In a moment that drew both laughs and cheers, Colbert warned the graduates about the cynicism they would encounter from older generations — including his own. Baby boomers and Gen Xers who had failed to solve the great problems of their era would be the first to insist those problems were unsolvable. The logic was devastating in its simplicity: the people telling you it can't be done are the exact people who didn't do it. Their pessimism isn't wisdom — it's autobiography. Colbert urged the Class of 2015 to ignore these voices and attempt what previous generations had declared impossible, from climate change to social justice to whatever new challenges awaited them.