"Oh Wow"! The End of Steve Jobs and the End of Life?

“Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” By now you will have ‘heard’ these words, the final utterances of Steve Jobs before he passed away. Job’s sister, Mona, revealed as much while giving a public eulogy. The words made headlines around the world, which can be put down to both the fascination with Steve Jobs the man, and the natural human fascination with - or oftentimes terror of - death.

Yet there was something else in those headlines, wasn’t there? It was something silent, implicit, almost - but not quite - written. Ironically, that silence spoke of the forbidden country where few in modern mainstream media dare to venture: the spirituality of death. No doubt most of the general public were thinking exactly what I was thinking when I read the words. What is it that Jobs was feeling, perceiving, seeing in those final moments of his earthly existence? Was it something transcendental, spiritual, or dare I say, divine?

Most importantly why is it that newspapers could not bring themselves to allow this aspect of Steve Job’s death bed utterances to be openly discussed? How has it come to this point where the spiritual has become so denied, so absolutely taboo, even where it is so blatantly, poignantly present?

The Spirit of Steve Jobs

The artist as a young man

 Marcus T Anthony's new web site and blog can be found at: www.mind-futures.com.

Like many people I was shocked at the timing of Steve Jobs’ passing. In this post I am going to make a few somewhat dispersed points about this recent event.

When very famous and influential people die there is always an effect on the collective consciousness of humanity, albeit often a small one. In particular, individual egos will feel a slight increase in fear as the realisation of mortality deepens. The function of the ego is basically to keep you alive, so it’s no surprise that this is the case.

My sense is that the reason Job’s death has had such a strong impact is because of what he represents. He is the quintessential baby-boomer, born in 1955. Yet his influence transcends that generation to deeply effect generations X and Y. The mediator is of course, technology, and the Apple products that have become such a striking component of many people’s lives. Such has been his influence on the company, that Apple and Steve Jobs’ the man are sometimes difficult to separate.

Steve Jobs was a creative genius, and that genius has now gone from this world. This for me, and I suspect for many others, is one of the salient features of this entire event. For our power to take ideas and turn them into things lies at the very heart of the human experience. But now the mind that made Apple has passed. This is something of a shock to the ego, which likes to think of itself as immortal. The reality is that time waits for no man or woman, and that even the greatest expressions of human intelligence will soon be gone. It’s a humbling thought.