Can anybody sum up what his main achievements are?
John Nash Has Died
221–230 of 265 posts
Re: John Nash Has Died
#222Very sad. The non-wearing of seatbelts in taxis is something I'm acutely aware of at the moment as I'm in Bogota, Colombia, where taxis very rarely have seatbelts in the back seats and driving conditions are erratic.
In my experience, i.e. just the people I've met (mostly in their mid-20s), locals here don't care. In the rare cases seatbelts are available, they don't wear them, and they even laugh off my suggestions to do so. The taxi drivers generally do wear them in their front seat, but I've also noticed them going without.
It's very strange and infuriating to me that not wearing a seatbelt in taxis seems to just be the culture here. I'm from the UK so wearing a seatbelt has always been a natural instinct. It's such a simple, low-cost action that can have such a high payoff in the event of a crash. It just seems obviously a better strategy to wear one than to not, but maybe that's based on my points system where fitting in with the traditional, 'done thing' weights much lower than trying to optimise my personal safety.
I've noticed this in other Latin American countries too, in particular Brazil. In Brazil if I remember correctly the taxis did actually have seatbelts fairly often, but locals (again, just people I met in their 20s) don't wear them. Indeed, when I suggested a friend buckle up in a taxi doing 80 km/h on a city road, I was told something like "that's not the Brazilian way". I was absolutely dumbfounded!
Back in Bogota, one interesting side point is that Uber cars generally do have seatbelts, and are in much better condition than the typical street minicabs. As a result, when I can order an Uber, I do. I think it's a very interesting thing that's happening there - the Uber cars aren't just disrupting on price, but on standards too. The latter is far easier than the former here, I'm sure, and despite the non-seatbelt-wearing culture you'd imagine it has to appeal to enough people to give them a competitive edge, which may go some way to pushing up standards all round.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not enjoy your implication that the only way I could possibly disagree with you is if I'm ignorant.
(Shrug) I don't enjoy your implication that you should be allowed to re-engineer society singlehandedly. We'll have to agree to disagree.
I'm pretty sure I implied nothing of the sort.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#224Such 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'm going to start buckling up in cabs now. Same as wearing earplugs at clubs, you might get weird looks, but it's better to be uncool than dead (or living with tinnitus).
Pretty much everyone I know that goes out to a club regularly wears earplugs. People are unlikely to even notice if you are wearing a pair of musicians earplugs.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#225Re: John Nash Has Died
#226Re: John Nash Has Died
#227Such 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…
In Bangkok I pay a premium to use Uber, because their seatbelts always work; the regular cabs here never seem to have them. As someone else mentioned, this might be a British thing, as it's completely inconceivable to me that you wouldn't put a seatbelt on if one was available.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also never understood the social norm of not wearing a seatbelt in a taxi, but went along with it for my first few years living in New York. I think the mention of "some dude yelling in some foreign language" is unnecessary. A person's native tongue says nothing of their intellectual capacity, nor of their ability to safely navigate a city.
" in some foreign language" is indeed irrelevant, I don't believe the "some dude yelling" (talking) is however. I've read different studies that suggest talking on the phone even while using bluetooth is severely distracting for the driver. Andedotally, I've been in cars with taxi drivers who were on the phone when I got in and talked for the entire ride, whilst navigating a city traffic, while also looking at their…
For me, "yelling in some foreign language" is more disturbing because I don't know the argument he/she is trying to make. Is the yelling/frustration warranted or not?
Granted, when you're yelling at people on the street, it's likely roadrage and unwarranted in any language but, admittedly, that sense of rationality is slightly depressed in this situation.
Re: John Nash Has Died
#229I initially came to hear about Nash through the movie, and Crowe did such a wonderful job!
I never heard of game theory before, and it piqued my interest, and it is quite amazing how much watching a movie did to increase my knowledge!
Re: John Nash Has Died
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
To top it off, getting in a taxi in NY for instance is a bit scary. The first time in one it was a wild ride. I think people expect taxi drivers to get in less accidents because they are so seasoned. They can come within inches of other vehicles and dangers but with an indy 500 driving skill. It seems like driving on the edge like this would encourage others to use a seat belt but alas when you have 3 people piled in…
My kid's school bus requires seat belts (in NJ). Maybe because he's in kinder garden, but they really take the time to do it for all kids.
Funny enough, physically school buses are the vehicles that require seat belts the least. But politically probably the easiest to require seat belts in.