1
00:00:10,549 --> 00:00:14,057
Well, not many people know
that I'm 16 years old.

2
00:00:14,557 --> 00:00:16,721
Many of you might have been 16 once.

3
00:00:16,721 --> 00:00:18,021
(Laughter)

4
00:00:18,021 --> 00:00:22,241
You know, this is the age when
you're haunted by all kinds of problems.

5
00:00:22,466 --> 00:00:24,856
And one of those... Let's picture my day.

6
00:00:24,871 --> 00:00:28,071
You see, I cannot wake up by myself.

7
00:00:28,564 --> 00:00:29,804
It's a usual morning.

8
00:00:29,826 --> 00:00:33,322
My father wakes me up and says, "Osman,
good morning! What will you be?"

9
00:00:33,472 --> 00:00:35,932
That's fine, okay. I'm off to the kitchen.

10
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My dad gives me an omelet and asks,
"Osman, what will you be?"

11
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He sees me off to school and shouts,
"Study well. What will you be?"

12
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You know, this question
has bothered me for a while already.

13
00:00:46,628 --> 00:00:49,618
In fact, it's been like this
for several years.

14
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My father seems to have achieved his goal.
I finally began to consider his question.

15
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It happened some years ago.

16
00:00:57,934 --> 00:01:00,874
Like every teenager I decided,
what do I need parents for?

17
00:01:00,936 --> 00:01:02,486
Why ask them for advice?

18
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Why would I need a family and adults?
I went to my friend instead.

19
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I was in 9th grade back then.

20
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So, I came up to Kolya.
Kolya was an 11th-grader.

21
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I go, "Kolya, you're so smart, so mature.

22
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Maybe you could help me?
I've got this problem."

23
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He looked gravely down at me.

24
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"Yes, Osman, I'm smart. I can help you.

25
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You're going to need wits, hard work,
diligence, love, and alcohol."

26
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What? Why?

27
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I was of course expecting the alcohol,
but my father is here,

28
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so I'd better drop this topic.

29
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(Laughter)

30
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I hope you understand.

31
00:01:42,660 --> 00:01:46,736
(Applause)

32
00:01:46,736 --> 00:01:51,541
Then I was left with a challenge
of how to solve this problem by myself.

33
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And the obvious solution for me was
to try and predict the future.

34
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I think five years from now,
economists are going to be the bomb.

35
00:02:02,869 --> 00:02:05,482
I'll be rich; everyone
will want to be an economist.

36
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Everybody will need economists.
Economists will rule the world.

37
00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:10,717
But how could I really know?

38
00:02:10,719 --> 00:02:13,849
The world is changing so fast
that I know nothing about tomorrow.

39
00:02:13,964 --> 00:02:17,220
For instance, at the age of six,
I couldn't imagine

40
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that people would be able
to play video games

41
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and earn money from it.

42
00:02:22,341 --> 00:02:25,291
And what do we have now?
eSports, YouTube are getting bigger

43
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and people earn
a whole lot of money from it.

44
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Even kids go to computer clubs thinking,
"Let's play and make some money."

45
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That's how the world's changed.

46
00:02:33,378 --> 00:02:37,038
Then I thought of a second,
tentative approach - however you see it.

47
00:02:37,038 --> 00:02:39,593
So I think, I have just one year
left to study.

48
00:02:39,593 --> 00:02:42,445
My dad will certainly come to me
by the end of my 11th grade

49
00:02:42,445 --> 00:02:46,048
and say, "Osman, here is
a one-room flat for you to live in.

50
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We'll provide you with pickles,
some canned food; you'll be just fine."

51
00:02:49,402 --> 00:02:53,550
Excellent! So what? This is great.
I won't need to sweat.

52
00:02:53,550 --> 00:02:57,031
But that's not who I am, I wouldn't want
to be a burden to my parents.

53
00:02:57,031 --> 00:02:58,688
I think you wouldn't either.

54
00:02:58,768 --> 00:03:01,429
So for me, this is not an option.

55
00:03:01,429 --> 00:03:04,615
Then there is the third way:

56
00:03:04,615 --> 00:03:06,676
to do what I like doing.

57
00:03:07,066 --> 00:03:11,369
In fact, this was my motto
from the 1st to the 6th grade.

58
00:03:11,369 --> 00:03:12,529
(Laughter)

59
00:03:12,529 --> 00:03:14,567
Do you want to know how it worked?

60
00:03:14,567 --> 00:03:19,320
I'm in 1st grade, thinking,
"Aha! Basketball, basketball.

61
00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,736
I should take up basketball. I like it."

62
00:03:21,736 --> 00:03:24,754
I threw the ball once, threw it again.
A year went by, I quit.

63
00:03:25,154 --> 00:03:27,540
Look, Osman, you're as short
as you've always been.

64
00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:29,805
Why do you need it for?
I don't like it at all.

65
00:03:29,805 --> 00:03:30,875
Screw basketball.

66
00:03:30,875 --> 00:03:33,911
I decided to try music.

67
00:03:33,911 --> 00:03:38,182
I'll play something on the guitar.
Life of every party and all, as they say.

68
00:03:38,182 --> 00:03:42,595
So I played for a year, then another year.
Well, almost for three - and I quit.

69
00:03:42,595 --> 00:03:45,240
Why do I need it for?
I lost my motivation then.

70
00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,473
Then I took up some other sport,
swimming, I believe.

71
00:03:48,473 --> 00:03:50,763
And again, quit it after a year.

72
00:03:50,763 --> 00:03:53,802
This is exactly the flaw
in that method, for me.

73
00:03:54,382 --> 00:03:56,742
If I keep quitting everything I take up,

74
00:03:56,742 --> 00:04:00,743
everything I like now,
then it won't serve me in the future.

75
00:04:00,743 --> 00:04:03,100
Every one of you has probably faced it.

76
00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:05,946
I don't know about you,
but I don't have one passion in life

77
00:04:05,946 --> 00:04:08,041
to stick with for good.

78
00:04:08,491 --> 00:04:12,461
Then I decided that I needed
to get to the core of the problem.

79
00:04:12,461 --> 00:04:15,851
And how do you do that?
By going back to your childhood.

80
00:04:15,851 --> 00:04:19,701
Let's look at this little cube -
I hope everyone can see it.

81
00:04:19,701 --> 00:04:21,992
Let's call it "Osman."

82
00:04:22,542 --> 00:04:25,482
It's so nice and beautiful,
and it was born in 2000.

83
00:04:28,041 --> 00:04:29,239
What happens to it?

84
00:04:29,239 --> 00:04:31,379
Let's see, how was it again?

85
00:04:31,379 --> 00:04:34,239
He became one year old, then two, three.

86
00:04:34,239 --> 00:04:36,918
And what happened? He saw a TV.

87
00:04:37,668 --> 00:04:41,108
He's sitting on a carpet,
like this, watching TV.

88
00:04:41,478 --> 00:04:42,698
Wow, that's it!

89
00:04:43,361 --> 00:04:45,765
He is watching the movie
"Toy Story" and realizes,

90
00:04:45,829 --> 00:04:47,914
"This is my hero,
Buzz Lightyear! That's it!

91
00:04:47,914 --> 00:04:50,989
I want to be like Buzz Lightyear,
I'll become Buzz Lightyear."

92
00:04:50,989 --> 00:04:56,986
And at that moment, the little cube
of his life, the "Osman-cube," turns.

93
00:04:56,986 --> 00:05:01,808
Some ten minutes pass, he's watching
the cartoon "Well, Just You Wait!"

94
00:05:01,808 --> 00:05:05,209
He looks at the Wolf, at the Hare.
"I'm going to protect hares."

95
00:05:05,209 --> 00:05:07,211
The cube turns once again.

96
00:05:07,211 --> 00:05:09,662
Then he watches another movie,
the cube turns again.

97
00:05:09,662 --> 00:05:11,997
Another movie, and the cube turns again.

98
00:05:11,997 --> 00:05:15,964
It goes on like that until first grade,
when he's six years old.

99
00:05:15,964 --> 00:05:20,934
The Osman cube goes to school
and hears his friend Petya say,

100
00:05:20,934 --> 00:05:22,550
"Osman, basketball is cool!

101
00:05:22,550 --> 00:05:24,580
They get lots of money.

102
00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:26,818
Basketball players do.
Go into basketball."

103
00:05:27,286 --> 00:05:30,022
I think, "Well, fine" -
and I turn the cube.

104
00:05:30,022 --> 00:05:35,058
Then in ten minutes, at another break,
it hears another friend.

105
00:05:35,058 --> 00:05:38,865
"No, basketball is not at all cool,
they earn less than soccer players.

106
00:05:38,865 --> 00:05:41,363
Go for soccer," and the cube
turned once again.

107
00:05:41,363 --> 00:05:44,691
Then his parents signed him up
for music school, and the cube turned.

108
00:05:44,691 --> 00:05:49,981
It turns and turns and turns...
until he is in 11th grade.

109
00:05:49,981 --> 00:05:53,877
The cube is already messed up.
I don't even know how to solve it.

110
00:05:53,877 --> 00:05:58,469
And you know what scares me?
I'm in 10th grade now,

111
00:05:58,469 --> 00:06:00,621
and I imagine what will happen in a year.

112
00:06:00,621 --> 00:06:04,332
I'm at my prom. Everybody's happy
and all, I am wearing a suit...

113
00:06:04,332 --> 00:06:09,764
And the moment comes when I hear,
"Osman, go! Go and earn some money!"

114
00:06:09,764 --> 00:06:10,770
(Laughter)

115
00:06:10,770 --> 00:06:13,370
Well, you're laughing now, but...

116
00:06:13,650 --> 00:06:18,162
(Applause)

117
00:06:18,432 --> 00:06:22,652
But what prevents a CEO in some
technology company from saying,

118
00:06:22,652 --> 00:06:25,198
"Well, programmer, go, go.
Your job is extinct.

119
00:06:25,198 --> 00:06:27,130
Robots do it now. Go!"

120
00:06:27,130 --> 00:06:29,261
It can happen. And in that,
we are the same.

121
00:06:29,261 --> 00:06:33,456
Each of us is at a point, say point A,

122
00:06:33,456 --> 00:06:35,453
and is afraid that at a certain point, B,

123
00:06:35,478 --> 00:06:37,567
their profession
will no longer be relevant.

124
00:06:38,013 --> 00:06:41,376
I'm only 16, I've got time to experiment.

125
00:06:41,376 --> 00:06:42,833
(Laughter)

126
00:06:42,833 --> 00:06:49,663
(Applause) (Cheers)

127
00:06:49,768 --> 00:06:53,862
That's when I thought, "Osman,
you need to come up with a genius idea.

128
00:06:53,901 --> 00:06:56,947
Something so cool that you
and everybody else would like it."

129
00:06:57,502 --> 00:07:01,082
And that's when I got to thinking.

130
00:07:01,500 --> 00:07:03,870
Suppose, in a year or two, or maybe four,

131
00:07:03,870 --> 00:07:06,599
I'll get a degree in Economics.

132
00:07:06,599 --> 00:07:10,551
Do you see this side in front of you?
That will be my education in Economics.

133
00:07:10,551 --> 00:07:13,308
My summa cum laude,
or maybe just cum laude, I don't know.

134
00:07:13,318 --> 00:07:18,072
And if, having graduated,
I will keep working for several years

135
00:07:18,072 --> 00:07:21,208
as an economist, I'll be turning
this one side all the time.

136
00:07:21,208 --> 00:07:24,238
I'll keep turning and turning it
until my retirement.

137
00:07:24,254 --> 00:07:26,880
That's it. And what will I do next?

138
00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:32,036
I'm forgetting about this other part
of my cube that once played basketball,

139
00:07:32,036 --> 00:07:34,148
the guitar, went swimming and so forth.

140
00:07:34,148 --> 00:07:36,048
And a relevant topic now...

141
00:07:36,048 --> 00:07:40,020
I can give you a good example
of a relevant topic at this moment.

142
00:07:40,020 --> 00:07:44,173
There were these two guys some years ago,
I don't remember exactly.

143
00:07:45,127 --> 00:07:48,958
They worked in, say, economics.
Economics was one of their sides.

144
00:07:48,958 --> 00:07:53,059
Their other side was into neurobiology,
they were interested in it.

145
00:07:53,059 --> 00:07:55,894
And another, third side,
was interested in, say, psychology.

146
00:07:55,894 --> 00:07:58,923
And those guys combined
the three sides of their cubes

147
00:07:58,923 --> 00:08:01,253
and created a new science, neuroeconomics,

148
00:08:01,253 --> 00:08:04,175
which is now developing quite fast.

149
00:08:04,666 --> 00:08:07,996
New professions and new jobs appear.

150
00:08:08,566 --> 00:08:12,543
People value neuroeconomists,
they are in demand, they are needed.

151
00:08:12,543 --> 00:08:16,676
And by that I wanted to show you
that instead of looking for something,

152
00:08:16,676 --> 00:08:19,361
choosing a profession,
you can create your own,

153
00:08:19,361 --> 00:08:21,890
where you'll use every side of your cube

154
00:08:21,890 --> 00:08:24,039
with maximum efficiency.

155
00:08:24,890 --> 00:08:26,925
You will live up to your full potential.

156
00:08:27,055 --> 00:08:30,482
And by creating your own profession,
you will no longer need to choose.

157
00:08:30,507 --> 00:08:31,507
Thank you.

158
00:08:31,532 --> 00:08:34,142
(Applause)