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Comment by digitalengineer | Hacker News Reader

Didn't Yo-Yo Ma perform a private concert at Steve Jobs' house? I think it was in the biography.

Steve was a huge fan apparently. Did a quick search to confirm, found this excerpt from his bio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj4b8oaV0MI

Huh, dunno. I haven't gotten around to reading the biography yet. I wouldn't be surprised; they seemed to have a mutual respect for each-other.

Just found out that he performed at the memorial service though.

"When Jobs was ill, Yo Yo Ma came to visit, bringing his 1733 Stradivarius cello and performing a concert in the Jobs’ living room. Jobs, who had been moved to tears by the music, told him, “Your playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.” He made Ma promise to play at his funeral".

Thank you for sharing that.

> “Your playing is the best argument I’ve ever heard for the existence of God, because I don’t really believe a human alone can do this.”

Which is kind of an insult to Yo Yo Ma.

I would not think so. My impression is many artists (musicians too) feel inspired by a higher spirit, so to speak. Personally, I am not a believer, but I understand how it can feel when one is.

As a musician, I would view that as the ultimate compliment.

I wasn't saying it wouldn't be received as a complement, after all, it's just as likely that it was offered in all sincerity. I'm just saying that the literal implication could be construed as an insult.

Reworded: "I'm so blown away by what I'm experiencing that it's hard for me to believe it's even humanly possible, what you're doing."

I can't imagine anyone taking this as an insult. If that person exists, I hope I never end up in the unfortunate situation of paying them an incredible compliment.

Reworded: "I'm so blown away by what I'm experiencing that I think there's a very real possibility that you don't deserve full credit for this achievement."

If you're ever in the position to give someone a hyper-superlative complement, you could simply use one of the many hundreds of constructions that don't involve doubting the skill of the recipient.

Addendum to your rewording "... BECAUSE I'M SO MOVED THAT BEFORE TODAY I'D HAVE THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN A FUCKING DEITY TO DO WHAT YOU JUST DID."

Edit:

Further, I don't believe in God but I also don't believe I've ever felt I deserved "full credit" for an achievement in the way you're describing.

Calm down mate, I'm merely disagreeing with you. I do understand your point, and I do think that your interpretation makes for a reasonable hypothesis, but it's my opinion that it's less plausible given the exact wording originally provided.

That's not at all what he was implying.

I don't remember the biography mentioning a private concert at his house (wouldn't surprise me) but Jobs did personally ask Yo Yo Ma to play at his funeral.

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