Get a Jobs
Since dying, Steve Jobs has been talked up and replayed. Nothing has been more popular than his 2005 commencement address to Stanford, in which he implored graduates, more or less, to follow their dreams. There have been quite a few responses to this, most of them gushing and appreciative, but a few critical. This may be the most succinct:
As an undergrad I was an art major. Frankly, few of my fellow art majors were talented enough to make a living at it, even after four (or more!) years of training. Sure they loved art, but in the immortal words of Tina Turner, “What’s love got to do with it?” “Find what you love and never settle for less” is an excellent recipe for frustration and poverty. “Reconcile yourself to the limits of your talent and temperament and find the most satisfactory compromise between what you love to do and what you need to do feed your children” is rather less stirring, but it’s much better advice. –Will Wilkinson
If you have a rare combination of talent and resources, you may be able to heed–and do–what Jobs says. You are more likely in the group with the other 98% of the population that more realistically resonates with Conan O’Brien’s 2011 commencement to Dartmouth.
