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Reka Artner: So welcome to Vienna.
Is it your first time here?

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Joshua Beckford: Yes, it's my first time.

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RA: Are you excited
about this conference?

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JB: Yeah, it's my biggest event so far.

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RA: Biggest event. (Chuckles)

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(Applause)

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Now, Joshua,

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as Vlad already mentioned,
you have a very bright mind,

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and you love to study, 
you love to get new information.

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Why is that?

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JB: Well, because studying is my passion

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because studying is fun,

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and it helps you to learn,

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and it helps you
to experience your journey,

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your journey along your life,

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and, you know, it's fun,
and you learn new stuff.

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RA: We all agree it's fun.

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That means that you love to go to school.

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You enjoy going to school, right?
JB: Mm-hmm.

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RA: Wow, most kids
don't like it that much,

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but you do love it.

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What are your favorite subjects?

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JB: My favorite subject is science.

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RA: Science, science, and why science?

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JB: Well, because science
can practically do anything,

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as in, like, you know ...

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RA: Like, for example,
what we heard before,

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of going into space?

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JB: Like space, yeah.

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RA: Cool, very nice!

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So, actually, now you're going to school,
but you're only 11 years old,

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and you've already been studying
at the University of Oxford.

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For most of us, a dream come true,
and you've already done that.

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How was it?

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JB: It was great, it was pretty hard,
but I got through it.

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(Laughter)

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RA: What kind of subject did you study?

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JB: Philosophy.

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RA: Philosophy, okay.

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And what did you have to do
in that class and that subject?

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JB: I had to do five tests,

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and they had lots of questions in them

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about your own opinion
of what you think about philosophy.

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RA: Mm-hmm.

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And how did you do on the test?

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JB: In every one of the tests,
I got five distinctions.

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RA: Crazy, I think
that's a big round of applause.

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Awesome!

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(Applause)

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So you love to study,
you love to get to learn new things,

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and you also really like
to learn languages.

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How many languages do you speak, Joshua?

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JB: Oh, I speak Japanese.
RA: Japanese.

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JB: A bit of Chinese.
RA: Chinese.

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JB: A little bit of German.
RA: A little bit of German.

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JB: And some French.

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RA: Wow!

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Yeah, that's all of them.
RA: And let's not forget English.

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JB: English, yeah, of course.
(Laughter)

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RA: Do you want to count
till 10 in Japanese?

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Because I've never heard
somebody count in Japanese.

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JB: OK.

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Ichi, ni, san, yon, go,

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roku, nana, hachi, ku, juu.

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RA: Wow. Cool! (Laughs)

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(Applause)

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That's so cool!

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That is very cool!

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And I heard that you gather information
from the Internet a lot,

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but you also love to read books.

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And how many books have you read so far?

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JB: I'm not sure,
but it's probably quite a lot.

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RA: (Laughs) Quite a lot.

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[So] many that you said
you want to write your own book.

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Is that correct?

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You're about to write your own book?

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JB: Yeah, well, I'm progressing on it.

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I'm writing a book on ancient Egypt.

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RA: On ancient Egypt, okay.
And where do you get the information from?

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JB: I get the information from Google

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and lots of books that I read
about the history of Egypt.

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RA: Mm-hmm. Cool.
Have you been there?

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JB: Yes, I've -
RA: You've been to Egypt?

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JB: I went to Egypt
when I was 10 years old.

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RA: Oh, wow! So you actually did
some research on the ground?

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JB: Mm-hmm.
RA: (Laughs) Perfect, very cool.

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Now, next to all that studying 
and all that learning,

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you also try to keep fit,
and you love to do sports.

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What kind of sports do you do?

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JB: Well, I'm good at football,
basketball, cricket,

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rugby, tennis,

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badminton, swimming ...

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(Laughter)

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yoga ...

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(Laughter)

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tai chi ...

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RA: Awesome!

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JB: Golf.
RA: Golf!

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(Laughter) (Applause)

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Are you not too small
for rugby and football, by the way?

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JB: No, I'm not too small.

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(Laughter)

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I can tackle a lot of people.

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(Laughter)

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RA: Also the grown-ups, the adults?

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JB: Yeah, I tackle them in football.

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RA: (Laughs) Okay, cool.

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Joshua, do you have a preference,

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that you say you'd rather talk
to grown-ups and adults,

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or kids?

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Do you have a preference there?

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JB: Well, I like to talk to adults a lot,

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and I like to talk to children as well.

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But, you know, adults ...

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RA: Why do you like talking to adults?
What makes them so fascinating?

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JB: Because adults mostly
have a lot of information

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that I can learn from,

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and, you know, it's fun
to get information from them.

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Like I said earlier,

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that will add on
a little experience as well.

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RA: Beautiful. Well,
there are a lot of adults here today.

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So in the break,
you can totally talk to them.

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I think they will love to talk to you.

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And now, Joshua, when you grow up,
what do you want to become?

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What do you want to be?

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JB: I want to be
a neurosurgeon when I grow up.

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RA: And why is that?

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JB: Well, because since I was four ...

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I decided to be a neurosurgeon
when I was four

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because on my dad's laptop,

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I have a surgery simulator,

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and I have to pull out organs

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and put them back in.

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It's really gross.

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(Laughter)

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If you're not into that stuff,

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don't try it.

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RA: (Laughs) Don't try it!

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Host: And you're actually
also doing that in the lab.

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You're already learning
how to use the scalpel

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and doing that on animal organs, right?

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And how is that experience?
Is that not gross?

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JB: Well, not to me, at least.
RA: Not to you? (Laughs)

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Cool.

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And, so you are really fascinated about,
as you said before,

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you want to grow up
and become a neurosurgeon,

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and you told me that you want to do that
in order to help people.

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Is that correct?
JB: Yeah!

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RA: What other things
are you passionate about

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and advocating for?

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JB: Well, I want to save the Earth.

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RA: You want to say the Earth? Really?
And how do you want to do that?

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JB: Well, sending out tips to everyone,

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and, you know, trying to change the world

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and change people into doing
the right things for Earth.

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(Applause)

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RA: That is very impressive.

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And we actually have
a live audience right here,

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plus all the people
looking at the livestream.

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Do you want to give us some tips 
on what we can do?

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JB: Well, you could turn
your devices off in the nighttime

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when you're not using them.

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You could also pick up
rubbish from the floor

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and also not throw rubbish on the floor.

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RA: It makes sense,
in the first place, yes, absolutely.

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Is there something else that we can do?

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JB: When you cut down trees to get wood,

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plant them back more often.

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RA: Mm-hmm.

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JB: And you also
shouldn't start forest fires.

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RA: (Laughs) Did you hear that,
guys? No forest fires.

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Okay. So you're advocating
for saving Mother Earth,

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and there's also another cause
that you're advocating for.

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You told me that you're also involved

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in advocating for a new understanding
of autism, is that correct?

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JB: Mm-hmm.

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RA: And you're involved
in other charities doing that.

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Do you want to tell us a bit about that?

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JB: Well, I am an ambassador for charities

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on children in Africa and children in need

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and children that need the money too.

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So when people come to events

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to hear me making a presentation,

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they pay money,

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and since I'm an ambassador,
that money goes to charity

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to help all the kids and adults

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to buy more stuff
and to buy food and clothes

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and all the stuff that they need.

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RA: That's very honorable,
that's very nice.

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Is there something that you want
the audience to know of autism?

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JB: Well, if you don't know
what autism is,

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autism is a kind of way
of thinking differently.

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It's like your brain thinks another way.

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And there's a high side
and there's a low side.

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The high side is where, like ...

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you're born with lots
of gifts and good stuff

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that people dream of.

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There is, unfortunately, a low side,

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and it's more common to be
on the low side of autism,

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unfortunately.

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And the low side is
where sometimes you can't speak

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and you have trouble speaking,
maybe learning difficulties.

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It's really sad.

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RA: But I think
you don't have troubles at all.

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Seriously, you're sitting
in front of this big audience.

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A lot of, I think, grown-ups

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would be very scared to do that
and would be super nervous,

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and you're doing a great job.

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Isn't he?

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(Applause)

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Now, Joshua, since you mentioned

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that you are advocating
for saving Mother Earth,

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would you like to share your poem here?

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He actually wrote a little poem about it.

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So I will go off stage,
and the stage is all yours.

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And you can share that with us.
Yeah? Awesome.

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I'll see you backstage.

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JB: So my poem is about Mother Earth.

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I hope you guys like it.

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Mother Earth, Mother Earth,

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she's getting hurt.

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Why do people keep spitting on the ground?

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Why do people keep throwing
litter all around?

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I don't like it, not even a bit.

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And you probably don't like it.

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Each day, she's getting more alert,

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while we are only getting hurt.

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Why do people keep doing
the wrong things in life

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which will cause them lots of strife?

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I care about our Mother Earth.

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I don't want to see her hurt.

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If people continue to do the wrong things,

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we will reap the punishment
that nature brings.

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The Earth is the only home we know.

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If we destroy it, we will have
nowhere else to go.

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Mother Earth is alive.

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We should do everything
to make her thrive.

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If we cause her lots of pain,

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we have nothing much to gain.

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When Mother Earth makes a tsunami,

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she's weeping oceans of tears,

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the waves of which
will just increase our fears.

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When we mine what's in the Earth,

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she shakes us with big earthquakes

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to tell us of our big mistakes.

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When we cut down the trees, 
Mother Earth gets naked,

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and soon we'll have
nothing left that's sacred.

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If we poison the air
with fumes from cars and planes,

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the forest will go up in lots of flames.

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Soon, we will have no atmosphere,

251
00:14:03,134 --> 00:14:07,374
and, one day, we might just
no longer be here.

252
00:14:08,374 --> 00:14:13,164
Maybe the cure for all disease
is not to do just as we please.

253
00:14:13,164 --> 00:14:15,291
Just being nice to one another

254
00:14:15,291 --> 00:14:18,917
might just be the key
to getting on with each other.

255
00:14:20,407 --> 00:14:22,596
Please help take care of Mother Earth

256
00:14:22,596 --> 00:14:24,582
as she will take good care of you.

257
00:14:24,582 --> 00:14:26,964
The planet belongs to me and you.

258
00:14:26,964 --> 00:14:33,221
We abuse our bodies day and night
with much fault to how's our plight.

259
00:14:33,221 --> 00:14:36,121
I wish that we would all take stock

260
00:14:36,781 --> 00:14:39,409
before nature takes us back.

261
00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:43,719
If we fail to take care
of that marvelous machine,

262
00:14:43,719 --> 00:14:48,415
Mother Nature will charge us
with a mortal sin.

263
00:14:48,975 --> 00:14:51,481
I hope that you will listen to my plea

264
00:14:51,481 --> 00:14:54,674
as nature will be watching you and me.

265
00:14:55,114 --> 00:14:57,242
If we don't save our planet,

266
00:14:57,242 --> 00:15:00,432
nothing else that we do is important.

267
00:15:00,432 --> 00:15:01,774
Thank you for listening.

268
00:15:01,774 --> 00:15:04,412
(Applause)