A Beautiful Mind

A winner of eight Oscar nominations, A Beautiful Mind is about a guy who wins the
Nobel Prize for Economics. Though John Nash Jr. is actually a mathematician, his innovative
work in game theory guaranteed that economics would never be the same, and his 1994
Nobel Prize was well-deserved. Until today, the concept of Nash equilibrium is a vital tool in
understanding strategic behavior in economics.
John Nash is a mathematical genius who happens to have schizophrenia. His
principal diagnosis is that he has paranoid schizophrenia, one of the most disabling and
emotionally devastating illnesses known to man. There are no provisional diagnoses, which
can be ruled out or confirmed. Other conditions that may be the focus of the treatment for
John Nash is having problems with his social environment, education, and occupation.
According to the movie, there was this scene in a bar where we first encountered
John Nashs concept of game theory. Nash and his friends, also mathematics graduate
students, are sitting in a Princeton bar when five women enter, one of which is a strikingly
beautiful blonde. One of his friends quoted Adam Smith and advocates "every man for
himself", but Nash argues that a cooperative approach would lead to better chances of
success because doing so will anger the womans friends and the result will be that none of
the men will succeed in their romantic endeavors. He proposes a cooperative plan in which
the men all hit on the beautiful blondes less beautiful friends. (Brod, 2002). This is a
creative way to present an idea. Through this scene, we were actually able to slowly grasp
the idea of game theory. John Nash was wise enough to prove his point through this, it is
easily comprehensible and it explains the logic of oligopolys game theory.
The basic idea of the game theory is that a strategic situation can be thought of as a
game. Basically, it involves an analysis of different strategies when dealing with situations
where the outcome of a persons choice depends on the actions of the other person. In other
words, the success of one individual is a result to a loss of the other. For example, in the
game of chess, you cannot predict the success of one players moves without assessing the
moves of the other player. (Semania, 2011). That is the economic side of the movie. Aside
from that, the movie also focuses on the struggle of Nash as a schizophrenic patient where
his mental instability grows to uncontrolled extents and the lines between reality and
delusion begin to occur as his hallucinations take control of his life in every instant. All his
struggles as a mathematician, father and husband were clearly emphasized and how in the
end, he was able to survive, some others would classify his severe condition.

A Beautiful Mind is an inspiring story about triumph over schizophrenia, among the
most devastating and disabling of all mental disorders. A Beautiful Mind succeeds in
realistically describing the disturbed thinking, emotion, perception, and behavior that
characterizes the disorder, and shows the difficult task of management of and/or recovery
from the disorder. (Jaques, 2011).
John Nash is undeniably a genius but not perfect. He conquered a lot of challenges
in his life and one of these was schizophrenia. Nash was suddenly thrown into a whirlwind
of emotions and suspicions as he is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In a powerful
and emotional way, it shows us, the viewers, how difficult an illness like Schizophrenia can
be to not only face, but overcome, something that people today may not always realize. The
movie did not only have strong point and an important message, but it also delivered a
touching and sensitive, partly even amusing kind of way, with the help of powerful actors, a
great screenplay and even a few special effects to boost it up. (Woolfrey, 2002). It was such
an amazing turn of his life when he was able to recover and the way his wife handled things
even though their child was almost killed by John himself. It was a miracle that his sickness
did not worsen but it is truly tragic that he died in a car crash. He is definitely worth
remembering for his ideasespecially how the game theory has changed how markets
interact with each other. It was able to untangle the deadlock of oligopoly. The movie
stunningly highlights the value of a very clever man who gains the triumph of the souls and a
beautiful heart, mainly through the love, faith and strength of his lovely wife. For us, A
Beautiful Mind was not just a movie; it was life, a beautiful one, and a showpiece in every
sense of the word.
References:
Brod, A. (2002). An Economists Perspective on A Beautiful Mind. Retrieved from
https://web.uncg.edu/bae/documents/cber/articleTEdpB2FsuN.pdf
Jaques, P. (2011). Hub Pages. Retrieved from: http://hubpages.com/literature/ABEAUTIFUL-MIND-JOHN-NASH-AND-SCHIZOPHRENIA
Semania, S. (2011). Games. Retrieved from:
https://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/networks-book-ch06.pdf
Woolfrey, J. (2002). IMDB. Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/reviews
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