WEBVTT

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Thank you very much.

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13 months ago my son's classmate, 
Robyn Higgins,

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was diagnosed with something 
called Neuroblastoma,

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which is a rare form 
of aggressive childhood cancer.

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And all my son could think of was, 
how can my dad and mum help her?

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So, we rallied together and we created 
a little blog, we created a Facebook group.

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I know Facebook is popular here.

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And we tweeted about things,
and the problem was that we had

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to raise 300,000 pounds within about 8 weeks 
so that Robyn could fly to America,

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which is the only place 
where she could actually be treated.

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As the person in charge of -- 
well, self volunteered in charge of

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trying to coordinate the diligent efforts 
here and rallying support.

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I just did what I'd normally do and collaborated 
with as many people as possible,

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and it got about 10,000 people involved, actually.

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So I was just one small cog
of a very large wheel.

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And a few months ago, Robyn had 
her tests back from the operation.

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We did raise the 300,000 pounds 
and she's now all clear.

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And she is gonna live.

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(Applause)

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And that was when 
this presentation started in my head.

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Because I'm a geek, 
I don't know if you can tell.

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I'm a nerd. 
I'm geek and I'm proud.

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I even have glasses as well 
because apparently all geeks

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have to wear glasses 
it's some strange stereotype.

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So as a technologist, 
which I prefer the term of,

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I have been looking back 
at what happened and thinking,

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"Was this only possible, raising a third 
of a million pounds, by and large,

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was it possible 
because of technology?"

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You know, we were able to tweet information 
that was retweeted and retweeted

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and retweeted to such an extend 
that even the BBC picked it up.

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It was on the home page 
of the BBC, the Evening Standard,

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it went worldwide, 
because of technology.

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So it got me thinking, 
what else is possible if we can do this?

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We raised 300,000 pounds 
in 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 


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using the tools 
that we have in our hands.

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Surely we can do 
so much more than just that.

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And to cut a short story long, I eventually ended up 
with these ridiculous philosophical questions

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such as "What about if 
Mandela had tweeted?"

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And that's how we get 
to where we are today.

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It's not to do with Twitter 
that I'm fascinated with.

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It's not necessarily to do 
with Nelson Mandela,

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who I have a private passion for, 
but that's not really the point.

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The point is 
if the people

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who have changed the world 
and had a massive difference,

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actually had the tools 
and technologies in their hands

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that we do today, 
what else could have had taken place?

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You know, some people who've changed the world 
for millions of people rather than just for one person.

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Of course through the eyes of Robyn, 
her world has fundamentally changed.

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She had a life or death, 
and she has a life.

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Which is as much of a change of world 
as anyone could possibly have.

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So, then I started thinking 
"Well what about if da Vinci had Photoshop?"

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(Laughter)

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Bear with me.

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It's just starting to wonder how the tools 
that we have now, so readily available,

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would actually impact the people 
that have made fundamental difference.

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What about if Einstein had Google?

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What would that mean? How would that 
actually have changed the work that he did?

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What if Ernesto "Che" Guevara
had had mobile?

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All he had was 'Radio Rebelde', Radio Rebel.

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What about if all of his troops in his guerrilla war
that took down Batista with Fidel Castro,

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had actually been armed

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with weapons of mass communication 
rather than mass destruction?

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And believe me, the more
you start thinking about this,

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the more you get caught up 
in this kind of thing,

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it's produced many sleepness nights 
as anyone who knows me will tell.

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But maybe it's actually the fact 
that the Vitruvian man 


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is geometrically perfect anyway,

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so therefore, it doesn't matter 
that da Vinci didn't have Photoshop.

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It's arguable E=mc^2 
is actually the ultimate answer,

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therefore, what would Google 
have done for him?

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Computers are only as good as the data 
that we put into them after all.

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And finally, with someone 
like "Che" Guevara, who knows?

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All we can go is as far as who cares
but there's a limited amount of time

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that you think about these things 
until you brain starts hurting.

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Well, in my case anyway, 
because it's not much to hurt.

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But it's something 
which I've been amazed by 


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when you start thinking 
about the tools

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that we have today,
what can we actually do.

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So to answer this question, is it the tools? 
Is it what's in our hands?

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Or is it what's in our hearts 
that actually makes those differences?

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With Robyn Higgins, 
the tools for sure helped.

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But looking at the seven characteristics 
of the people that changed the world,

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and by the way, the more you read up about people 
who've changed the world and how,

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there's writing all over the place, 
you can find 11 characteristics, 20 characteristics.

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You've got Covey's "7 Habits 
Of Highly Effective People", 


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there's lots of writing, etc.

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But actually the ones that I have found 
the most resonant, is that, sometimes,

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to change the world,
you just have to be genius.

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That's quite handy.

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I wouldn't know of course.

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The second one is the absolute conviction 
of belief as shown by MLK [Martin Luther King Jr.]

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The third, shown by someone
like Tim Berners-Lee.

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The imagination of seeing something 
that any sane person

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would've found absolutely improbable 
or arguably impossible.

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The passion of the Wright brothers.

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The Wright brothers 
who were in competition

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with a certain gentleman 
from the Smithsonian Institute

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to be the first people
to have a flying machine.

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He was funded --
the guy from the Smithsonian Institute,

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was funded with grants from Kings and Princes
and he very much wanted to win.

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He very much wanted 
to be the first person.

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The Wright brothers who actually, 
eventually, became the first,

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the day afterwards the guy 
from the Smithsonian cancelled his project.

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You'd think why would he cancel his project?

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The thing was that he didn't want to fly, 
he wanted to win.

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The Wright brothers wanted to fly.

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The persistence of someone like Churchill. 
Especially on this day of awe.

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And for those watching us on video 
this is Remembrance Day, hence the poppies.

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The compassion of someone like Ghandi.

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How many tools did he have? 
How many Facebook accounts,

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How many Facebook likes did he receive?

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So when I start looking at these things, 
I start thinking to myself,

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"Hold on a minute, these guys 
didn't have any tools."

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They had an old radio station here and there, 
and a chalk board and some chalk.

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And finally I have my 7 anyway, 
with no disrespect to Neal and Buzz,

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the first people we've ever put on the moon.

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This guy here, the stones of someone 
like Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space.

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Of course, landing on the moon 
was when all the awards were handed out.

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But the bravery that's needed to act 
in these ways of changing the world,

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is something which isn't related in any way, 
to necessarily using the modern tools of technologies.

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So looking at what we have today, 
these tools, are they actually irrelevant?

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We look at something 
like Barack Obama's first campaign,

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not reflecting his most recent results, 
but the initial campaign,

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that got him into the White House,


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is an arguably way 
of using modern technology

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to connect multiple hearts, 
his case across the middle America.

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People who have never necessarily felt represented 
before, using common tools and technologies

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for donations 
and for news bulletins, etc.,

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for urging people on 
to go and actually vote.

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So in this instance here,
the tools really did help.

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The tools also can increase the speed of emotion 
with the Haiti earthquake appeal.

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Ushahidi.com is a site 
where people can pledge support.

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And it's very sad to hear 
the most recent events in Haiti,

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but Ushahidi's efforts, 
or their tools, their technologies

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that actually sped up the ability for people 
to emote and support is unarguable.

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The tools helped that unendingly.

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And finally, the magnification of feeling.


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Like we see from how the world's AIDS day,

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is actually able to use the emotions,
not just as a physical manifestation as the bow,

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but also throughout the tools, 
platforms and channels,

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the Facebooks, the Twitters. 


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This is something which is magnifying 
the feeling, not just from the transmitter,

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i.e. the World's AIDS day 
and the Foundation,

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but the receptors as well. 
Which is us.

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Who then become transmitters 
onto other receptors

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who become more transmitters 
onto other receptors.

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So the technologies 
aren't so vitally important.

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But from the 7 characteristics 
that I showed, not one of them

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was called Facebook or Google.

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So I went round,
and round and round

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and I spoke with lots of people about it 
and got myself in a bit of a pickle.

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And eventually you end up back with the question,
"So what if Mandela had tweeted?"

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What if he was able 
to smuggle a phone into his cell?

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And somehow mobilize his group?

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What if that had happened?

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Would it be the case that
he had been released earlier

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because of the pressure from the crowds?

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If you look into how the Berlin Wall fell,
it started with one person protesting.

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The tipping point with that 
was actually

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when there were more people protesting 
than it was possibly able to police.

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It's the power of citizens, 
[it] is immense if mobilized.

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Maybe what would've happened with Mandela 
is that the messaging from inside his cell,

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which could only really be transported 
by writings, at much later days

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would actually have changed
the minds of people 


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around the world
to stop apartheid much earlier.

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So the question, is it more to do 
with what's in our hands

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or is it more to do 
with what's in our hearts?

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How important is what is in our hands in relation 
to the importance to what's in our hearts?

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And this has confused 
the hell out of me for a year.

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And I think I have the answer 
and it's a really simple one.

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And I think the answer is this

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it doesn't really matter what's in your hands 
unless it's in your heart.

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I don't believe that you can use the tools 
in the most effective powerful way,

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unless it's in your heart.

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The people that submitted fundraising ideas 
on the RobynHiggins.com website,

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were offering to give away 
their entire salaries.

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Children saying I don't want any presents, 
please use the money to donate.

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It wasn't the technology that did it, 
it was what was people's hearts that did it.

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We just had the technology to transfer 
that emotion, to magnify that feeling,

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to connect to the multiple hearts 
in the best way

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and as we move forward, 
you guys are half my age. Lucky group.

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(Laughter)

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When you're my age, think about the stuff 
you're going to have.

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We've just started with augmented reality,
virtualization of all physical.

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Think about what you can do.

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Think about how if it's in you hearts, 
actually, things that are absolutely outrageous,

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raising a third of a million quid in 8 weeks

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for some girl in a school 
in the middle of nowhere, where I live.

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How all of this is it possible?

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Somebody in your family is ill, 
something needs to be changed on the roads,

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new road system, 
a law needs to be changed.

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We can do this now. 
We have the tools.

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But we need to have first what's in our hearts 
and that is the end of, I must admit,

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a very long story, in my heart, that I finally
feel as if I've resolved on this stage.

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I'd like to thank you for your patience.

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And I'd like to wish you all the best 
in changing the world

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in whichever way 
you see fit.


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Namaste!
Thank you.

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(Applause)