One of Massachusetts' native sons, Matt Damon, returned on Friday to deliver the commencement address to MIT's graduating class and the university's choice of speaker couldn't have been more appropriate.

Aside from his early life in the state, there are his Hollywood roles in Good Will Hunting as a janitor at MIT, and more recently as a scientist stranded on Mars. And although Damon attended (but didn't graduate from) Harvard, his Ivy League experience and unique connection to the state resulted in a powerful speech that's worth anyone's 20 minutes.

Most of Damon's speech focused on politics: He slammed Donald Trump a few times and quoted Bill Clinton and President Obama while making various points about the working world the graduates are about to enter. Some of the political discourse also included points about outreach to countries suffering oppression and even a scathing rebuke of the banking industry.

But what stood out most was his ability to play to his audience by weaving science and technology into his speech.

Just days after SpaceX founder Elon Musk mused in public about the possibility that we're all living in a massive virtual universe, Damon raised the idea again by talking about simulation theory and invoking the name of noted Oxford professor Nick Bostrom.

Keep innovating. Whether in the boardroom or the biology lab, dealing with molecules or a mission to Mars, your next failure might come just before your world-changing discovery.

"What if this, all of this, is a simulation," said Damon. "My advice is to go out and do really interesting things, so the simulators don’t shut you down … What we do affects the outcome. So either way, MIT, you’ve got to go out and do really interesting things, important things, inventive things. Because this world, real or imagined, this world has some problems that we need you to drop everything and solve."

He also highlighted the less lofty but no less advanced work being done on the Hyperloop. "Some of today’s graduates recently won first prize in the Hyperloop Challenge," said Damon. "They designed a futuristic pod that could transport passengers from city to city, through special tubes, at 750 miles an hour!"

And while much of Damon's often humorous speech was peppered with strong political statements – so strong he decided to remind the audience that, no, he's not running for office – his overarching message was one of encouragement.

"Celebrate trying things," said Damon. "Keep innovating. Whether in the boardroom or the biology lab, dealing with molecules or a mission to Mars, your next failure might come just before your world-changing discovery."

Finally, Damon ended on a similarly geeky note by referencing the popular Ernest Cline science fiction novel (soon to be a film) Ready Player One, in which the protagonist plays a game in a virtual environment against legions of competitors. Damon signed off like a true sci-fi lover, "Ready player one, your game begins now."

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