“Questioning the Foundations: A Moment from A Beautiful Mind”

Recently I am going through a movie based on a true story named A Beautiful Mind. In this movie it shows the real struggles of the mathematician John Nash, who gives the concept of the "Nash equilibrium".

A picture from "A Beautiful Mind"

Now I am telling you why I am talking about that, because

Nowadays most of us — even me — feel that whatever we are studying is applied in today’s world, and also that whatever someone said or wrote earlier was based on some circumstances.

But after watching this movie I feel that we need to question things, no matter how great an academician, scientist, or mathematician has discovered or proven them.

In the movie, when John Nash was searching for a useful idea to write his paper, his friend (who was imagined because of Nash’s struggles with paranoid schizophrenia) replied to him, “You can get it from matter.” This is a wonderful line. 

In today’s world we think a lot about practical knowledge and experience — that is true — and if we look into our surroundings, whatever they are, we find so many things and ideas through the critical lens of our brain.

I found this in a scene in the movie that starts at 20:24 seconds. This is from the time when they (Nash and his friends) were at Princeton University in September 1947.

He said in that particular scene: “If we all go for the blonde, we block each other. Not a single one of us is going to get her. So, then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because nobody likes to be the second choice. What if no one goes for the blonde? We don’t get in each other’s way and we don’t insult the other girls. That’s the only way we win. That’s the only way we all get laid."

 Adam Smith said: "The best result comes from everyone in the group doing what is best for himself."

John Nash said: "But the best result will come from everyone in the group doing what’s best for himself and the group.” And he said this is governing dynamics. After this scene, he proves Smith wrong, and someone questioned him: “Do you realise this files question150 years old of economic theory?” He replied, “Yes, it does.” And he said very quickly that Adam Smith needs revision.

This gives a wonderful lesson to me: when I am thinking about things that I feel I cannot do, that is the point when I need to look into the real matter.

For instances, our economy worries about growth and its rate — but what about its real growth? Is the matter of our economy also developing with its capacities and capabilities? Yes, people can prove it by using data as a tool, but do we only need to look into data? What about those who are not counted and who do not come under these data sets?

Then how can we say that our economy is growing, when everyone is not even included in the data? And if we observe closely, the growth we talk about is only the growth of those who were already economically rich.

These things especially trigger me and give me a new lens — what am I looking for, and why?