It was California, in the autumn of 1954, and a graduate student named Joanne had a problem. She had been having an affair with a Muslim immigrant, a man her father did not want her to marry; and she was pregnant. These were the days before abortion was socially acceptable, and Joanne decided to give her child up for adoption.
When the child was born in February of 1955, there was an additional complication: it was a boy, and the lawyer and lawyer’s wife who had agreed to adopt it had decided they wanted a girl. Another couple stepped up and offered to take the child, but they weren’t college graduates, and Joanne felt strongly that her baby should be adopted by people with college degrees. But the couple promised to send the boy himself to college, and with that Joanne must have been content.
The boy went to college, but he dropped out after only one semester. He lived by sleeping on the floors of friends’ rooms and getting free weekly meals at the local Hare Krishna temple. He worked briefly as a video games technician, but mostly because he wanted to save money for a pilgrimage to India. (He went.) He became a Buddist. He tried LSD.
But the kid was bright and charismatic as well as dumb and rebellious. He went into computers. He became a CEO. He went into movies. He got rich—his net worth in 2010 was estimated at over $8 billion. Some people called him a perfectionist, and some called him an egomaniac; others admitted his flaws, but insisted that he mellowed and matured with age. Unlike some CEOs, he never became known for his philanthropy. He had four children, though he dragged his feet over acknowledging the first one, who had been born out of wedlock like himself.
The boy’s name was Steve Jobs, and he became the man primarily responsible for the Macintosh computer and the success of Pixar—arguably the most family-friendly movie company in the industry today.
Technology and wealth are only natural goods, and like all natural goods they can be two-edged swords. But even to the producers of natural goods we owe some thanks, whatever their personal failings and flaws might have been.
So pray for the repose of the soul of Steven Paul Jobs. And for all those who worship simultaneously at the Church of the iPad and the Altar of Choice, I repeat a question that’s already been asked by numerous commentators: What would the world look like today if Joanne Simpson had aborted her child in the autumn of 1954?
Seems my first post did not make it through, so here is my second attempt:
What would have happened if Joanne had made a different choice…we would live in a world free from Apple products!!! Huzzah!
I kid! 🙂
On a more serious note, you say Jobs was a Buddhist…did he retain this faith the rest of his life? What I’m saying is was he a religious guy or not? Whenever I think of uber tech guys like him or Gates, I never imagine religious men. Also I heard from somewhere that Jobs was mentored/taught by a priest, true?
I never heard the story of Jobs being mentored by a priest–that would be interesting, if true. His marriage was presided over by a Zen Buddhist monk–that was 1991, past the college days; so it seems like the Buddhism stuck. That doesn’t mean, though, that Jobs was “religious” in the way that a Christian would use the term; I think his Buddhism was more of a lifestyle/attitude thing than a matter of faith.
P.S. I don’t use Apple either … 😉
Oh, also, for what it’s worth: I’ve known two atheists who considered their atheism to be compatible with the practice of Buddhism. If the Buddhism-as-religion question is interesting to you, check out Wikipedia’s article on “God in Buddhism.” The first sentence notes that “The refutation of the notion of a supreme God or a prime mover is seen by many as a key distinction between Buddhism and other religions.” It’s kinda downhill from there.
Thanks for responding Sophia! So here is my response in turn:
“P.S. I don’t use Apple either …”
lol, good! Whatever good Jobs may have done, I have never been a fan of Apple products, save for maybe Itunes, but that’s about it 😀
I can’t remember where I read the story of Jobs and the priest, but it was not that long ago, on a blog I believe.
As for Buddhism, I am well aware of it, I just wanted to know if jobs was treating it as a religion, or more of a “lifestyle/attitude” kind of thing, so thank you for answering it for me, it is as I thought.
Regarding your comments on Buddhism itself: Like I said I am familiar with it, and you are spot on. The atheists you mention are more or less right, especially if they were talking about Zen Buddhsim, which is essentially atheisitc. Buddha himself considered the question of God unimportant, so why would his followers do any different? It is sad really. And Western Buddhism is even worse, it is essentially more about an attitude or lifestyle choice than it is a religion, which in turn distinguishes it from historic Buddhism, which while at least agnostic, is still very much a religion.
Thanks for the quotes–that does fit well with what I’ve heard.
So … we not only have the zen of motorcycle riding, but also the zen of texting, the zen of mall shopping, the zen of surfing (the internet, of course–who needs a board?) …
Honestly, setting the (admittedly paramount) questions of truth and faith aside for the moment, it seems there’s something inhuman about this urge to achieve indifference. I understand the desire to numb pain (emotional, physical …); but at what price? I would rather be confused by an off-putting something than soothed by a “compelling nothing.”
Of course, I suppose the Buddhist response would be that everything is really more or less nothing, but some nothings are just more obviously nothing than others.
I’m reminded of Puddleglum the Marshwiggle’s response on being confronted with the prospect of a world without a sun or a Savior–a world where, really, everything becomes a triviality (light is only the product of a lamp, Lion is only the phantasm of a cat, etc.): “If this is the real world, the play world beats it all hollow!”
Guess I’d rather be excited than enlightened.
Interesting! I was just reading something today that is relevant to this discussion we were having regarding Buddhism (Zen) and Steve Jobs. It was on the subject of Death and how different peoples view it. Here is the set up:
“Or does the presumed annihilation of the soul with the body by death mean that – since everything is going to be swept away and nothing remain – then we should try not to think about it. We should, like a Zen aspirant, aim at indifference.”
Here is the important part:
“The modern version of Zen is to attain a state of indifference by continual distraction – mostly technological. The mind is emptied by being continually filled with compelling-nothings.”
Well if thats the case, I can certainly see how modern Zen would meld well with a technophile like Jobs.
Note the above quotes were coming from a former Zen Buddhist Liberal, who has since become a Christian Conservative, hehe 🙂 (also note he is a Brit, not an American)
“Guess I’d rather be excited than enlightened.”
Yep 😀
And I like how you brought up Puddlegum, his response fits this discusion well.
Whats funny about the whole thing is how some people (on the left usually) think that Chrisitianity and Buddhism are either compatible, or very similiar. Newsflash, they aren’t.