A beautiful mind

Some days ago I watched the movie "A beautiful mind", based on the life of the economist and mathematician John Nash. Nash developed the "game theory" in the sixties, what completely changed economics and helped other researches better understand the economic reality. Nash equilibrium of the markets is used to explain the Cold War, disco dancing or collusive markets; it is an amazingly powerful tool. He is probably one of the most important economist of the XX century.

But, there is always a but, he suffered from mental illness. He had delusions, which made him some kind of "weirdo". The movie tells us (in quite a far too dramatic way, not the real one, but exaggerated) how he realized about his delusions, how he could get over them and how he managed to be awarded a Nobel Prize, with the help of his wife.

He had a powerful and bright mind but his own mind was playing dirty tricks on him. He was unable to understand people due to his awesome intelligence and to enjoy the real world due to his delusions. He applied logic and mathematics to everything in his life and that is why he felt so isolated (first delusion: his roommate Charles). He also felt his work was useless since it was supervised by people not as clever as him (second delusion: Parcher).

His mind was both a gift and a nightmare for him, and he was probably much more unhappy than a man without such a bright mind.