John Nash Has Died • Hacker News Board

Re: John Nash Has Died

#151

Post by BlackDeath3 » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:12 PM UTC

tyfon wrote: post #18

po wrote: post #6

Such a tragic loss. Like many people, I never wore a seatbelt while riding in a taxi. I'm not really sure why, it just seemed somehow to be the social norm and I went along with it. Then one day, my co-worker and his girlfriend were both severely injured while in an accident crossing the east river in manhattan. Ever since then, I've gotten in the habit of using my seatbelt while in a taxi, car, bus, or whatever. Som…

I _always_ buckle up, even in bus. I've gotten looks from taxi drives in south Europe for this, they treat it as an insult. I feel it's better to insult than be dead. Afaik since you get fined quite severely in Norway where I live (and most of Europe) if you don't wear a seat belt, the rate of use is much higher than the US. He will be missed. Hopefully it can put focus on such a simple thing to save lives.

>they treat it as an insult

I treat that as an insult. As if their ego is more important than me not being launched through a fucking windshield.

Re: John Nash Has Died

#152

Post by triangleman » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:20 PM UTC

gus_massa wrote: post #47

mmrasheed wrote: post #22

A person who I knew nothing about became one of the inspiring figures in my life after I watched the movie, "A beautiful mind". I am neither a mathematician, nor an economist. So, I didn't get to dig his work deep. But, I often use his struggle with schizophrenia and his recovery as an example of unlimited potential of human mind.

Nice movie, but remember to read the diff with the real life: [spoiler alert] http://monkeymigraine.blogspot.com.ar/2007/12/beautiful-lie-...

I just watched the movie last night for the 2nd time, thinking that I was in for a completely fictionalized story, because I had uncritically accepted sensational blog titles like the one you linked to.

Turns out, the movie is a rather good depiction of the struggles that Nash went through. He published a groundbreaking paper as a grad student, married Alicia, suffered from schizophrenia, and learned how to manage it, eventually going back to Princeton as a damaged but wiser man, and worthy of a Nobel prize in economics. All of these major points were covered in the movie.

Nash himself found the movie to be close to reality, except that it may have suggested that he went back on newer antipsychotics--see the interview he gave to a Nobel reporter 10 years ago[1]. In fact, the movie was much more fair to his point of view than he admitted in the interview.

Some details of his life were left out, but his reputation as the "Ghost of Fine Hall" was preserved. I see the film as a fair presentation of his life, especially compared to the Hollywood standard for "true stories"--see The Hurricane, American Gangster, JFK, etc.

[1] http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=429

Re: John Nash Has Died

#153

Post by ics » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

murbard2 wrote: post #130

po wrote: post #6

Such a tragic loss. Like many people, I never wore a seatbelt while riding in a taxi. I'm not really sure why, it just seemed somehow to be the social norm and I went along with it. Then one day, my co-worker and his girlfriend were both severely injured while in an accident crossing the east river in manhattan. Ever since then, I've gotten in the habit of using my seatbelt while in a taxi, car, bus, or whatever. Som…

I think it's because people tend to associate the cabs with the slow speeds involved in the city. I typically don't buckle up in Manhattan, except on the FDR or the West Side Highway, or if we're going above 30 mph. For those unfamiliar with the NJ turnpike, where the accident happened, the speed limit is 65 mph and people drive like maniacs. Definitely a place where you want your seatbelt one.

Agreed. Another recent incident on the turnpike was the crash that injured Tracy Morgan (comedian) and killed another. If the NJ Turnpike isn't the place to wear a seatbelt then I don't know where is.

Re: John Nash Has Died

#154

Post by triangleman » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:26 PM UTC

rglovejoy wrote: post #107

Obligatory xkcd: http://xkcd.org/182/

OK this is probably the best evidence for the inaccuracy of A Beautiful Mind.

Re: John Nash Has Died

#155

Post by dluan » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:27 PM UTC

John Nash's 1950 thesis: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ze91a751btm2lkr/PhD_Thesis_John_Na...

I've stumbled on it a while ago, now is a fitting time to share it. Thanks John Nash for teaching me how to cut a cake, and many other things in life.

Re: John Nash Has Died

#156

Post by [deleted] » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:29 PM UTC

jimworm wrote: post #118

higherpurpose wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I really like cars which make a sound if you don't have your seatbelt on. That way they don't give you the choice of not wearing the seatbelt and it's how it should be . This is why in such cases I strongly believe governments should force companies to enable something like that. The social norms are stupid and this would give you the excuse to ignore them without giving it a second thought (hey, the car i…

There are seatbelt buckles made specifically for silencing those alarms, and boy are they popular in China. http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=43123079687

[deleted]

Re: John Nash Has Died

#157

Post by hudell » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:47 PM UTC

D-Coder wrote: post #126

tyfon wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I _always_ buckle up, even in bus. I've gotten looks from taxi drives in south Europe for this, they treat it as an insult. I feel it's better to insult than be dead. Afaik since you get fined quite severely in Norway where I live (and most of Europe) if you don't wear a seat belt, the rate of use is much higher than the US. He will be missed. Hopefully it can put focus on such a simple thing to save lives.

"They treat it as an insult" — also some US drivers. I just say "Oh, I trust _your_ driving, it's the drunks and crazies out there that I don't trust."

I've heard of people treating that as an insult, but I've had the opposite experience: I've had taxy drivers asking me to use the seatbelt when I forgot to.

Re: John Nash Has Died

#158

Post by unclebucknasty » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:52 PM UTC

vinceguidry wrote: post #127

kristofferR wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your language is pretty inflamatory, but you do actually have a legitimate point. Would it really be better if they died a slow death due to disease (there's really no such thing as "dying of old age", despite the myth)? Yet, it's understandable why people get angry when people start philosophizing about death when someone dies.

> (there's really no such thing as "dying of old age", despite the myth)? There is. I was talking to a buddy of mine, whose in his seventies, says that some people don't really have anything wrong with them, just that everything slowly stops working. Nothing to point to as wrong, just a slow decline. > Yet, it's understandable why people get angry when people start philosophizing about death when someone dies. My big…

>biggest problem with secular culture is that we've lost a certain perspective and ability to handle our own mortality.

Dylan Thomas might have disagreed.

Re: John Nash Has Died

#159

Post by efm » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:56 PM UTC

Terry Tao says they were returning from the Abel prize ceremony: https://plus.google.com/+TerenceTao27/posts/F6dLkQietJg

Re: John Nash Has Died

#160

Post by dsacco » Sun, May 24, 2015, 7:57 PM UTC

He was a beautiful human being, I wish he had been wearing a seatbelt.

Maybe when we have self-driving cars men and women like John and Alicia won't have to be killed in "accidents" caused by people who don't understand how to drive without murdering others.