Steve Jobs on Boredom

Steve Jobs has been much on the minds of many since his death last week. What made him who he was? What in his past paved the way for his vision and his ability to realize it? Wired writer Steven Levy has posted an insightful piece on Jobs and we were particularly interested in what he had to say here: Jobs usually had little interest in public self-analysis, but every so often he'd drop a clue to what made him tick. Once he recalled for me some of the long summers of his youth. I'm a big believer in boredom," he told me. Boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity, he explained, and "out of curiosity comes everything." The man who popularized personal computers and smartphones -- machines that would draw our attention like a flame attracts gnats -- worried about the future of boredom. "All the [technology] stuff is wonderful, but having nothing to do can be wonderful, too." The intersection of Steve Jobs and the importance of downtime is also one that College Admission contributor Denise Clark Pope of Stanford University's School of Education often uses as a thought experiment to provide an "Aha!" moment for students and parents. In Chapter 3, The 9th and 10th Grades: Before You Begin…, Pope notes:  “Imagine if Steve Jobs had no time to tinker in his garage because he had to go to piano lessons and SAT prep class and art class and was on a travel baseball team that had practice five times a week and away games on the weekend.” What if he hadn’t had the downtime to dream up Apple, design the Mac, create Pixar Studios, and put an iPod in every backpack? High school is a time for discovering interests and developing natural talents. But students can't do that if they are overscheduled with activities they -- or their parents -- "think" they need to construct a resume for college. Here's to boredom… And the other lessons Steve Jobs' life may hold for us.

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