Jobs and the contemplation of death
Yesterday a very special man died. It was an incredibly sad realisation. I now mourn for this man, despite having never had the opportunity to meet or see him in person.
But why is this man so special? Well this man is, in my opinion, the greatest businessman to ever live. An inspirational leader and magnificent visionary. Idealistic views of simplicity and deep insights into the nature of humankind. Steve Jobs is truly a remarkably unique man.
But how can I mourn a person I’ve never met? I mourn because this is an incredible loss. And I don’t just mean a loss to the world, but a loss of inspiration to myself. A man that I’ve highly respected for many years is now gone, and a piece of me feels like it’s gone also.
I don’t do the things I do directly because of Steve Jobs, but he was definitely an inspiration to me and has provided me much motivation. Steve Jobs rose out of poverty to make something of himself. And he was never in it for the money. He was in it because he truly wanted to make a dent in the universe.
With the death of Steve Jobs, another concern arises: my own mortality. Despite how great of a person you are, despite what you accomplish, despite what you do, despite how much money you have, eventually, some day, you’re going to die. There’s no way around it.
I consider myself rather fortunate that I live in a time when technology is rapidly accelerating. The lifespan of Homo sapiens is increasing. Technology is being used to prolong life. I’ll probably be fortunate to live a very long life. But I still have to accept that I’m going to die.
There has been much talk in recent years about Homo sapiens eventually becoming immortal. There are many theories of how one can become immortal, ranging from nanobots to biological engineering to assimilation of human consciousness into machine. Some scientists are trying furiously to figure out the science behind the immortality of the Turritopsis nutricula, and how to replicate these effects into the evolution of Homo. Then there’s the idea of injecting nanobots into our bloodstream to improve health, cure cancers and reverse aging. Then lastly there’s the futuristic idea of removing the biological human body entirely and uploading our consciousnesses to computers.
Of course there’s always the spiritual debates. The naïve who believe that an afterlife exists. Well, regardless of whether or not you think Steve Jobs was good or bad, the fact still remains; he’s gone, forever. We live and then we die. Life is pretty simple. There’s nothing complicated about that.
Based on technological trends, it’s very likely that my generation will greatly surpass the 100-year mark of lifespan. How much our lifespans will increase is debateable. But death is inevitable. There’s no way to get around it. Eventually it’s going to happen. Eventually you’re going to die. Eventually I’m going to die. We can keep delaying it as much as physically possible, but it’s going to happen. You can’t change that. Life cannot exist without death. The old make way for the new. The circle of life continues. Immortality may or may not be possible, but in some way or another, we’re going to die.
The thing that’s most difficult to grasp is the pure insignificance of us. As individuals, as a species, we’re absolutely insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The planet earth is one of billions of planets in one of billions of galaxies in one of many dimensions in one of infinite universes. The earth is nothing but a spec of dust. We as individuals are even smaller. So insignificant. The universe is going to continue doing what it’s doing regardless of whether we like it or not. Mother nature doesn’t care. We’re powerless. We make no difference. If she deems it necessary, she’ll kill us off in an instant.
Purpose? There’s no purpose. We live, we die. No matter what we do, we change nothing. The universe is more powerful than us. We are consciousnesses that exist for a finite amount of time. We can do things in that time, but it’s not going to change anything. The time that we remain conscious doesn’t serve any purpose.
But then think about how incredibly unique you are. About all the random coincidences that were required to be executed in perfect order to allow you to enter into this world. Life itself is impossible. It’s impossible for us to exist. And yet we do exist. And that’s pretty incredible.
The fact that you and I exist is amazing. Completely unique. Incredibly special. We’ve been provided the privilege of living. And this is a privilege you shouldn’t take lightly.
So, as a member of Homo sapiens, I’ve been provided an incredible opportunity. I’ve been provided the opportunity to live. And this is one opportunity I’m not going to let go. I’m going to grab this opportunity with everything I’ve got and make the most of it.
Looking at the life of Steve Jobs, I wonder to myself, was it worth it? Steve accomplished incredible things. He changed the world. Several times. Not many people in the entire human history have accomplished anything as significant as Steve Jobs.
But was it really worth it? Did Steve feel fulfilled? Looking back on Steve’s life, I see incredible passion, empathy and love. I have no doubt that he loved his life. He loved his life just as he loved his family, his company, the people of the earth and as he loved himself. He may not have lived as long as some, but I’m willing to bet that he lived more than most.
Steve had a vision for technology and pushed that vision from a very young age. The world wouldn’t listen though. The world thought he was crazy. The world screwed him over. But he didn’t care. He pushed forward. And you know what, he showed the world who was boss.
Steve worked his entire life to see his vision become real. The final stages of his vision are now being pushed even in his demise. He never got to finish everything he wanted to. Given more time I’m sure he would of continued changing the world.
This really makes you think. This crazy misunderstood guy spent his entire life trying to make his dream come true. But he never got to see the final stages of his dream himself. He was taken from this world too soon. So again, the question begs, was it really worth it? Is it really worth it to spend all that time and effort on a dream that you might not ever see?
I think about this as I work now. I think about the possibility of spending an entire lifetime working and never even getting a chance to appreciate the effects. I think about the possibility of failing and wasting an entire lifetime of effort.
But then I realise something. I remember something that I say over and over again. It’s not the destination but the journey that’s important. We’re never going to reach that destination of happiness. If you’re not happy now, you’re never going to be happy. Regardless of what happens. And if you’re not happy now, ask yourself, why? Why aren’t you happy?
If you’re not doing something you love, if you’re not with the people you love, if you’re not loving life to its fullest, then why are you even living in the first place? What’s the point? Life without love is no life at all.
There’s a lot to learn from Steve Jobs. But I don’t claim this man to be perfect. There are many things he has done in his life that I frown upon. I don’t idolise Apple, and I don’t entirely agree with Steve’s vision. But I cannot deny his brilliance.
In the end however, we are all equal. We are all capable of achieving happiness. We are all special and unique. We are all capable of living.
You don’t have to be like Steve Jobs to live life to its fullest. You don’t need to be rich and famous. You don’t need to change the world. You don’t need to be a creative genius. All you need to do is change yourself. You need to enjoy the ride. You need to have fun. You need to love life.
The key to the human experience is love. Nothing other than love is important. You have to love yourself, love your friends, love your family, love people, love nature, love life. You have to live life. Like, really live life. Because if you’re not living life, then really, what’s the point?
Don’t live in the future in a world where the future mightn’t even exist. Live in the moment. Live in the now. Love life. Live it.
Thank you Steve for being such an inspiration and an amazing person. You’ve reached the true heights of immortality and will never be forgotten.
