a brilliant madness
i just finished watching the pbs show american experience. the episode was a brilliant madness. it was the story of john nash, the mathemetcian that invented the “nash equilibrium” – basically modern “game theory” which revolutionalized economics – and his life with paranoid schizophrenia.
John Nash:One time, somebody suggested that I was a prodigy. Another time it was suggested that I should be called “bug brains,” because I had ideas, but they were sort of buggy or not perfectly sound.
it’s a fascinating story. it is interesting to me how many people classified as “genius” also had a “mental disorder”. what also is interesting to me is that we try to lock up these people with “mental disorders” – who have a natural way to escape reality or look at reality from a very different perspective – yet we spend an exhorbant amount of time trying to escape reality ourselves. let’s tune in to see how our “friends” are doing every thursday night! we read, watch tv, go to the movies… you get my drift.
don’t get me wrong, i’m all for entertainment and escaping reality for a bit, but it just seems to be odd and i wanted to mention it here to get it out. (also, i’m not saying that i’m limiting these devices as “entertainment” – they can have creative value and can help improve thought.) i’ve been thinking about this for a while, but finally got a topic to help to put it down into words… even though it’s only a few.
i’m turning 30 this month and i guess that’s brought on some existential thoughts and ideas, meaning of life, blah… all that crap. what the f*ck is “reality” anyway? well, anyway… i’m blabbering on now, so maybe i’ll post more later…