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> He talks about theories with professors and hangs out with the President. These sound so superficially-smart that I'm almost wondering if you're joking. Ever

> He talks about theories with professors and hangs out with the President. These sound so superficially-smart that I'm almost wondering if you're joking. Every college student "talks about theories with professors", so does Matt Damon actually teach them something or show greater-than-average understanding? And the President is basically just another celebrity in this context, unless you tell us something meaningful Mr. Damon did with the President other than "hang out". I'll grant you Damon is more articulate than many celebrities, but I've decided that by listening to what he says, not noting that professors and the President have occasionally been in his presence. (P.S. Perhaps this is a disproportionate fixation on the closing sentence to some other points I agree with.)

rayiner 10y ago
Few people continue to show enough intellectual curiosity to discuss theories with professors long after they've dropped out of college. And the President is not "just another celebrity in this context." By virtue of his office, the President has enormous insight into various global problems, and Damon mentioned discussing those issues with him.
- scintill76 10y ago
  OK, when has Damon met with professors, and what did they talk about? My Googling shows he talked to two professors at Harvard about the script of Good Will Hunting. They influenced his choice to make Will a math genius rather than physics, and maybe a few other points in the story (not really elaborated on here[1]). Damon's mother also happens to be a professor. Neither of these really qualify as talking about theories, or purely to satisfy his intellectual curiosity rather than to help in his non-academic work or incidental contact. Again from some quick Googling, this seems an exemplary quote from Damon about what he would talk with President Obama about: "There are a lot of things that I really question — the legality of the drone strikes, these NSA revelations. Jimmy Carter came out and said we don’t live in a democracy. That’s a little intense when an ex-president says that. So you now, he’s got some explaining to do, particularly for a constitutional law professor." [2] I see no evidence to suggest that the President has deliberately chosen to speak with Damon about these issues because he especially values his opinion or considers him smart, or that Damon has any particular things to say beyond what any of the somewhat articulate among us here on HN could have said on those issues, or that anything Damon said caused the President to expand his knowledge which is, as you said, founded on responsibilities and insights that Damon can't possibly have. In other words, any of us could do something notable but in a non-political field, be invited to a small-audience event with the President, have the opportunity to bring up some issues with him for 2 minutes, and honestly say that we'd "discussed issues with the President" like Damon can say, but it wouldn't be proof of much, other than that you're smart enough or maybe just lucky enough in one field to get the attention of the President's staff and be invited to an event that incidentally allowed you to chat with him. Also, if the press cared to report your brief accounts of it as widely as they did for Damon, it probably has more to do with you being a charismatic celebrity that people want to hear about, than with having a notable intellect that people want to learn from. [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/trivia?item=tr0776622 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/trivia?item=tr0776622 [2] http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/08/matt-damon-obama-broke-up-with-me-170232 http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/08/matt-damon-obama...

rayiner 10y ago

Few people continue to show enough intellectual curiosity to discuss theories with professors long after they've dropped out of college. And the President is not "just another celebrity in this context." By virtue of his office, the President has enormous insight into various global problems, and Damon mentioned discussing those issues with him.

scintill76 10y ago
OK, when has Damon met with professors, and what did they talk about? My Googling shows he talked to two professors at Harvard about the script of Good Will Hunting. They influenced his choice to make Will a math genius rather than physics, and maybe a few other points in the story (not really elaborated on here[1]). Damon's mother also happens to be a professor. Neither of these really qualify as talking about theories, or purely to satisfy his intellectual curiosity rather than to help in his non-academic work or incidental contact. Again from some quick Googling, this seems an exemplary quote from Damon about what he would talk with President Obama about: "There are a lot of things that I really question — the legality of the drone strikes, these NSA revelations. Jimmy Carter came out and said we don’t live in a democracy. That’s a little intense when an ex-president says that. So you now, he’s got some explaining to do, particularly for a constitutional law professor." [2] I see no evidence to suggest that the President has deliberately chosen to speak with Damon about these issues because he especially values his opinion or considers him smart, or that Damon has any particular things to say beyond what any of the somewhat articulate among us here on HN could have said on those issues, or that anything Damon said caused the President to expand his knowledge which is, as you said, founded on responsibilities and insights that Damon can't possibly have. In other words, any of us could do something notable but in a non-political field, be invited to a small-audience event with the President, have the opportunity to bring up some issues with him for 2 minutes, and honestly say that we'd "discussed issues with the President" like Damon can say, but it wouldn't be proof of much, other than that you're smart enough or maybe just lucky enough in one field to get the attention of the President's staff and be invited to an event that incidentally allowed you to chat with him. Also, if the press cared to report your brief accounts of it as widely as they did for Damon, it probably has more to do with you being a charismatic celebrity that people want to hear about, than with having a notable intellect that people want to learn from. [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/trivia?item=tr0776622 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/trivia?item=tr0776622 [2] http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/08/matt-damon-obama-broke-up-with-me-170232 http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/08/matt-damon-obama...