Reading excerpts from Walter Isaacson's recent biography of Steve Jobs, I am struck by Jobs' affinity to Zen Buddhism and his strongly held belief of experiential widsom over empirical analysis. Based on his early travels to India, he felt that the people in the countryside did not use their intellect like Westerners do, but, instead, used their intuition. Wabi-sabi parallels the basic concept of Zen Buddhism in that intuitive insight is considered a more powerful force than intellectual deliberation.
Steve Jobs seems to have been a practitioner of the wabi-sabi aesthetic and worldview as he hailed the power of intuition in contrast to what he called, "Western rational thought." One wonders the true influence of Japan's unique culture on Steve Jobs and if indeed, he ever traveled to this amazing land.
--RL
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