Yesterday Steve Jobs died. He was fifty-six years old. While he fought cancer toward the end of his life we will remember him for his genius and innovation, not the evil disease that overcame him. I own an iMac and an iPhone, so in a way Jobs’ life impacts mine many times each day.
Yet some may wonder why we mourn someone we don’t know. Why did so many mourn the recent death of someone like Amy Winehouse, or someone like Michael Jackson a few years ago, when people die every second all over the planet. Why do they matter more than other humans to us?
We cannot categorize it the same way we would spouse or child, mother or father, best friend or mentor. Most of us never met Jobs in person. Yet we sense loss, why?
I think it has to do with three things: (1) We see a lot of bad people, and a lot of people who waste their lives, so some times it gives us hope to see someone who is successful who benefits the world. They remind us there is potential for humans. (2) They changed our lives. For some, people like Winehouse and Jackson gave them a voice and a tune. For others, like myself, Jobs changed the way I live life and he did it for the better. (3) I think the death of icons like Jobs reminds us that everyone dies. Sometimes we’d like to think icons like Jobs are immune to reality, that he’d be with us forever creating brilliant gadgets that make our lives better, but he has died. If he dies then I will die. No one avoids death.
Why do you think we mourn the death of celebrated public figures like singers, actors, CEOs and former Presidents? Why do we feel a sense of loss when they are gone? Is it justified considering millions died yesterday from starvation, or AIDS, or war? What are your thoughts? I’d appreciate hearing what you have to say.
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See also: Lex Friedman, “Why Steve Jobs’ death feels so sad”.
the archives near Emmaus 
My first thought when I saw the news on Facebook was a prayer that he had a chance to meet his Maker this side of the great divide, not just at the time when he was asked “What did you do with my Son?”
@Brian R. : I know almost nothing about Jobs’ faith commitments, so it is hard for me to speak to that, but yes, I do hope he was a follower of Christ.
I know he went to India to pursue Buddhism earlier in life, and that seemed to be his philosophical basis. I hope there was a Christian close enough to him during these years of illness to have an opportunity to sow seeds of truth in his life, andthat somehow they took root and sprouted before his passing.
I think about the impact of a loss and how we really blow out coverage on someone like Steve Jobs. With Jobs, I actually don’t “mind” it as much because of the amazing contributions he has made to this world. This is far better, in my opinion, than the mindless coverage given to Anna Nicole Smith or others who contributed almost nothing to society.
I also wouldn’t put Jobs in the category of “celebrity.” He truly left a huge impact on this planet. (I will confess it’s a passion I don’t understand, but nevertheless, it’s a passion.) His work actually made something shift in our world. I think I’ve seen him compared to Thomas Edison in that regard.
In some regards, while I don’t want to dishonor a memory of someone like Jobs, it is overload today logging onto any newsite and seeing Steve Jobs all over, like nothing else has gone on in the world.
I mean, really, Sarah Palin IS NOT running for the presidency. Isn’t THAT more newsworthy? 😉
Because they have a face…
@Dan: You are correct that he is more like Edison than other celebrities, but I use celebrity broadly. There is a great difference between Jobs and Anna Nicole Smith, but those touched by art and music may say that there is not that great a difference between Jobs and say Michael Jackson. They both impacted lives.
On the lighter note, Palin not running for President is great news!
@Nancy: Do you mean because they are human or because we see them more since they’re in the spotlight? Everybody has a face, and we may even see their picture in the obituary section of the newspaper, but it usually does impact us the same as when a well-known public figure dies.
I think the reasons you give, Brian, are probably true. My response included mostly 1) and 3). And I wonder if his death might also give us pause in our thoughts about technology. Technological advances might also have their end, as we know it, at least. Somehow I think that technology, while obviously very useful, creative, and even needed in many instances to save lives, has reached a status of immortality. Gadgets improve, become newer, better, shinier, etc. while our bodies decay, no matter how hard we may try to stop this process. I just find the comparison interesting. Everything else in the universe has a life span, and our great ideas go with us.
We may not have shaken hands with public figures, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t let them into our hearts. There is no logical or rational explanation; it’s relational. Thus, we aren’t all talking about his passing because it is ‘news’ but because we truly mourn the loss.
@Mitra: In some sense it is likely that with the loss of Jobs we know we will never see the inventions that his imagination would have brought to us if he had lived longer. It makes us wonder if our world as we know it can continue if we lose the people who make it happen.
@Caedmon: I agree that there is a sense in which we feel we have a relationship with people like Jobs because they have impacted us and changed us. When Michael Jordan dies, when Barry Bonds dies, when Bono dies, and someday when President Barack Obama passes away, it will feel like a loss for me because their lives impacted mine and a sense of nostalgia, memory, and history transitions to loss.
What I am seeking to understand (and maybe you’re right that it isn’t rational, therefore not worth doing) is why. Why do we feel this way?
I dont know why they make such a big deal of one man’s Death who helped invite an item that makes us lazy. Is steve jobs death more important then the young soldiers who are dying overseas because they decided that our country is more important. What makes steve jobs death more important then a 19 year old kid that dies overseas serving in the US military? I just believe that us as American we need to stop making such a big deal when celebrities die. Because Steve jobs wouldnt have invited anything without freedom and freedom was paid by young men and women who gave there lives for us.
The man was certainly a genius and visionary. Enough said.
@Alvarez: While this may or may not be true as an “ought” why do you think it is not the case as an “is”?
@TC: True.
Well, its a good practice to reflect on how we view death (e.g. N.T. Wright surprised by hope). I suppose (risking oversimplification) that society looks on the outside of the man. Thus, when we have a society that values innovation, we will be sad to lose the great contributors therein. Your question on the justification of such mourning is in order. The answer is no. Particularly if one holds to a Christo-centric view of humanity. Thanks for the post.
A lot of talk today about his 2005 commencement speech at stanford. I heard it today while riding in the car. It gave me a deeper appreciaton for the man.
@Roger: Can you unpack what you mean by a Christocentric view of humanity resulting in your answer? Could it not be argued that the basic imago Dei in everyone still deserves honor to some extent, especially as he displayed creativity that reminds us of our Creator?
@Jeff: I need to listen to that.
Regarding Jobs’ religious beliefs: http://www.edstetzer.com/2011/10/what-about-steve-jobs-religiou.html
‘Not rational’ doesn’t mean ‘not worth doing.’ 😉
Your question is good; I’ve been discussing it with others this morning. OUr best guess so far is that shared humanity (through a shared/unique divinity) allows us to connect with one another without having to sleep under the same roof.
Why is it that I would likely mourn the death of Brian McLaren, but not D.A. Carson? It’s not hat one has contributed more or is more important to the church or history, but that McLaren wrote a book I emotionally connected with. I have since given him space in my heart beyond that of a stranger.
I don’t think we mourn Jobs because he helped invent cool stuff, but because in the process of doing it, he got up on stage and told us, himself. We invited him into our lives as a person, not just a guy running a company. Our feeling for him, then, are as real as for people we see at home or work.
I like your thoughts. Thank you for sharing this perspective.
@Caedmon: Good observations. There is a sense in which they did share their lives with us. It is different than a spouse or a parent, but real sharing none the less, and we have an actual relationship with them, though of a different sort.
That could make for a fascinating discussion on degree and types of relationships and what gives them meaning!
By Christo-centric view of humanity: I refer to a view centered on interaction of Jesus with people in The Synoptic Gospels and The Gospel according to John. My understanding from his interactions with people both religious and non religious (granted it is a hasty dichotomy of the people he interacted with) is that he loved all people regardless of their history/economic status. Therefore, by holding a Christo-Centric view ; one would not trust in riches, one would take the beatitudes seriously, one would not discriminate between sexes and so fourth.
In response to the imago Dei, it can surely be argued that people deserve honor for great deeds and such-they have their reward :). Yet, there is no question as to the underlying value of humanity in a Christo-centric view.
@Roger : I agree, but one could ask if you are justified in mourning the death of a spouse, child, parent, or close friend more than that of a stranger and I think we’d answer yes. Even if all people are equal not all people equally impact us. No?
Yes. Good point .
I mean more in the line that it gives them more of a reality than just an anonymous person or group that you might read about or hear about in general. For example when they began to read the names of the victims of the 911 attacks on the news casts, they became real through taking on an identity…they gained a face.
@Nancy : That makes sense and yes, I agree. List or pictures without names make us feel disconnected but faces with names connect us to their identity.
Brian: I think that there’s a selfish aspect of this. At least there is for me. One of the real sources of sadness for me is the fear that Apple will never be the same. This company has done some amazingly innovative things that have made my life easier (my Macbook Air being so light in my backpack, allowing me to carry another book, is a simple one), and, frankly, I don’t want that to stop. That is definitely one of the most profound sources of my sadness over Jobs’ death.
I think our society wants to believe that there is human potential to overcome death (just ask Ray Kurzweil); so this goes to one of your points, Brian. When someone like Steve Jobs, an innovator and technological genius (which so many are banking on as someday providing the perpetual fountain of youth) dies; a little bit of societies’ hope dies in themselves. If Steve Jobs couldn’t save himself; then who can?
My comment reflects a little of what a few have already said, obviously.
@ Brian G. That is a great observation. I think there is a real fear that with Jobs’ creative genius departing we may not be given the gifts he gave us. Apple is a great company, but we know it was Jobs that made it so.
@Bobby : I agree. I think there is definitely a sense in which our myth of immortality (outside the Spirit of God resurrecting us to new life) is challenged every time someone like Jobs dies. I think death by cancer is another reason to fear. We think that if anyone has the resources to be immune to such a death it would be Jobs. When he dies we realize everyone has a final day and no amount of money can buy more days.