¶ … Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard [...] John Nash's personal adaptation to his life. What human needs did he have difficulty in satisfying? How did his personal solutions to his problems explain both his genius and mental illness? Describe his role as a scientist and moral philosopher. John Nash's extraordinary life surmounted odds that many would find insurmountable. This is a testament to both his mental illness and the genius of his capacities.
JOHN NASH AND HIS ADAPTATION
John Nash's mind could be nothing other than "beautiful" for him to survive and thrive in his tortured interior environment, while continuing his scientific and academic duties. It is clear from the beginning of the film Nash is not your "normal" student -- his mind simply works differently. He sees things completely in his own way, from going to class, to problems written on the windows of his room, and it is not just imaginary things. He has the ability to see complex equations and patterns in his mind, and they fascinate him. Here then is an early clue as to how he later adapts to his physical problems. He does not attack problems the same way the other students do; he becomes obsessed by them until he figures them out. Once he gets an idea in his head (and here is another clue to his success), he must follow it through until he has solved it, and this was a continuing pattern throughout his life. It is this obsession which helped him solve the mathematical problems and disprove the basic ideas of Adam Smith, and it is with equal tenacity that he solves the problems of his day-to-day existence...
His mind is also powerful enough to ignore what his eyes tell him is there, while his
brain still sees the patterns and equations that make up the most important part of his life and work, the
mathematics which make him who he is. In this, he is part scientist, and part magician, constantly attempting to recognize what is real and what is an illusion in his day-to-day life. The film alludes to this near the end, when the stranger approaches to tell him he has won the
Nobel Prize. Despite his
success in adapting to his day-to-day existence, he must confer with a "rational" student to make sure the stranger really exists before he will accept his as real in his own mind.
Nash is an illustration of natural adaptation, or
naturalism, at its best. As you said, "Adaptation is reflected in the type of
narrative that we construct as scientists and moral philosophers as we go about satisfying our need and solving life's problems." Nash has adapted his thought processes (his interior narratives) to ignore what is wrong in the patterns of his life, while continuing to recognize the patterns that are correct and logical. He manages to teach for years, and touch his…
