体为导向，总是点鼠标的一代。文章还说道，仅仅根据这些理由，你们就将颠覆现有的世界。当然，你们这种特殊属性，也遭遇到了质疑的声音，认为你们这一代正在逐渐脱离与现实的联系。相关的论述大致如下，你们与朋友在一起的时间变少了，只是不断的积累网友；你们不再享受食物，而只是喜欢拍照后分享到脸书上。
不过我建议你不要听这种论调，不要听他们说什么，科技正在毁灭你们对真实世界的体验。有些人只是从你不断地更新状态就认为你变得很浅薄，不要听他们乱说。这种认为科技让你们变得陌生的论调是错误的，但是认为科技可以自动让人相互联系的论调也是错误的。
科技只是个工具。只是一个强有力的工具。但是仍然只是工具。人与人之间深入的联系是非常独特的。它不是工具，也不是实现目的手段。而是目的本身，它是有意义的生活目标。它能激发人类最美丽的行为——爱，慷慨，人性。
在著名的演讲《在大变革中保持清醒》中，马丁·路德·金说道：“通过科学和技术的天赋，我们让世界变成地球村。但是我们仍然缺少让世界充满手足之情的担当。”根据后见之明，我认为金博士在那时就想让世界变成地球村为时过早。在那个时间，美国把世界大部分地方的人都归为第三世界人。这使人们觉得似乎世界其他地区的人，是与我们完全不同的生物。但是随着这场通讯革命，世界真可以变成地球村，从而让金博士所说的伦理担当，能够在你们这一代实现。