“Steve Jobs never graduated from college”. Wow! That’s surprising, isn’t it? But who said only those who graduate are the ones who have all the knowledge? Is it that only a degree can prove and reflect your proficiency and your competence? Well, not really. Without getting a degree Steve Jobs could still amaze us all by changing significantly and amazingly our technological lives. Anyway, that is not what called my attention the most about his talk. What truly made an impression on me was the idea that many times we experience different situations in life and we are not truly aware of what the significance of those experiences is. How many times have we found ourselves doing things and not knowing the ‘what for?’ I think that we, human beings, are always looking for a reason. It seems we don’t do anything if we don’t get a reward (and it necessarily needs to be within a short term). We always need an explanation. We always need to connect the present to the future, and I think it is there where we fail since we won’t always find the connection. There is not always a ‘because’. Think of this for just a moment: we can perfectly do things without having the need to see their point , we can just act. What's the problem with it? I think there is nothing wrong because, as Steve Jobs says, we will find the connection, we will eventually find the answer to the ‘what for’ but, when we do, we’ll find it looking backwards, not forwards. That is why I fully agree with him on his idea of following our heart and doing what we think is good. There will come a day in which we’ll realize that everything we did, was worth doing.
Based on Steve Job’s talk: How to live before you Die. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
Really interesting reflection... I had not thought about that... I think that you are right... Sometimes we are quite anxious and we want to have all the answers right away... And we kind of have the need to know the "what for" beforehand... Maybe, it would be better if we do not give ourselves so much of a thought and just start doing and acting as we feel... Whether we are right or not, will be determined eventually ;)
ReplyDeleteI like your reflection! It's true that nowadays, people are just pursuing a "paper", which is the degree or some certificate to justify that you know the knowledge. But what's the matter that you know the knowledge and you don't have the paper? Sometimes, people who haven't got a degree know more than people who really possess a certificate. One clear example is that the children know and manage better the technology than adult. It doesn't mean that by having a degree one will know much than those who don't have it.
ReplyDeleteI think the same as you. I wrote about "connecting the dots" in my post as well because I found Job's reflection really interesting. Before listening to the talk, I haven't even thought about it. When he mentioned that, I started flying and thinking about all the instances and decisions in my life that led me to where I am. And now I think: THAT'S WHY I'M HERE. Then I had to play the video again because I realized I hadn't been listening to the rest of the talk.
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