Genius and Madness: A Review of A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Throughout history, genius has oftentimes been associated with madness. Figures such as Pablo Picasso are famous in the popular imagination for this. During of the 20th century, John Nash, a mathematical genius who struggled with paranoid schizophrenia, would rise, fall, and be resurrected with a Nobel Prize in the 1990s and his life would inspire an Academy Award-winning movie. That movie was based off of this biography written just a few years after Dr. Nash’s Nobel Prize announcement and, despite being over two decades old, offers an incredibly sympathetic portrait of the man and his life. If all you know about John Nash is his famous Nash Equilibrium or the movie, you don’t know the half of it.

John Nash Jr. was born to a middle class West Virginia family.  Always eccentric, John Nash would soon show an affinity for mathematics, which would take him to Princeton and MIT.  Dr. Nash’s contributions to mathematics includes his famous Nash Equilibrium, a key component of modern Game Theory that has had an enormous impact on economics and policy since the 1980s, as well as other theories.  However, at the pinnacle of his career, Dr. Nash’s eccentricities would devolve into madness as paranoid schizophrenia would rob him of over two decades of his life.  Miraculously, Dr. Nash would survive and be recognized for his contributions with the Nobel Prize in 1994.  Step by step, Ms. Nasar takes us through Dr. Nash’s life.  His ups and his downs, his eccentricities, his madness, are all well documented in these pages.  Indeed, Ms. Nasar offers an incredibly sympathetic picture of her subject.  Her descriptions of schizophrenia and how Dr. Nash’s particular case fits into the patterns of this particular mental illness, even how some might argue that Dr. Nash was bipolar rather than schizophrenic, are well documented.  This biography does a great deal to dispel the myths surrounding this particular mental illness.  But Ms. Nasar is never overly fawning over her subject.  She notes how arrogant Dr. Nash could be around his peers and she describes how he could be incredibly cruel and unthinking towards the people closest to him.  For those of you who only know about his marriage to Alicia Larde through the movie, know that their relationship was much more complicated than the movie makes it out to be.

Where this book is slightly deficient is in her descriptions of the mathematical theories Dr. Nash and his peers were researching.  Indeed, while she is willing to go into detail about schizophrenia and its effects, she shies away from giving a satisfactory explanation of any of the mathematics Dr. Nash and others were working on.  Not even the famous Nash Equilibrium, which won Dr. Nash the Nobel Prize, is explained well.  There are a few exceptions to this, such as Dr. Nash’s work on differential geometry and nonlinear differential equations is explained a little better, but not much.  Another issue with this book that is not the fault of Ms. Nasar is the books age.  First published in 1998, this book is almost 23 years old.  On top of that, Dr. Nash and Alicia lived another 17 years after publication, dying in a car crash together in 2015.  Thus, as good as this biography is, it is ultimately incomplete.  A new biography or at least an updated version of this book that would include a section on Dr. Nash’s later life and work would be most welcome.

Overall, this is an excellent biography.  Ms. Nasar is sympathetic in her portrait of Dr. Nash, but she never overlooks his flaws.  This does a great job of describing the ins and outs of Dr. Nash’s mental illness, but it does shy away from deeper explanations of the mathematical theories mentioned.  And as complete a life as this book represents, the last 17 years of Dr. Nash’s life and work are missing.  Whether you are a fan of the movie or just interested in great mathematical minds, this is a book worth picking up.

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Let's Talk About Race: A Review of Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As we see the resurgence of hate groups and extreme political rhetoric, discussing racism, implicit bias and how they affect us is more important than ever. In this book, Dr. Eberhardt explores a number of place, from the benign to the serious, where implicit bias affects how people respond to other people and to different scenarios.

What is fascinating about this book is how bias affects everyone and in rather predictable ways. Dr. Eberhardt uses stories, such as the undercover black police officer chasing after his own reflection, and the latest social research, some of which she has conducted herself, to show how bias affects people and society. Much of it is incredibly insightful and thought-provoking, but some of it is not. It's hit or miss.

The biggest issue though is that, after sharing all these stories and research, Dr. Eberhardt's concluding chapters don't really offer much in terms of how to address and overcome bias. Mostly, she seems to say that by pointing out bias and discussing it, things can get better. While I don't disagree with her, it doesn't feel like enough when facing the serious issues of bias that we face today. Furthermore, the way she presents her recommendations are easy to miss. They are tucked in and spread around part 3 of this book and not presented in a particularly systematized way. I would've preferred a more direct chapter on ways to address and overcome bias as, after all these stories about how bias is almost inescapable, it would be cathartic to have a section devoted to addressing and overcoming bias directly.

As bias, particularly along racial lines, better known and less socially acceptable, books like this are more important than ever. While it doesn't provide a good amount of advice on how to deal with bias, I would recommend this book for anyone who wishes to spark conversation about implicit bias, especially their own.

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"So Runs the Stereotype": A Review of Whistling Vivaldi

Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude M. Steele

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stereotypes may be the bases of many jokes and misunderstandings, but they can also be the bases for more negative consequences. That is the overall gist of this interesting look at stereotype threat, as it is labeled in the book, and how it can affect everyone negatively.

Prof. Steele has made his career as a social psychologist by researching just how negative stereotypes affect people in numerous ways. From academic and athletic performance to, perhaps, societal ills, Prof. Steele slowly builds up his case over the course of this entire book. Some of his research is incredibly eye-opening, such as the fact that negative stereotypes can affect anyone, depending on the stereotype you're talking about. Black students may feel pressure to perform in areas like math where, stereotypically, African-Americans are not perceived as being good at. White athletes may feel pressured to performa athletically in a sport where, again stereotypically, white athletes are not perceived as being very good in. And if nothing is done to address this anxiety, even in a minimal fashion, subconscious pressure pushes these groups to perform worse than their peers. It is all very intriguing.

And yet, there is this "No, duh!" quality to all of these revelations. After presenting some of his first research, a reader could guess at the future research results using only anecdotes and personal experience. While all of this is fascinating, nothing is particularly jaw-dropping. Also, while Prof. Steele points out how stereotype threat affects individuals and groups, he largely shies away from extrapolating any overarching societal consequences from his work. This may be due to professional caution, but, if his research is true for the broader American society, than stereotypes and stereotype threat could be a source for numerous societal ills. Lastly, while his work is interspersed with little nuggets of advice here and there, I would have liked a better concluding chapter with more straightforward advice on how to counteract stereotype threat. I'm sure educators in particular would like more detailed advice so as to be better, more balanced teachers in the classroom.

Overall, this is a good book that I would recommend to readers interested in stereotypes and how they can negatively affect us and our fellow citizens.

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