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Re: A Bio And A Movie: Nash.



The movie is fantastic. They skillfully let you see things from the point
of view of John Nash. Later they show you things from outside, and you are
really surprised. Certain elements are not what they seem from the very
beginning. Everyone should see it.

The DVD version is worth renting or owning as it has interviews with Nash
and with the movie creator. Apparently some aspects of Nash's madness can
not be recalled by him, so the movie must be somewhat fictional. Nash is
currently a working mathematician and has his own web site. In the
interview he feels that he is making up for the many years that he lost to
madness. Some of the fictional elements are more by implication. For
example the movie points out that Nash and his wife still live in the same
city. Yes it is true, but they divorced. After the divorce she still tried
to help him and he lived with her as a boarder for a while. Apparently he
also had UFO delusions that were not mentioned in the film.

It has been given high praise for treating both mathematics and insanity
realistically. Unfortunately most movie treatments of either of these have
been shallow. "Cracking the Code" about Alan Touring played by Derek Jacoby
is an excellent film, but it dwells mainly on his personal life and treats
his brilliant mathematical work very lightly. It certainly makes the case
for tolerance towards individuals with different sexual orientations, and
shows how barbaric people can be. I rented it because the misleading title
implied it might have some interesting insights into what they did, and
because I like Jacoby's acting. Another good movie "Enigma" places the
fictional hero at the center of the British effort to crack the German
enigma machine. Turing who is the real genius at the center appears as an
incidental stuttering fop. Enigma however had much more information about
the mathematical process involved in cracking the code. As far as I can
tell it also had a good portrayal of the computer that Turing used, and it
also accurately portrayed some of the detective work that was needed. It
mentioned the Polish scientists who originally worked on the problem, but
like most accounts it downplayed their contributions.

After looking at the web bio for a second time, I was struck by one thing.
Nash seems to consider that he returned to sanity by applying rational
thought. I doubt that this is entirely true, because schizophrenia has so
far been very resistant to non drug therapy. However there is a form of
therapy which is effective in certain types of disorders such as depression.
It is called "cognitive therapy" and seems to produce the same type of brain
chemistry changes that can be induced by antidepressants. It is also very
successful in changing the behavior of problem youths.

Cognitive therapy has a big connection to PER because many of the techniques
used by both are similar. There seems to be a convergence between
psychology and science education research. Psychology and some brain
studies actually show why the PER techniques work. However most PER types
are ignorant of these connections and the psychologists are ignorant of PER.
Am I the only one who has noticed these connections? Just by paying
attention the NY Times science section and reading all articles it is
possible to come up with some very interesting connections. Then with a
little research these connections can be confirmed.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


My son has bought a movie DVD, he tells me. It's called
something like "A Beautiful Mind".
I haven't seen it yet, but he recommends it. And he left me a
relevant Nobel bio to read. This, I can recommend.
It's by John F. Nash, Jr.

<http://www.nobel.se/economics/laureates/1994/nash-autobio.html>

Meanwhile, I was laughing with my wife at a free weekend satellite
TV offering on Starz called, "America's Sweethearts".

Such a schizophrenic mix of entertainments, but both ringing with a
shimmering honesty of their diverse genres.
Enjoy!

Brian Whatcott
Altus OK Eureka!

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC,
NAU or the AAPT.


This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.