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Should Steve Jobs Be Considered A Role Model?


No human being who has walked this Earth has ever been perfect. If you were to look closely into the lives of some of the most revered figures in history you would find a few things that might make you reevaluate how you see them. There may be a few cases of marital indiscretion, a hushed up abortion or a brutal temper only shown behind closed doors to loved ones. Even those who have done very little wrong can still fall short if we judge them too harshly. With that in mind, this essay considers the life of Steve Jobs with the consideration of whether or not his example should be followed.

A role model

Being rejected at birth can be a difficult experience. Jobs parents wanted to get married but his mother’s father disagreed. They gave him up for adoption instead and later got married to have his full siblings. His adopted parents loved him and raised him as their own and even fostered his natural gift for building things. He met people who were similarly inclined from as early as high school and with their assistance he founded companies that would go on to change the world we live in. He took information from sources that more linear thinkers might not have considered and used it to create in unique ways. When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he used his last days to come to terms with his predicament and inspired many others who were dealing with harsh situations through his words. From this perspective he truly is worthy of being looked up to.

A cautionary tale

From early on in his career, Steve Jobs showed a willingness to deceive others to get his own way. Some of the ideas he presented to others as his own were actually created by one of his contemporaries and he outright lied about his qualifications in a few interviews. People who worked with him will attest that he had a bit of a means streak and often lost track of his temper. Despite delving deep into meditation his products actually do more to foster materialism in the world as they are among the most expensive. Some might still see these as traits of a good role model but room exists for argument.

It is easy to paint people as nicer than they are after death. Jobs was human like the rest of us.