Movie Critique on a Beautiful Mind

¶ … 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 and creates a new and meaningful life around them.

He sees people that are not there, so of course his mind sees things differently. 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 students with his unique style of instruction, which is part haughty aristocrat, and part child in love with the science of the equations he scribbles so quickly on the board. He can solve the problems in his mind because of his mind. The way it works causes his problems and solves them in equal measure. He has literally adapted by solving the problem of his life, while still satisfying his great need to teach and continue doing research.

Philosophically, Nash is a true leader in unique thought processes that lead to adaptation and solving problems, for he has solved the ultimate problem -- life. Philosophically, there is nothing more important than solving the meaning of life. Nash did not give in to his demons; he ignored them, and so survived, and in time thrived in his life, making him not only a great scientist, but also an equally great philosopher.

Nash always had difficulty in social situations, he was ill at ease and gauche with real people, and perhaps that is why he had to invent his closest friends in his mind. His basic social needs went unmet, and so they were "solved" in his mind. With imaginary friends, he could be himself. He could also devote all, or nearly all, his time to his problem solving, rather than wasting time with social obligations that meant nothing to him. It was not until he met and married that he really had to continually interact socially, and that is when his mind rebelled, and created problems. He solved them scientifically, as he solved all the important problems that faced him in his teaching, and his life.

It is both in spite of and because of his mind that Nash won the Nobel Prize in 1994, and perhaps he would not have had the ability to see things so clearly, and solve his scientific problems if his mind had not been what it was. Scientifically, it was brilliant, truly a "beautiful mind." Socially and morally, it made no sense; it was a sick mind that could not reach out to others, only inside itself for comfort.