Address at the 2025 Graduate School Degree Conferment Ceremony
To all of you who have completed your master’s, professional degree, and doctoral programs today, I extend my heartfelt congratulations. On behalf of Kochi University, I offer my sincere congratulations.
The journey leading up to this day was certainly not an easy one. Amid your days of intense research, there must have been moments of doubt, times when you felt stuck, and occasions when you were forced to confront your own limitations. Please take a moment to reflect once more on the support you have received from your families, your advisors, your lab colleagues, and the many people around you. The prestigious degrees you receive today are not only the culmination of your individual efforts but also achievements built upon the support of so many others.
With your degrees in hand, you are now setting out toward a new future. Some of you may choose to pursue further advanced studies and aim for another degree. The paths you take are diverse, and each one is valuable in its own right. With that in mind, there is something I would like all of you who have completed your studies at this graduate school today to keep close to your hearts.
Through your research, you have continuously refined your skills. In the academic world, you have independently driven the entire process—from identifying unknown challenges, formulating hypotheses, and testing them to refining your work—without relying on others. Even more importantly, throughout this process, you have avoided treating your own hypotheses and conclusions as absolute truths, instead revising them based on data, logic, and feedback from others.
Academia is a world of knowledge that possesses an inherent mechanism for self-correction. Research findings are subjected to objective criticism through peer review and debate, and each time, they are returned to the cycle of verification from a broader perspective.You have all been honed within this rigorous yet enriching cycle of knowledge. This mindset and way of thinking are applicable not only in the world of research but in any field and any profession. In other words, it is also an attitude with which to approach life itself.
At this point, I would like to turn our attention to the wider world. Currently, the foundations of democracy are being shaken, and we are seeing movements in various parts of the world where leaders, feigning infallibility—claiming they “never make mistakes”—are attempting to justify authoritarian rule. However, no human being is infallible.Both individuals and societies are, by their very nature, capable of making mistakes. That is precisely why, for society to endure and evolve, a system for acknowledging and continuously correcting errors—in other words, a mechanism for self-correction—is indispensable.
When this ceases to function, society quietly but surely begins to head toward the brink of collapse. The same holds true for digital and AI societies. Throughout history, human society has generated countless tragedies—such as discrimination, division, and war—based on a shared subjective reality rooted in the belief that “everyone thinks this way.” In the modern era, this influence has grown even stronger through misinformation on social media and other channels.
That is precisely why it is now more important than ever to think critically, listen to differing opinions, and maintain an attitude of continuous refinement through dialogue. You have personally cultivated this very mindset during your master’s and doctoral studies.Please carry that strength and attitude with you as you take on roles in various sectors of society. Rather than clinging to your own ideas, facing the facts, listening to criticism, and steering toward a better direction—it is precisely this intellectual integrity that is urgently needed in the society of the future.
The degrees conferred upon you today not only serve as a testament to your past achievements, but also represent society’s high expectations for your future endeavors. It is my sincere hope that each of your future paths will bring hope and reason to society, and with that, I conclude my address.
Congratulations on this special day.
March 23, 2026
Hiroyuki Uchida, President of Kochi University
[References]
Yuval Noah Harari, *NEXUS: A History of Humanity Through Information*, Kawade Shobo Shinsho (2025)