Tribute to Steve Jobs (1955-2011):

Steve Jobs as a Philosopher

The sad death of Steve Jobs made me think hard about what was behind his success. He was a person who had a great impact in terms of making computer technology accessible and affordable to everyone. He became, in my opinion, an entertainment genius more transcendent than Walt Disney.

I identify with people like Steve Jobs, because with their attitudes and way of life they prove that happiness is a reality and a great challenge every day.

Jobs was born of a young single mother who gave him up for adoption and grew up in a household of parents with limited resources. His adoptive parents made many sacrifices in order to afford him a college education. As he noted in his recently released biography, he dropped out college early on because of a mixture of disinterest in the university and out of consideration for his parents. The impressive thing is to find a person in these disadvantageous circumstances, who could express emotionality in his life without resentment toward being adopted and who left aside an education, which  is traditionally  considered a key to future success. In a recent blog entry, I wrote about "happiness and conditioning." I said that we all have a number of conditions that may be given to us by health problems, disabilities, orphanhood, etc., but we cannot blame these circumstances for our failures. I also said, at that time, this attitude respond to what has been called the "external locus of control,"  for example, when we attribute to external facts the reasons why we have not been successful.

After his college experience, he partnered with Steve Wozniak. Together in a garage, they created the personal computer: the Apple II, which proved to be a success. In a short time, they made a fortune. Their success was not due to the creation of a personal computer, but their understanding of the big potential for a personal computer at home. At that time, there were small computers, but only for office or business purposes, not personal ones. Of course, to reach this new market, they designed a computer that was very easy to use for the lay person (computer illiterate.)  Later, with the first Macitosh (1984) Jobs introduced the possibility to choose from a variety of fonts and made possible the automatic adjustment of the spacing between the individual characters in accordance with the size and style of the font.

Obviously, big corporations reacted to this explosion of intelligence and creativity by introducing to the market their versions of personal computers for all audiences. Then Jobs ended up leaving Apple due to the companies financial troubles. From there, he decided to venture into the business of computer animation at Pixar, which became famous for the production of Toy Story. This success led to an association with Disney Company and a return to Apple, where he continued to reap success with new products such as the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.

Jobs, in a speech which I will mention later, said that what matters in life is doing what we love, what we like and makes us happy.  I began to think that this attitude, which in principle is related to success, goes a bit deeper. What he really did was work out what he really enjoyed and enjoyment for Jobs was strongly linked to creativity, that is, every day looking for something new or something old that could be used or transformed into something different and new. But there is something extra that is clear to me: He desired that his creations transmit his enjoyment. From Apple II to the iPhone, he always strived to deliver technology to the entire population, not necessarily for purposes of work, production or anything else, but to deliver versatile, beautiful, elegant and  light products with enormous potential to be entertaining.

Modern society lives at unprecedented rate. This fast pace has resulted in the people's need to maintain this speed at all times, even when not fulfilling work obligations, social activities or studies. When the speed drops, appears nuisance and boredom.

We don't take time for silence, peace, calm, reflection and to hear our inner voices. We need a computer, a black berry, a radio or a TV on, someone's company, or whatever it may be, all the time. Sometimes, I think there is a hidden desire to escape. Before you could say we escaped by drinking, using drugs, working too much. Now though, the opportunites for evasion are endless and aided by all those electronic devices that separate us from our inner world,  besides invading our privacy in all respects.

Now I ask myself, in this maelstrom in which I live, can I validly reflect about what I really want out of this life? Am I not following the current path or bypassing others? How I can allow my intuition to give me signs to follow with so much noise around me?

Those are questions that everyone and to be answered by those concerned ....

In a speech at Stanford University, widely circulated in the internet and can be viewed at YouTube, Jobs shared his experience after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In relation to the theme of death, said: "Remember that, I'll be dead soon.  Is the most important tool you have found, for almost all expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, is away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart ...." "Now, I can say this with more certainty. When death was a useful concept, but purely intellectual: Nobody wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven do not want to die to get there. However, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and so must be, because death is possibly the best invention of life. Is the agent of change in life. Remove the old to make room for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long, gradually, you may go, become old, and you will be apart. Your time is limited, so do not spend it living the life of another. Do not be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of the thinking of others. Do not let the noise of other´s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what they really want to be. Everything else is secondary. "

Jobs made a very clever assessment about death and of the process in which we take the notion of death from our mind down to our belly. He let us clarify confusion; and rightly points out, that seeing ourselves as naked,  we can see clearly what is important, leading to a new urgency that impels us to take full advantage of the little time of life we have left.

What is really important is that you can find your own way,  walk as you think and feel,  guided by intuition, and you have a greater chance of success. Everyone has his own answers and can find them within.

However, life has in store for each one of us different destinations and different life missions, some more successful than others. Also, along the crossroads we find a life in which we choose to do that we love or what constitutes a duty. That is why Jesus said that the road to heaven is narrow and to hell broad. Denying duty can make us lose something very valuable and affect our happiness and that of others; we can hurt ideals that are more precious than life itself. At the end of our journey through this world, we could end up with a bad taste for not having given a valid or useful meaning to our existence. But, duty also requires courage and love; otherwise, we are doomed to failure, frustration and resentment.

Therefore, when we opt for any of the paths before us and walk with courage, heart and enthusiasm, we will find happiness, even in adversity, and satisfaction for the achievements. Even if death doesn't let us finally reach the goal, our heirs and followers will come to complete the task we undertook.