An interesting perspective about life, in the 21st Century...

[Grissom]

An interesting perspective about life........(no disrespect regarding Steve Jobs' death intended)......

Steve Jobs -- Rest In Peace, But Let's Not Overdo It
Roger S. Gottlieb - Professor of Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Posted: 10/10/11 11:49 AM ET

Amid the spasm of media hype about Steve Jobs -- I've heard people say he was our Edison, our Disney and as important as JFK, that he shaped our lives, changed our lives, improved our lives. I want to offer a dissenting voice.

Now I have nothing against Jobs, who certainly was brilliant and highly creative, combining incredible business sense with a unique intuitive grasp of how people relate to gadgets. And I have nothing against computers, of which I've owned several and in front of which I spend far too much time; or against, for that matter, gadgets. I'm on my 5th mp3 player, which is packed to the gills with my favorite music.

But it is a sign of the incredible spiritual poverty of our time that gadgets like an iPhone or an iPod can be thought of as things which fundamentally change our lives, for they do not. They make for some conveniences and some pleasures, certainly, but conveniences and pleasures are not really the center of our lives; or if they are, that tells us something deeply sad in and of itself.

For example: now that I can carry a hundred and fifty hours of music on a device slightly bigger than a fat credit card, do I understand the music any better? Do I appreciate it more than when I had to take an old LP out of cardboard sleeve, put it on the turntable, and place the needle on the grooves? Having all that glorious sound at my disposal, in three seconds to be able to choose from thousands of tracks of classical, Jazz, new age, pop, or folk -- does it make me love it more? Or just trivialize the experience so that I take it all for granted?

More important, far more important: now that I have a cell phone and can "reach out and touch" anyone of my contacts with a quick call or quicker text, do I care about any of them more deeply? Am I any better at keeping in touch with people I haven't talked to for awhile, or healing wounds from the past, or dealing with differences that arise within my family? Am I more honest about what I feel? More compassionate about other people's suffering? Any less likely to show off when I get an article published or gossip about some third party who both my phone pal and I dislike?

If you have a cell phone (which, unlike mine, is a stripped down model which pretty much just makes and receives phone calls) which takes videos, plays games, reads bar codes, provide instant maps to anywhere, and can use the half million or so apps available, are you a better person than you were before you got it? Any more able to handle questions of life and death, to face aging or illness, pain or disappointment? Is a world of terrorism and imperialism, environmental blight and staggering debt, hunger and poverty and sexual violence less frightening?

I heard all about "there's an app for that." Is there one for wisdom?

The answer, it seems to me, to just about every one of these questions is a resounding 'No.' And in just that sense our lives have been barely touched by anything Jobs did. They are the same as they have always been. Perhaps, in fact, they are a little worse: we are more distracted, less able to focus on what is important because we are too busy filling our mp3 players, surfing the web from our smart phones, or doing god knows what on our iPads. Having so much, we have too much. Having so much to do, we do too little that matters.

Is life 'easier' with all these 'conveniences'? In many ways, again, the answer is "not really." Because I have email and wireless connection, I can work anywhere, anytime. Gee, that's... really... great. Except now "time off" is virtually impossible. Because I can talk on the phone anywhere, people can be pissed off if I don't answer their calls. Because I have so much music available on my satellite radio (slogan: everything, all the time) I can switch stations until I find something I like instead of actually listening to something new and developing my taste. The machines replace our memories, our capacity to amuse ourselves if there are no batteries around and our face to face engagements with other humans.

Some convenience.

The essential tasks of life -- how to be kind, good, and wise; how to control one's mind and order one's emotions and desires; how to connect to other people and other species with compassion -- no machine will take away the essential difficulty of such things. In a time when we are constantly offered things to "make life easier" it might do us good to remember, as Kierkegaard was fond of saying, that sometime what's needed is a little more difficulty.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs, and thanks a lot for the toys. And now let's get back to the essential task of being better human beings.

[TheVTCGuy]

Mr. Gotlieb, Professor of Philosophy, is a far-wiser man then I will ever be. He is obviously intelligent, well-versed, and has the gift of bestowing knowledge to his students. All capabilities that exceed my own, (hell, he's probably a lot better looking the me too!). But, dear Mr. Gotlieb, Professor of Philosophy, I must disagree with you.

Was Steve Jobs the Savior? The arisen deliver-er of mankind from evil? No, of course not, but did his insite and products enhance our relationships, our passions and appreciation of things in our lives? I say absolutely YES.

Music. Does the ability to carry 5000 songs with me in an Ipod enable me to appreciate the composers work more? Without question. The Ipod (Iphone) gives me the ability to listen to the music I like (happens to be new-age but insert whatever your favorite gender is) ANYWHERE, ANYTIME I choose. How many of you have taken a 15 minute break from a hectic day, put on your headphones and just enjoyed the music of your choice? Maybe it's a relaxing time, winding down and de-stressing. Maybe it's a "go get em" song, revving you up for acomplishments you have to achieve. Whatever, the ability to listen to my music anywhere anytime definitely DOES (as our Mr. Gotlieb states it:) make me love it more. Also, I want to throw in here, in many occasions listening to it on the ipod with a good set of headphones is actually a better sound then from my home stereo, more enriching....

Mr. Gotlieb mentions relationships, and the fancy phone's ability to do more then just talk, does that enhance the relationships of people you communicate with? Absolutely. How many of you (lucky) people are in a relationship with a significant other? How many times have you been unable to talk, but wanted to get a message to that person? Maybe just to say: "Hello, how is your day going?" With facetime, and other video apps, even when you're separated, you can now see the expression of that person, join in the laughter, or see the concern, tears.. It is a MUCH more powerful communication then just the plain old telephone Mr. Gotlieb uses.

I don't disagree that our relationships with other human beings and passions for what we love is paramount, as humans we need to maintain that. But Steve Jobs products enable us to do just that, more effectively then ever before.

Someone tell Mr. Gotlieb I disagree and will be glad to debate the issue with him....

[Dr. Robert]

O.P., well said........

Have a good day & be excellent to each other.

[capote]

@OP, I agree.

I read of a study that internet browsing can deterior your ability to read books. All this going back and forth between web-pages, quickly scanning and moving on if nothing catches your interest is of another structure than conventional reading. I have no source unfortunatly, but I guess it makes sense. I surf like this if nothing else.

On a personal level I feel more and more to just unplug/disconnect. Facebook, really? Clicking a "Like" button to keep in touch with people. I don't need access all this information.

But then again, I could just be cranky. Bah Humbug!

[colpol]

I probably agree with about 95% of what you've written

Very thought provoking article

[Tri-Tip]

Sounds like Professor Gottlieb has a little bit of Andy Rooney in him.

I also agree with most of what he says. Yes, devices make it more convenient to do things, but also helps you lose focus. When I used to play CD's, I'd put one in and listen to it all the way through and enjoy it. Now I find myself constantly skipping around from track to track, and in the end, not enjoy it as much.

[masterserg]

I can see the point ... it's a little like the Google effect ... no substance anymore ... scratch the surface and that's it.

Sign of the times.

Having 100's of albums at my fingertips has nothing to do with my ability to find new ones though ...

[speedo]

Agree.

[fespo276]

iPhone's comprise less than 5% of all cell phones in use. Just some perspective.

[Letsgodiving]

Nothing against Jobs and he is to be credited for his accomplishments but it has all been a bit over the top. Yesterday a commentator was comparing him to Galileo and da Vinci. A bit of a stretch to say the least.

[DCgator]

I don't mind the improvements in efficiency and speed that these Apple and other products have brought to our lives. It's the obvious advances of science and technology and imo the way forward. My 2c.