Jobs the Preacher, RLST 245

For a class at Lawrence University I compared the similarities between Steve Jobs in his commencement speech for Stanford University and a religious preacher.

Steve Jobs begins with a proud and public declaration of humility and humble beginnings. Many religions such as Christianity and Buddhism value humility and common origins, often making it an objective to seek simplicity. By publicly acknowledging this, Steve makes it easier to identify with him, but also easier to admire him for his accomplishments.

Next, Steve uses anecdotes from his own life as examples of how one should live. He relates the story of his parent's expectations for him to succeed in higher education, and how he failed to complete university for the reason that he did not want to waste time with things that did not fulfill him.These parables caution people to avoid the expectations of others, and to never stagnate in one's journey towards happiness, and above all to have faith that so long as someone searches for happiness, one's life be ultimately more fulfilling. These warnings about beings satisfied with a prosaic life is common to most religions, and likewise is the concept that faith in an insubstantial ideal has spiritual momentum.

Finally, Steve Jobs addresses the topic of death. For someone who is addressing young students who are about to graduate and join the workforce, this might seem like an unusually morbid topic, but like nearly any religion, Steve finds death to be the most pervasive concept for life in general. He makes the bold statement that death is the best invention of life because it removes stagnation and makes room for new growth. All religions extensively explore the importance of death, and in this way Steve is also comparable to a religious preacher. However, his concept of death is unlike most religions in that it treats it less as an end and more as a means to improve remaining life. Herein, lies Steve's great message. That so long as one continues to search for new things and innovate, then their life is less ruled by the terminal rules of death.

For these many reasons, it is no wonder that Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. have such an extensive following since it is managed with principles that value innovation over reiteration.