Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Steve Jobs, Cognitive Scientist

With the very recent passing of Steve Jobs, we stop to remember what he has done in our world. Although he generally was not labeled as such, I believe he was an innovator of our field, cognitive science. He and the other original members of Apple Inc. believed in a world of personal computing, of the user being one of the masses rather than the programming elite.

Cognitive science is not only thinking about the brain: it is also understanding the human race. We study language, culture, psychology, philosophy, neuroscience and computer science among others. In our classes at Oswego State we learn how to use technology to study the mind. We learn some of the whys of humanity.

What Jobs and Apple worked towards was a unification of humanity through technology, and the collective mind to create new technologies. Apple computers were some of the first ones with graphical user interfaces that the average user could understand. That commitment to the human continued until his death. Only pick up an iPhone and you know what to do. Through semiotics, design, and an understanding of the desires of the users Jobs saw technology that anyone could use.

When someone asks me what I could possibly do with my majors, I tell them I'm going to work at Google, Apple, or Microsoft. I know that what we do with cognitive science is what Steve Jobs did, and what he did was change the world.

5 comments:

  1. I think Jobs thing was to just keep things simple, which obviously worked for him. You said you want to work at Google, Apple, or Microsoft, my question to you is what exactly is it that you want to do there?

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  2. Do you believe people such as Steve Jobs understand and know that the work they are doing is identical to the work of a Cognitive Scientist?

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  3. You envision yourself working for huge, influential companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. What specific types of work would you be doing for these companies coming from a cognitive science background?

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  4. What kind of jobs (specifically) do you think are available for a student graduating college with a degree in Cognitive Science?

    ~Josh

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  5. Like you said, Jobs changed the world with his inventions. Do you think such increase in technological developments have also negatively effected society rather than positively? If yes, how so?

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