LOGINSadly, it is oftentimes the case that our various degrees of separation and the oft untenable claims to fame seem to come out of the woodwork in a tumultuous cacophony just after the deaths of great men and women. In an attempt to distance myself from this rather distasteful trend, I’ll do my best to underline the inconsequential nature of my relationship to John Nash and his family. The Nashes were indeed my neighbors for about the first ten years of my life. Of course, I didn’t know him as the Nobel Prize winning economist or the mathematician of game theory. In 2001, when Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind was being shot in Princeton, the whole town went a little crazy with John Nash fever (however I was more interested in trying to get Paul Bettany’s email address, which is a true story). Undoubtedly star-struck, I couldn’t make the connection between Mr. Nash, my sweet, elderly neighbor, and the Hollywood glitz that had descended upon the erstwhile sleepy town of Princeton. Even long after its release, I had trouble making a tangible connection between the film and the man who’s porch I’d stand on and ask him for candy on Halloween.
Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the Nashes’ death is the inglorious manner in which it took place. Having just received Norway’s Abel Prize for Mathematics, the couple had arranged to take a car service from Newark airport, but its absence forced them to take a taxi back home to Princeton. The driver, Tarek Girgis, had only just recently become a cabby, previously having driven an ice cream truck.
Now bare with me, this might seem like a peculiar article for a blog about the environment, but I promise the connection is there. Is there a real tragedy in the case of John Nash? I think we all want to say there is, but we’re not exactly sure who to blame. We can hardly hold a grudge against the man for having failed to fasten his seatbelt in a New York City taxi cab, something I personally have done no more than three times, if that. Are we to blame the driver? In what most likely is a gesture of tremendous class and understanding, no charges are being filed against Tarek Girgis, who lost control of the vehicle, causing the collision. He and the other person injured in the accident suffered non-life-threatening injuries, which again begs the question: would the Nashes still be with us today had they been wearing seat-belts?
For me, the tragedy of John Nash’s demise is the tragedy of all humanity – that we are fallible and frail, inherently error-prone. We pride ourselves on our rationality and ability to make complex, difficult decisions. Au contraire! Even one of the most notable and inspirational poster boys for human rationality, having overcome one of the most harrowing chronic illnesses imaginable, the “mathematician of decision-making” no less, sometimes forgets to buckle his seat-belt. And for that he loses his life – yeesh, what cruel and unusual hand of cards to have been dealt. Camus et al. were right, death is absurd.
From this, you can jump to several conclusions. “Don’t feel bad about forgetting to recycle, or not wearing your seatbelt – we all make mistakes!” Or, “if the greatest are fallible too, what chance is there for us? There is no hope for humanity.” I don’t think I’m qualified to define the happy “middle ground” between these two camps, yet I think remembering the spectrum is important. Do me a favor: if you read any more articles on this web site or others about the environment or environmental issues, keep this question in the back of your mind. Can we do it? Can we really avoid self-destruction or are we doomed by our own fragility and imperfection?
Personally, I don’t think all hope is lost just yet, but who knows! Anyway, those questions have nothing to do with the way we grieve for John Nash and his wife Alicia. If for whatever reason they might be reading this article, I’d like to extend my sincere and regretful condolences to those whom they leave behind.
