Video: "Sound vs. Noise" Chopped segment 16:20-17:57 of the original
"Talks of Shunryu Suzuki" Youtube video
Although, I am not extremely familiar with the beliefs and overall structure of the Buddhist religion, in the “Talks of Shunryu Suzuki” video, I observed a key element of Zen/Buddhism directly relating to the lifestyle Steve Jobs lived himself. Suzuki spoke of a blue jay analogy emphasizing the Buddhists understanding of a major difference between what is considered noise versus what is considered sound. He defined noise as being a bothersome object that disturbs or interrupts the human’s way of thinking. Versus sound, which is to be considered more of a practice; or, a primary objective matter that transforms into a subjective matter in which the human is not disturbed by the noises they are hearing but rather believe those noises to be coming from his or her heart. Ultimately, one is able to understand everything about the noise because they have subconsciously transformed those noises into the sound, and the sound is who they have become.
"Talks of Shunryu Suzuki" Youtube video
Although, I am not extremely familiar with the beliefs and overall structure of the Buddhist religion, in the “Talks of Shunryu Suzuki” video, I observed a key element of Zen/Buddhism directly relating to the lifestyle Steve Jobs lived himself. Suzuki spoke of a blue jay analogy emphasizing the Buddhists understanding of a major difference between what is considered noise versus what is considered sound. He defined noise as being a bothersome object that disturbs or interrupts the human’s way of thinking. Versus sound, which is to be considered more of a practice; or, a primary objective matter that transforms into a subjective matter in which the human is not disturbed by the noises they are hearing but rather believe those noises to be coming from his or her heart. Ultimately, one is able to understand everything about the noise because they have subconsciously transformed those noises into the sound, and the sound is who they have become.
Steve Jobs exemplifies a deliberate “sound” to his employees that he expects each individual to live up to. Jobs is constantly seen throughout his biography creating a reality distortion field in which Wozniack described to be, “…an illogical vision of the future, such as telling me that I could design the Breakout game in just a few days. You realize that it can’t be true, but somehow he makes it true” (Isaacson 118). Jobs’s was able to get people to accomplish tasks solely because of his direct business pursuing, blunt personality like approach.
As described by Debi Coleman (the early Mac team manager who took over Apple manufacturing), “[Jobs created] a self-fulfilling distorting….you did the impossible, because you didn’t realize it was impossible” (Isaacson 119). Isaacson further emphasized that Jobs’s categorized things via a perspective in which he held a world view (or expressed a “noise”) where people were either “enlightened” or an “asshole” and their work was either “the best” or “totally shitty” (118).
Jobs’s specifically gauged a person on where his or her state of mind lied based upon who could take the vulgarities and often mean things that he said as noise and use those words instead as a sound or an inspiration to develop what they themselves thought to be impossible. As portrayed within his interviews of clients, Jobs specifically asked one interviewer in particular if he was a virgin or not. To the average individual, this would be an appalling noise to hear as well as quite disturbing and shocking at the same time. Rather, digging deeper into the self-belief system of Jobs, one could say he was solely doing so in order to reach in and cultivate his new beginner (being the interviewee’s and potential employee’s mind) to see his thought process and whether or not his mindset fit the ideal standard Jobs’s was looking for to help run his company. The interviewee himself directly stated to Jobs’s, “I guess I’m not the right guy [for the job] (Isaacson 143). Jobs’s was trying to analyze the critical thinking skills of his interviewees determining how they could think and react in unexpected situations. Jobs’s tried to decipher whether these candidates for the job were able to tap into his “sound “perspective, in which if one was disturbed, did they have the innovation techniques and skills necessary to deal with their worst fears and approach things as a beginner willing to develop a primitive understanding of what needs to be done; versus, accepting the words coming out of Jobs’s mouth as an awful gesture disturbing their mindset and ultimate approach to getting the job requirements done that were being asked of them.
Jobs wanted employees who could overall follow his sound. He wanted people who could be “hypnotized” by his reality distortion in which they would become what he said they would and would accomplish what he said that they could achieve. Jobs’s wanted his employees to run by the beat of his own drum in regards to his conception that you are what you think greatly influenced by the Zen/Buddhist lifestyle that he pursued. If he could get his employees to know they would achieve something, even though they thought it to be impossible, they were no longer disturbed by thoughts of I can’t; but, ultimately they gained the inner heartfelt feeling that they can, they will, and there would be no other option but to accomplish that goal because they became the measurement of the goals success themselves.
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