Reaction Paper: A Beautiful Mind (John Nash)

Cyrishlyn Aira E. Malubay

2013-18345

STS X2

Reaction Paper: A Beautiful Mind (John Nash)

            The film “A Beautiful Mind” is about John Nash, a scientist who won a Nobel Prize Award despite his complication in the mind which is Schizophrenia. It is a psychotic disorder in which a person is having delusions and hallucinations to the point that he/she cannot distinguish what is the reality from what is not. I think, the movie clearly showed not just the life of Nash, but also the difficulty of having Schizophrenia at the same time interacting with the people with this kind of disorder.

            John Nash for me is a great individual since he was able to overcome his disease. He learned to live with it and I think it was really hard for him. I also admire him because he was very hardworking. He has the characteristics that other scientists never had, making him one of the most unique among them. He was very original. He proved to everyone that it is the ability that matters, not the disability. He also proved that his illness was a not a hindrance in achieving his dreams. I learned from him that it should always be mind over matter. I admire him for his excellent focus on the things he want to discover and analyze. His curiosity pushed him to think more wisely. His condition really made him suffer but it also helped him in discovering his true identity. For me, he found his strength when he was very weak. I could also say that his imagination was huge, huge enough to create new people who didn't exist in the real world. I like his devotion to mathematics. He thought that math could solve everything in this world. He also related math in competing with other guys for girls. I also learned from him that we must not believe the ideas without acceptable proofs. We must be intelligent enough in choosing the things we should believe in. In the movie, he has an amazing and charming wife. I also admire his wife because she didn't give up on John Nash. She stayed by his side and remained strong despite the weakness of her husband. She showed the world the true meaning of love which only a few people really do understand. Their relationship didn't flow smoothly, but atleast they were still together until the end.

            The movie informed me about the condition of having Schizophrenia. I understand this illness more. The treatment given to John Nash was Insulin Shock which for me was very brutal. I saw the reaction of his wife when she watched his husband treated by it and it was very heartbreaking. I noticed that the delusions he had was the effect of his current condition. Like when he needed a friend, Charles came out and when he needed a remarkable job, William came out. When he needed a child, the little girl who used to be the niece of Charles came out. His needs influenced his delutions. I believe that the people with Schizophrenia are those that were always alone and stressed. Antisocial are prone with it. People with this kind of disorder deserve to live in a place where the citizens are more understanding since these people need social support. The movie for me was nice and very informative. It was boring at some points but I still like it. The most important thing I realized is about love. Love is the cure to almost all the difficult problems in the world. Like what Kris Aquino used to say, love love love!