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Life is a lot more enjoyable when you accept, as I've just mentioned in a cousin, that people exist for their own purposes and not your pleasure. Some people ex

Life is a lot more enjoyable when you accept, as I've just mentioned in a cousin, that people exist for their own purposes and not your pleasure. Some people express their feelings in saccharin ways. Okay. And? Does it make those feelings, or those people, less valid that they're more Hallmark than Bob Dylan? Death is difficult. Cut people a damn break.

jarek 15y ago
I'm human. I judge people and form opinions based on their behaviour. I'm not denying them the right to those behaviours. Sometimes I can't resist voicing my opinions. If you don't, I'm really happy for you. I'm confident 99% of commenters didn't know Steve Jobs personally. If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created.
- protomyth 15y ago
  Nope, didn't know him personally, but his works gave me great joy and changed my career path. It is in some / most people's nature to care about those we will never meet, and I have more reasons for caring about this soul then some killed in various tragedies. I would imagine some on HN also have similar touchstones or perhaps have lost or almost lost people to cancer. Things like this are close to home for many.
- muhfuhkuh 15y ago
  "If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created." He was a visible figure in people's lives. To attach emotion to someone present in your life, even if they aren't physically there, even if you don't know them in any intimate way, is natural. I recently saw a documentary where elephants walked by the skeletal remains of fallen elephants along their water migration path and touch their trunk to them in what observers deem a tribute. They likely don't even know the deceased. Would you call that a problem? That's the vexing thing about celebrity: Their seemingly open-book lifestyle (I know, he was a supremely private individual but, hey, Steve could've let anyone else do those keynotes and demos) lets us connect to them in ways that the celebrities cannot even fathom.
- danilocampos 15y ago
  > If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created. That's, uh, a... Penis thing to say. People form attachments to those they've never met because humanity doesn't require reciprocal contact for personal impact. I knew Jobs only through his work, words and passion. I make my salary, doing a job I absolutely love, because of things he decided had to be built. I will endlessly be in his debt for the world he helped create and the example he so consistently set. His passing tears at me more than I ever would have guessed. It is not a problem I created. It's a man who earned my respect and admiration, gone. Forever. That is something so profoundly difficult for me to process, entire systems of ritual and belief were created thousands of years ago in an attempt to address the helplessness. Human impermanence is hard.
  - jarek 15y ago
    > That's, uh, a... Penis thing to say. Yes. Doesn't make it any less true.
    - bmelton 15y ago
      No offense, but it doesn't make particularly MORE true either. That humans have emotions isn't a solvable problem, or generally, even a problem at all. It's those emotions that allow us to strive for more, that allow us to love those that are close to us, that allow us to form long and lasting relationships, that allow us the compassion for charity and the will to help the world. In some cases, yeah, it causes us to perhaps have fondness, or perceived attachment to someone we haven't met. Regardless, many view Jobs as an inspirational figure. I personally know of more than one successful entrepreneur who would say that something Steve Jobs did was their motivation for starting a company, or excelling at what they did, or gave them the insight that made their company more successful. I myself am not an overly sentimental person, but I recognize that "If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created." is a line of completely trite bullshit. Sympathy isn't a problem, and even if it were, it likely isn't one any of the people could have avoided making, even had they so consciously chosen to try.
    - danilocampos 15y ago

jarek 15y ago

I'm human. I judge people and form opinions based on their behaviour. I'm not denying them the right to those behaviours. Sometimes I can't resist voicing my opinions. If you don't, I'm really happy for you. I'm confident 99% of commenters didn't know Steve Jobs personally. If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created.

protomyth 15y ago
Nope, didn't know him personally, but his works gave me great joy and changed my career path. It is in some / most people's nature to care about those we will never meet, and I have more reasons for caring about this soul then some killed in various tragedies. I would imagine some on HN also have similar touchstones or perhaps have lost or almost lost people to cancer. Things like this are close to home for many.
muhfuhkuh 15y ago
"If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created." He was a visible figure in people's lives. To attach emotion to someone present in your life, even if they aren't physically there, even if you don't know them in any intimate way, is natural. I recently saw a documentary where elephants walked by the skeletal remains of fallen elephants along their water migration path and touch their trunk to them in what observers deem a tribute. They likely don't even know the deceased. Would you call that a problem? That's the vexing thing about celebrity: Their seemingly open-book lifestyle (I know, he was a supremely private individual but, hey, Steve could've let anyone else do those keynotes and demos) lets us connect to them in ways that the celebrities cannot even fathom.
danilocampos 15y ago
> If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created. That's, uh, a... Penis thing to say. People form attachments to those they've never met because humanity doesn't require reciprocal contact for personal impact. I knew Jobs only through his work, words and passion. I make my salary, doing a job I absolutely love, because of things he decided had to be built. I will endlessly be in his debt for the world he helped create and the example he so consistently set. His passing tears at me more than I ever would have guessed. It is not a problem I created. It's a man who earned my respect and admiration, gone. Forever. That is something so profoundly difficult for me to process, entire systems of ritual and belief were created thousands of years ago in an attempt to address the helplessness. Human impermanence is hard.
- jarek 15y ago
  > That's, uh, a... Penis thing to say. Yes. Doesn't make it any less true.
  - bmelton 15y ago
    No offense, but it doesn't make particularly MORE true either. That humans have emotions isn't a solvable problem, or generally, even a problem at all. It's those emotions that allow us to strive for more, that allow us to love those that are close to us, that allow us to form long and lasting relationships, that allow us the compassion for charity and the will to help the world. In some cases, yeah, it causes us to perhaps have fondness, or perceived attachment to someone we haven't met. Regardless, many view Jobs as an inspirational figure. I personally know of more than one successful entrepreneur who would say that something Steve Jobs did was their motivation for starting a company, or excelling at what they did, or gave them the insight that made their company more successful. I myself am not an overly sentimental person, but I recognize that "If his death is difficult for them, it's a problem they themselves have created." is a line of completely trite bullshit. Sympathy isn't a problem, and even if it were, it likely isn't one any of the people could have avoided making, even had they so consciously chosen to try.
  - danilocampos 15y ago