Trying to understand Steve Jobs is an effort in futility I know, but I've never understood what he was thinking around this time. He refused to accept responsibility for his daughter when she was born in 1978, and even 5 years later, he was still questioning the accuracy of DNA paternity tests in Time Magazine and despite being a multi-millionaire, only grudgingly paying $500 a month for child support. But then he goes and names this computer after her, yet claims for years it wasn't named for her. Sure, he was pretty young (28) but that's hardly an excuse. Jobs wasn't just a pathological narcissist, he was just plain weird.
It was out of his control, foisted upon him. He didn't want the responsibility at the time, didn't want to focus his time on it. So for an immature 20 something, he took the route of deny deny deny to evade it. Lisa had noted with emphasis previously his pattern for having something less than no patience for things that took his time against his wishes (when he didn't want them to).
Combined with his emotional issues, rage, temper - it resulted in a manic back & forth. When he wanted to be magnanimous or kind, he could be, and it always had to be strictly on his terms and only if he didn't feel forced into it in any manner (to the far end of that spectrum, like he'd do it only when it was least expected, as an amplification device). If anything attempted to force his hand, or he perceived such, he very aggressively rebelled against it in all cases (you see that pattern over and over again throughout his history with people and business). It had to be on his terms, or there would be no terms at all. When he could reorient the context of Lisa (his daughter) to his terms, as and when he saw fit, then it became acceptable. You can see some of that behavior in action, in Lisa's description of what it was like to live with Steve when she was younger (my way or the highway atmosphere; he had to feel in control). He seemingly struggled to control his emotions for most of his life, which must have been wildly frustrating for someone like him. That lack of personal emotional control might explain a control over-compensation directed at other things in his life, the need to control everything else (and perhaps a behavior where if he felt in control of everything else around him, then he could keep the other things from setting off his emotions, which he couldn't control properly).
"It was out of his control, foisted upon him. He didn't want the responsibility at the time, didn't want to focus his time on it. So for an immature 20 something, he took the route of deny deny deny to evade it."
???
'20 something' is well into adultland.
You want a good job? You want to vote? You want to be treated as an adult?
Then there's no such thing as 'out of his control', really.
For someone who's ostensibly responsible enough to run an entire company, being responsible for one's children is well within reason.
Everyone has challenges in their personal lives, it's 'never a cakewalk' - ok - but there are really no excuses for Jobs here. Point blank.
You misunderstood what adventured wrote, it isn't that he (adventured) believes that it was out of Jobs' control, but that Jobs himself saw something happening (his daughter's birth) that he didn't control. Jobs wanted to be in control.
This is stuff Lisa herself has written about.
(also 20somethings can act very immature, as can 30somethings, 40somethings, etc and the opposite where teenagers act more mature than expected - it is that "expected" part that sometimes fails with people, not everyone is the same)
