This video is 7 years old, so he's 20 years old now. I wonder if he has done a sequel..., and I do hope he's happy.

Probably the least annoying 13 year old you could ever run into on Call of Duty.

he seems so prepared for life

I honestly don't understand why people think homeschoolers will never have any social skills. Just because a student might be with kids the same age doesn't mean he/she will blossom socially. I'm in a public high school and I have little to no social skills, I feel too afraid to talk most of the time. It really doesn't make a difference people

School is about passing rather than learning anything. Today, most kids just google anything they need and as soon as the homework or test is complete, we immediately forget it again. This is why I will be homeschooling my children rather than taking them to public school

This kid knows more than 90% of adults, myself included... Thanks for the inspiration kid ;)

This guy is going to grow up a genius.

with a thirteen year old kid speaking in a way that normal kids dont(at least in my country), actually amazing with such a mature mind, no fear of public speaking(doesnt mind if hes wathcing the screen or not), surely environment does have a impact on the kids, really amazing!!1

you know john lennon once said "My mom told me to grow up happy. On a test they asked me what do you want to be when you grow up? I answered Happy. They told me I didn't understand the question. I told them they didn't understand life."

I was homeschooled my whole life, and not a day goes by that I am not unimaginably thankful for it.

He's so articulate

I find this pretty accurate. And it's true, school isn't about learning, it's about passing.

I'm so glad something like this is trending. I share a lot of these thoughts and I'm from Germany. I'm doing my A-Levels in 1 year and I can already feel the stress of all of it. I love that someone finally said "I want to be happy when I grow up". I sit in school and later on at home and force information into my brain, after which I sit and cry because I can't remember it or feel like I don't have enough time to learn it. What he talks about is just amazing and something I hope will be avaliable for everyone by the time I have kids:) I don't want to be scared of the future anymore.

The fact that that 13 year old kid can stand up and talk in front of that large of an audience is just mind boggling.

"making a life rather than making a living" thanks for the wise one.

School is a waste of time. Learning, on the other hand, is freakin' magical. I had so many teachers in the public school sector that could not use the words than/then correctly it's not even funny.

Seriously dude. I'm 29. I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. Thanks Public School!

He's so confident for his age! Such a brilliant talk, wish I knew a lot of this at 13.

"When I grow-up, I want to be happy". What a lovely child. "Happiness is a choice".

This is why I'm so glad that I was homeschooled, I would have shriveled up and died in public school. Honestly I would have become a very different person, and I would never have gotten the creative opportunities or skills that homeschooling allowed me to pursue.

Wow, this kid's talk makes me want to cry and start my life over again.

Damn this guy is lucky to have had his parents pulling him out of school. I am 21 years old and crying looking at his future... But it's not too late and I am happy to have seen this. I am finishing my Bachelor this year and then, a gypsy life for me as I have always dreamed of.

I love what this kid calls "hackschooling." - I do it. Except, I go to public school right now. I am in 10th grade. Let me say that I am one of the worst students in the school! What I mean by that is not my grades. I am in moderate to advanced classes. My GPA is 3.8 or something like that. I don't know. I don't identify with that much because I don't believe a number tells me how much I'm worth. What I mean is that I hate school an awful lot. I have a countdown app on my phone for when I get out. I find it very interesting to talk to other kids about what they're going to do when we get out this summer. What I find the more and more with kids I talk to, there really is no love for learning at school or in life in general. Everyone says that they just want to sleep. Literally, that's it! I don't want to sleep. WELL, I do want to sleep, but I only want to get enough sleep so I can function healthily during the day so I can be productive. I am going to pursue my skills in cooking. I am going to get up everyday at 7:30 AM, walk while listening to TED talks or other forms of knowledge. Perhaps I will listen to the French language. I hope to become fluent in French this summer. I am putting my phone in French, labeling everything in my house, learning to think in french by trying to put everything I say/ think in English in the former language, and I have contact with other french people so I can make sure I am doing it right. They will help me learn french in exchange for the help I have given them in making money online. After that I am going to eat a big breakfast at 8:00 AM. Then I will get to work on perfecting my Javascript so I can build my photography website. - I love photography and have bought equipment for it. I am going to get back into lifting weights. I did 5x5 last summer and gained 30 pounds and I filled out in a lot of areas. I want to get back into a weight lifting program. Why am I a teenager that likes doing all of this? Because I like making myself a better person... And I like inspiring others to do the same. My friends and I said we are also going to ACTUALLY learn German together. We are going to help each other with it. We are going to speak with each other in it when we would normally speak english. Why was actually in all caps? You see, I took German at school (but I am done). I never learned German. I MEMORIZED German to pass my tests. Just like I did/do with everything else at school. Other children don't learn anything at school after a certain age. Actually kids do learn things. They learn how to be fake. They learn how to make themselves look like they are more important than they actually are. Or better than they actually are. They know how to goldbrick. They want a good grade. Not a better mind full of practical knowledge that helps make them and in turn the world a better place. KIDS LEARN TO HATE LEARNING. This is so dangerous. If we as a society actually were smart, wouldn't we see this as a MAJOR PROBLEM??? People hating learning is like people hating sex. WE NEED PEOPLE TO LIKE LEARNING OR THE HUMAN RACE IS GOING TO DIE! Without people who like learning, we won't be maximizing our potential. People never get to live there life full. We need creative people in this world! We have over 7 billion people on this planet and very soon a lot of aspects of our life will need to be reinvented! There is hope for everyone. The kid who's parents neglected him his whole life. The football jock who has everything handed to him in life because he plays sports. The pretty girls who rely on looks to get through life. Everyone can be morphed. But we won't get there with this current education system that facilitates contempt towards learning. People need to love learning! they can! I am an average kid! If I can love it anyone can! The right conditions need to be placed in our system. Help ME!!! I am dying from this. Everyday I wake up going to a building that teaches us nothing but how to get through life and not how to live it. Our potential is at stake! We have SO MANY RESOURCES. Anyone with internet can learn anything for free these days. We are, for the most part, well fed, we have clean water to drink, computers, cars, computers, AC, heating, and plumbing. All these useful things. I think it is time we all be brought up in a culture that facilitates the love of learning and allows people to use these tools to make the world greater. I wrote so much. I am just so glad to see another kid with my views on life and learning. Poor, poor, public school children, who may never know how fun learning is. Joe.

I love the comments of these TED videos because it shows the diversity in human thinking and nature. This is the main reason I don't believe in world peace or the absence of evil or crime based on certain dependents. We humans will never agree on one answer, or one way to live life... Not everyone will be an optimist and not everyone will be a pessimist. It's good to have balance anyway. I personally love topics and videos such as these. Yet I don't expect it to be groundbreaking or change the world. Take it in individually if it rings true with you, and keep it moving. Simple right?

I would like a followup video by his parents, going into detail about how to afford to have one parent stay home to teach the kids, how they make ends meet living at a ski resort, etc. Although I think Logan seems like a great kid who is taking advantage of all the opportunities available to him, I suspect that his family is highly privileged to be able to afford to give him those opportunities. That said, pursuing happiness is not a bad goal if you've already got financial freedom. It's just not all that relevant to the rest of us.

Bravo. This kid reminds me of a quite a few of my fellow home schoolers from when I growing up. This type of "genius" and poise is not so uncommon in the home schooling community.

This is why we are homeschooling our children, it took 2.5 years of public instruction with the oldest to leave me disappointed, concerned and inspired to find an alternate to meet our child's needs and hopes. I haven't looked back, homeschooling is the best! We just need more adults who are less focused on themselves, willing to make the sacrifice and work hard, believe in themselves to learn how to home educated. It doesn't mean workbooks all day or no socialization. We're typically so busy with activities, friends and school that I say no to many invites and opportunities. Homeschooling my children has taught me so much perseverance, patience and of course, just how bananas it can be without balance. I cherish our time together, every day and will never wonder where the time went, only how it went so fast. I have been there right by their side the whole entire time, and watched them grow! Both my spouse and I were public school kids, we didn't even consider homeschooling an option, it may not be for you, but you'll never know if you don't try.

That’s crazy, this kid and I live in the same place, I see him at Starbucks all the time and I never knew he was so brilliant

This young man has figured it out. He is what you call enlightened.

I wish more teens were like this kid. Kids like these give me hope for the future.

A great example of a kid growing up happy and growing with intelligence. So much that he is speaking on TED to an audience full of adults who came to seek some of his views and knowledge.

I was homeschooled my whole life until college and I had to watch this video as one of my assignments for my freshman seminar class, and the whole time Logan was talking, I was like, "This is what I've ALWAYS been doing as a homeschooler!" XD

*Sharp young man!* Amazing speaker!! RIGHT ON, Logan! *~kudos to his Mom.*

Everyone of us can learn a little something from this 13 year old. I know I sure did. Thanks Logan. Stay happy.

I'm a grown man and I'm in tears (of joy) that there are actually kids like this in this world! Great job, Logan. What a great head on your shoulders!

These kids are so lucky to have easy and quick access to whatever information they want. What a glorious time it is to be young.

I am now 23, still studying! I used to feel the same about happiness. I once wished the life could be more meaningful. I am really good in musical instruments and sounds, I believe I have a knack and sharp sense for music. But, I always knew that my parents would invest in nothing other than studies, so I just had to comply. And here I am still getting educated and no particular skill at all.

Except that homeschooling is either more expensive or requires really intelligent, well-educated parents, which not all children are privileged of having. Some can only afford free, public education, and still deserve to be believed in.

Different aspects of learning, helping people/society and giving back already at such a young age... I hope you know you are blazing an amazing path and inspiring us all. You earned this opportunity to be on TED! ...you gave us more than words...Thank you.

This young man gave a very informative speech! Literally better than most public speakers!

So many of these kids sound so much older and wiser than their years.... I love this stuff!

I am proud of this kid- I may not know him but the way he was brought up is amazing. The ways that he has learned throughout the years actually makes me feel jealous. I am a 17 year old girl, who just found out this way of living. I wish I had found it sooner but, I am glad I found it.

I'm Thirteen and this is so true other kids my generation want to be cool I just want to be happy.

He is my hero. Awesome kid. It's good to know the next generation will have people like him in it.

Damn you can see the hackshoolings is getting real results, very impressive!

This boy is going to be grow up a genius. He very certain of what he is doing and what he is continued to be doing, in this age...? Amazing!!! He knows more than 80% adults knows, including me, very inspiring and impressive!! We do need to respect kids thinking, they see the world differently, sometimes we adults just need to be see and think like children...

It's all well and good that a middle class boy can do this, but what about those who have literally fucking nothing? They only route they can take is the traditional one because that is what employers tend to look for, so they don't really have much choice. Nonetheless this kid is pretty incredible for his age with is competence and vocabulary at 13 is outstanding.

This is the most amazing speech I have ever seen! I was not homeschooled but after seeing Logan, a confident 13 year old which is SO rare at 13, talk about his schooling and his real life experiences I am MOVED!

This is why I dropped college. I learn more from TED talks than from many useless classes. And TED is just a grain of sand of the available information in the internet. In the future we shall date our days as Before the Internet and After the Internet. It is such a big deal, it is taking us entire decades to fully understand its potential.

The thing is, not all kids have the wealth that this kind of education needs. Furthermore, schools especially public ones don't have the funds to operate in such a way. I think that the education model of "hackschooling" is really interesting and looks beneficial, it's just the economical aspect of the subject that makes this hard to be implemented...

He made more sense to me than my formal education ever gave me

This kid is such a talented public speaker. So intelligent!

When I grow up, I want to be as inspired and inspiring as this kid. Thanks for the reminder, Logan!

THIS young man is fucking AWESOME!!!!! He encompasses EVERYTHING I write about in my first published book Life Long Learning on homeschooling 10 years ago almost and everything I did in raising my boys in homeschooling! WOW!!! Check this out!!! YES!!!

This is by far the best thing I watched in weeks

He gets to access a lot of fancy life experience in such young age.. no wonder how inspirational is given. Jeal

In life, you learn that sometimes you have to do the right thing, which doesn't always make you happy. You cannot teach happiness in school, but you can teach a kid how to rationalize a problem, how to interact with other people. Going to school has never made me unhappy (except for Mondays) and has never prohibited me from being creative. In some classes I was encouraged to be creative, while in others I was thought fixed sciences that leave little room for creativity. Most kids that are home-schooled in the USA are home-schooled because their parents don't want them to learn about the Big Bang and Evolution. This affects kids more, in terms of self-development than public-schooling. Public schooling should be reformed and we have the tools and technology to do it. But, creativity will not help you in every situation and happiness is something you find out on your own.

Far out dude, that is exactly the same upbringing I had! I was homeschooled from 9 to 13 and did all those sorts of similar things. Keep up the good work man.

This kid... A concept that took me almost 20 years to figure out... he understands at such an young age! only upto the first 2 minutes and already in awe. Really wish i could have a decent convo with him.

Judging on the comments, I was the only one who thought he was a girl.

This kid would go places. Awesome parenting! (On the comment that he said "more better," cut the kid some slack. He must be nervous, but he nailed his speech. Can you do it? I don't think so!)

This young man is going places.

Dang. His verbal skills are so, so good. It's so wonderfull to see a kid with such high verbal skills. Standing strong in life. And being so intelligent.

What a cool kid. He can teach a lot of grown folks how to be more self-aware.

this kid just explained why i am dedicated!

For a youngster you go Logan!! We need more of you !

Thats a kid with access to a lot of fab programs/people/places, which is amazing. However so many children in this world don't have access to supportive, safe and inspiring learning hubs, clubs, centres or even older positive role models. I suppose what I got out of this talk is more about, the fact that all of us all over the world as communities should focus on providing these opportunities for kids to be able to access wisdom and knowledge through their local communities?

This young man is quite intelligent. He knows what he wants, and he will end up in a field of his chosen occupation that will make him happy. He has great poise for a 13 year old young man. His ability to speak before a huge audience is commendable! Go for it, Logan! You will be happy.

On second thoughts, I've been played. The kid IS playing the game. Website, public speaking, potential book...

More wisdom here than in my entire Facebook stream with all it's daily dose of 'wisdom' :) Very cool. The problem is of course that this kid does not know yet that 'the system' is only interested in productive drones and that education is not preparing you for healthy or happy living, but for a productive life with lots of useless consumption. Modern schooling (university being the worst stage) kills all creativity and divergent thinking to replace it with a religious believe in profitable dogma's. This kid will have a hard time surviving our industrialized, capitalist world. And she is a he, so says the video description ;)

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life... John Lennon

I really love him when he talks about humor, He's a super genius.

As amazing and interesting it may seem, this kid just remembered the whole talk by heart.

Good video. I would like to add my thoughts on one thing. He said he likes to log out of reality and spend time in nature getting connected to the spiritual, I say spending time in nature connecting with the spiritual is true reality, not being plugged into the false reality that man lives in (especially today).

I'm 18 now. Everyone is telling me 'Don't shut doors for yourself.' 'Twitch Streaming is not a living.' 'Being self-employed is not a real way to live.' And they're right, but very wrong. I wrote an article online at 14 that is in a professionally done Mormon Magazine. I'm definitely not the kid up there on that stage, but one day maybe I'll care enough about TED for it to be my 'next best thing'. I'm a violinist, a blogger, an insomniac, a youtuber and whatever you guys want to call me, but bottom line is I taught myself how to be who I am today, and not because my parents told me to 'get into the best colleges' or 'stay in school', it's because I tried and when someone said 'Get out of the way nerd', I said 'I'm sorry that you're insecure about their intelligence' and they'd look at me like an alien. So will I change careers in 10 years? Hell yes, I'm tired of video games already. Do I love sharing my love for pro esports with other people? Of course. But does that define who I am today? No, of course not.

That was awesome. Major win for the homeschool camp! I only homeschooled freshmen to senior year. Yet because of that short experience (and more importantly the way schools are today) my brother and his wife will be homeschooling their kids for the majority of K through 12. And I couldn't be happier about that.

Proof that you can be wise at any age :)

Scripted or not, what this young guy says is ahead of our time. Unfortunately, it's going to be a long time until people start to see past this whole education sham.

I have watched this video a number of times since I discovered it. Logan is 13 years old in this video and I am 25 however, he is truly inspiring to me. His simple fact on "when I grow up, I want to be happy" just motivates me. It's exactly what life should be about. You can argue about homeschool vs public school and other crap but when you just focus on that line, it's pretty fantastic. Keep kicking ass Logan, you rock kiddo!

I loved being homeschooled, from K-2nd I was in two Private Christian schools the one I was in for 1st-2nd grade I was being bullied everyday, and this was in Private Christian. It got so bad I would play suck just get to get out of going finally when I was going into 3rd grade my parents put me into private Christian homeschooling. It was amazing.

Unfortunately, making the school system THIS flexible for every kid is not possible. We're gonna have to think up different ways to cater to the individual child's needs, while providing them with a starting point to their social lives, making the system economical and still having well organized structures, to make sure everyone learns enough and everything goes smoothly.

I am twelve years old and when I grow up, I want to be a computer/software engineer. Last night I UKpostsd a SciShow video on plasma. My head now is full of ideas. I remember that stuff. But tomorrow when I go to school, do you think I will pick up an ounce of data that will help me in my future? That's the question kids have been asking for years. "When will I use this?" I love what this kid is doing, and think he is awesome. Plus, he memorized that entire speech?

I'd like to meet the professional that wrote this young mans speech!! This kid I'm sure had a couple drafts of an idea of what he wanted to say but someone helped this young man which is AWESOME!!! I like seeing kids not that much younger than myself, I mean like my maybe 8 to 9 years or so at least lol! I feel like this next younger generation should do exactly what this young man has done! He talked about motivation and what he thought was fun and acted upon it and against many odds got a slot to speak at a Ted Talk... yes it was an independent event but still I applaud this boy for doing what he dreamed of, not being on this Ted Talk, but everything else he's already done and/or doing in and with his life!!! Congrats little dude!!

This speech really made me think, we started watching it in school for speaking in English and It was that good that as soon as I got home I played it and finished watching it, it’s brilliant

Wow, I'm 15 and i think how awesome his parents were to take him out of traditional school, i think about all his experiences and compare with me , i never have the oportunity or the chance to do at least 2 things of what he is doing , and i'm bad about this and listening his spech i realized that i need to make a change in my life, and in my thinking, so he has a great mind and way of thinking. Thank you for opening my mind, you are awesome ;D

definitely worth watching

This is fantastic! He has practically just described the basic way of life of thousands of homeschoolers! Do not try to separate life into tiny little narrow boxes, it is best when education is approached holistically. Great presentation!

This kid was a huge inspiration to how we choose to educate our kids. I hope in the future we see more of him!

Probably the most talented kid speaker I've heard.

Excellent talk. If the 'hacking the world' mindset could be rehabilitated and embraced by the main-stream the possibilities could be endless. We've been too long on the fringes and 'rebellious' for being individualistic and creative. For non-conformity, for thinking for ourselves. "To choose always the safe path is to choose the path to stagnation." ~ Frank Herbert.

He undertood the basic and simplest things of life of early.. Good. Keep it up and be happy

You would've been an inspiration for me as kid back in the days. Stil you could be. You are.

that's true smart kid hackers are creative people hacking is the art of thinking outside the box

How many people are sitting here after watching this, regretting having fully gone through public school? Well, worry not. You can't change what has already happened, and it's not too late to start now; it's never too late. Start making changes to your life right now.

This is really interesting, and helpful, for me as a teacher, as a mom and as a wife of a guy who hacked his college studies, he just knows how good and creative he is and he showed me that we can handle our family with or without university's major degree... this years I'll get graduated as a Modern Language teacher, and he will keep learning his stuff and doing a great job...

this kid has better presentation skills than me and i already graduated from college, now i see that homeschooling can sometimes be beneficial for kids to develop creativity

This is pretty much all right. Maybe not the 8 things needed for happiness, it varies from person to person. In school there has always been one right answer, and one right solution. I remember when we had something as easy as a translating test in english class (i'm from sweden). We got a word in swedish, then we had to translate it into english. As usual, there are more than one word for the same thing, but i got the answer wrong for writing the word in american egnlish, when my teacher wanted it in british english. Didn't say on the test. The same thing goes for math, you learn diffrent ways of solving a problem. Then you fail at the question/task because you use a diffrent method to solve the problem. This was last year, when i was 17. For over 10 years have we been thaught that there is only one way to solve a problem, and there is only one answer to a question. This kills creativity. You don't get to think for your self. Do as your told or it's wrong, even when it's right. Eh? Luckily i've had teachers who understand this. Especially since i started the school that i'm in now. They let us approach tasks at diffrent angles, letting us work the way we want. And this kid here is right. We are more effective, and we are having fun doing it. You're not gonna get a long way doing exactly what people tell you. Your boss might like you, he might even promote you, if you do all that he wants you to do.But you wouldn't be a good boss, or leader, if all you can do is exactly what people tell you to do. You have to think yourself, and if that ability is long lost, what good will your education do you? Fuck, now my brain hurts. Sorry for the long ramble, but i think it's related to the video, and it's something that needs further discussion. I'm not the most qualified for the subject, but i do know how to think for myself. But i know people who don't. I know people who constantly have to ask others, how to solve their problem. And it must really suck to be so heavily dependant on others. Therefor i think this is a pretty damn important subject.

I thought this video would be about this kid being a computer hacker that was taught by his school...

This young person should also be giving this talk to every grade school, and high school. First, in her city, and then the state, and grow outward.

It is amazing how freely and beautifully he talks about it. You can see that he has big knowledge and great talent. Congrats!