0:00:10.549,0:00:14.057
Well, not many people know[br]that I'm 16 years old.

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Many of you might have been 16 once.

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(Laughter)

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You know, this is the age when[br]you're haunted by all kinds of problems.

0:00:22.466,0:00:24.856
And one of those... Let's picture my day.

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You see, I cannot wake up by myself.

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It's a usual morning.

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My father wakes me up and says, "Osman,[br]good morning! What will you be?"

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That's fine, okay. I'm off to the kitchen.

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My dad gives me an omelet and asks,[br]"Osman, what will you be?"

0:00:39.493,0:00:43.342
He sees me off to school and shouts,[br]"Study well. What will you be?"

0:00:43.342,0:00:46.628
You know, this question[br]has bothered me for a while already.

0:00:46.628,0:00:49.618
In fact, it's been like this[br]for several years.

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My father seems to have achieved his goal.[br]I finally began to consider his question.

0:00:55.693,0:00:57.885
It happened some years ago.

0:00:57.934,0:01:00.874
Like every teenager I decided,[br]what do I need parents for?

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Why ask them for advice?

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Why would I need a family and adults?[br]I went to my friend instead.

0:01:05.819,0:01:08.709
I was in 9th grade back then.

0:01:09.182,0:01:12.363
So, I came up to Kolya.[br]Kolya was an 11th-grader.

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I go, "Kolya, you're so smart, so mature.

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Maybe you could help me?[br]I've got this problem."

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He looked gravely down at me.

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"Yes, Osman, I'm smart. I can help you.

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You're going to need wits, hard work,[br]diligence, love, and alcohol."

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What? Why?

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I was of course expecting the alcohol,[br]but my father is here,

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so I'd better drop this topic.

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(Laughter)

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I hope you understand.

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(Applause)

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Then I was left with a challenge[br]of how to solve this problem by myself.

0:01:51.541,0:01:56.381
And the obvious solution for me was[br]to try and predict the future.

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I think five years from now,[br]economists are going to be the bomb.

0:02:02.869,0:02:05.482
I'll be rich; everyone[br]will want to be an economist.

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Everybody will need economists.[br]Economists will rule the world.

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But how could I really know?

0:02:10.719,0:02:13.849
The world is changing so fast[br]that I know nothing about tomorrow.

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For instance, at the age of six,[br]I couldn't imagine

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that people would be able[br]to play video games

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and earn money from it.

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And what do we have now?[br]eSports, YouTube are getting bigger

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and people earn[br]a whole lot of money from it.

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Even kids go to computer clubs thinking,[br]"Let's play and make some money."

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That's how the world's changed.

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Then I thought of a second,[br]tentative approach - however you see it.

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So I think, I have just one year[br]left to study.

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My dad will certainly come to me[br]by the end of my 11th grade

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and say, "Osman, here is[br]a one-room flat for you to live in.

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We'll provide you with pickles,[br]some canned food; you'll be just fine."

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Excellent! So what? This is great.[br]I won't need to sweat.

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But that's not who I am, I wouldn't want[br]to be a burden to my parents.

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I think you wouldn't either.

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So for me, this is not an option.

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Then there is the third way:

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to do what I like doing.

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In fact, this was my motto[br]from the 1st to the 6th grade.

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(Laughter)

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Do you want to know how it worked?

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I'm in 1st grade, thinking,[br]"Aha! Basketball, basketball.

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I should take up basketball. I like it."

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I threw the ball once, threw it again.[br]A year went by, I quit.

0:03:25.154,0:03:27.540
Look, Osman, you're as short[br]as you've always been.

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Why do you need it for?[br]I don't like it at all.

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Screw basketball.

0:03:30.875,0:03:33.911
I decided to try music.

0:03:33.911,0:03:38.182
I'll play something on the guitar.[br]Life of every party and all, as they say.

0:03:38.182,0:03:42.595
So I played for a year, then another year.[br]Well, almost for three - and I quit.

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Why do I need it for?[br]I lost my motivation then.

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Then I took up some other sport,[br]swimming, I believe.

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And again, quit it after a year.

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This is exactly the flaw[br]in that method, for me.

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If I keep quitting everything I take up,

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everything I like now,[br]then it won't serve me in the future.

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Every one of you has probably faced it.

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I don't know about you,[br]but I don't have one passion in life

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to stick with for good.

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Then I decided that I needed[br]to get to the core of the problem.

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And how do you do that?[br]By going back to your childhood.

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Let's look at this little cube -[br]I hope everyone can see it.

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Let's call it "Osman."

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It's so nice and beautiful,[br]and it was born in 2000.

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What happens to it?

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Let's see, how was it again?

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He became one year old, then two, three.

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And what happened? He saw a TV.

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He's sitting on a carpet,[br]like this, watching TV.

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Wow, that's it!

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He is watching the movie[br]"Toy Story" and realizes,

0:04:45.829,0:04:47.914
"This is my hero,[br]Buzz Lightyear! That's it!

0:04:47.914,0:04:50.989
I want to be like Buzz Lightyear,[br]I'll become Buzz Lightyear."

0:04:50.989,0:04:56.986
And at that moment, the little cube[br]of his life, the "Osman-cube," turns.

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Some ten minutes pass, he's watching[br]the cartoon "Well, Just You Wait!"

0:05:01.808,0:05:05.209
He looks at the Wolf, at the Hare.[br]"I'm going to protect hares."

0:05:05.209,0:05:07.211
The cube turns once again.

0:05:07.211,0:05:09.662
Then he watches another movie,[br]the cube turns again.

0:05:09.662,0:05:11.997
Another movie, and the cube turns again.

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It goes on like that until first grade,[br]when he's six years old.

0:05:15.964,0:05:20.934
The Osman cube goes to school[br]and hears his friend Petya say,

0:05:20.934,0:05:22.550
"Osman, basketball is cool!

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They get lots of money.

0:05:24.580,0:05:26.818
Basketball players do.[br]Go into basketball."

0:05:27.286,0:05:30.022
I think, "Well, fine" -[br]and I turn the cube.

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Then in ten minutes, at another break,[br]it hears another friend.

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"No, basketball is not at all cool,[br]they earn less than soccer players.

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Go for soccer," and the cube[br]turned once again.

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Then his parents signed him up[br]for music school, and the cube turned.

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It turns and turns and turns...[br]until he is in 11th grade.

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The cube is already messed up.[br]I don't even know how to solve it.

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And you know what scares me?[br]I'm in 10th grade now,

0:05:58.469,0:06:00.621
and I imagine what will happen in a year.

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I'm at my prom. Everybody's happy[br]and all, I am wearing a suit...

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And the moment comes when I hear,[br]"Osman, go! Go and earn some money!"

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(Laughter)

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Well, you're laughing now, but...

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(Applause)

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But what prevents a CEO in some[br]technology company from saying,

0:06:22.652,0:06:25.198
"Well, programmer, go, go.[br]Your job is extinct.

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Robots do it now. Go!"

0:06:27.130,0:06:29.261
It can happen. And in that,[br]we are the same.

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Each of us is at a point, say point A,

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and is afraid that at a certain point, B,

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their profession[br]will no longer be relevant.

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I'm only 16, I've got time to experiment.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause) (Cheers)

0:06:49.768,0:06:53.862
That's when I thought, "Osman,[br]you need to come up with a genius idea.

0:06:53.901,0:06:56.947
Something so cool that you[br]and everybody else would like it."

0:06:57.502,0:07:01.082
And that's when I got to thinking.

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Suppose, in a year or two, or maybe four,

0:07:03.870,0:07:06.599
I'll get a degree in Economics.

0:07:06.599,0:07:10.551
Do you see this side in front of you?[br]That will be my education in Economics.

0:07:10.551,0:07:13.308
My summa cum laude,[br]or maybe just cum laude, I don't know.

0:07:13.318,0:07:18.072
And if, having graduated,[br]I will keep working for several years

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as an economist, I'll be turning[br]this one side all the time.

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I'll keep turning and turning it[br]until my retirement.

0:07:24.254,0:07:26.880
That's it. And what will I do next?

0:07:26.880,0:07:32.036
I'm forgetting about this other part[br]of my cube that once played basketball,

0:07:32.036,0:07:34.148
the guitar, went swimming and so forth.

0:07:34.148,0:07:36.048
And a relevant topic now...

0:07:36.048,0:07:40.020
I can give you a good example[br]of a relevant topic at this moment.

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There were these two guys some years ago,[br]I don't remember exactly.

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They worked in, say, economics.[br]Economics was one of their sides.

0:07:48.958,0:07:53.059
Their other side was into neurobiology,[br]they were interested in it.

0:07:53.059,0:07:55.894
And another, third side,[br]was interested in, say, psychology.

0:07:55.894,0:07:58.923
And those guys combined[br]the three sides of their cubes

0:07:58.923,0:08:01.253
and created a new science, neuroeconomics,

0:08:01.253,0:08:04.175
which is now developing quite fast.

0:08:04.666,0:08:07.996
New professions and new jobs appear.

0:08:08.566,0:08:12.543
People value neuroeconomists,[br]they are in demand, they are needed.

0:08:12.543,0:08:16.676
And by that I wanted to show you[br]that instead of looking for something,

0:08:16.676,0:08:19.361
choosing a profession,[br]you can create your own,

0:08:19.361,0:08:21.890
where you'll use every side of your cube

0:08:21.890,0:08:24.039
with maximum efficiency.

0:08:24.890,0:08:26.925
You will live up to your full potential.

0:08:27.055,0:08:30.482
And by creating your own profession,[br]you will no longer need to choose.

0:08:30.507,0:08:31.507
Thank you.

0:08:31.532,0:08:34.142
(Applause)