Tyler Knott Gregson - Tyler Knott Productions Brain Rain

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Song: "Betterman" by Pearl Jam.

Today in my Abnormal Psychology class I came in prepared to take an exam. Little did I know the exam was moved to Thursday, so I ended up sitting through a documentary about John Nash; for all of you who do not know who he is, he was the mathematician played brilliantly by Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind." Anyhow, the movie essentially chronicled the rise, and heartbreaking fall of Nash's career due to Paranoid Schizophrenia. Near the end of class however, is when I began to question what I was absorbing. The end of the film spoke about how John Nash eventually beat his schizophrenia by what he referred to as "willing my way out of it." It was here that my Professor decided to step in and claim that Nash most likely did not “will” his way out of anything; she claimed that it was most likely the simple deterioration of his disease, or the silent slip into tolerance that only comes after so many years of dealing with it. I could not disagree more.

First of all, Nash was a genius. John Nash did more for his field than the majority of his colleagues in the past 50 years; solving proofs and theorems that drove many other “stable” mathematicians to the brink of madness. To say he was incapable of rationalizing himself through schizophrenia is absurd. Through the years that he was tortured by the emotional collapse, loss of career, and the voices of his subconscious, Nash was in the front row to witness the nature of his disease. Who better than a genius to “will” his way out of something like this?

At any rate, the film started me thinking about the capabilities of the human mind. I would love to hear some feedback on this, as I’m really curious what others think…but do you think that people are capable of healing themselves of disease, or any other ailments, mental or physical, using only their minds? I think that humans are more than able to cure themselves of anything from a headache, to the schizophrenia that Nash defeated. The percentage of our brains that we’re not using is astounding, and if someone finds a way to open themselves to even touching on one simple percentage more, who knows the consequences and the capabilities. I have always believed that what our society treats as “insane” and “sane” is nothing more than majority rules. As Nash said, “Insanity is more or less an issue of conformity…”

eloquently said by

| 11:50 PM | | |


Tuesday, April 15, 2003 Beautiful Minds Song: "Betterman" by Pearl Jam. Today in my Abnormal Psychology class I came in prepared to take an exam. Little did I know the exam was moved to Thursday, so I ended up sitting through a documentary about John Nash; for all of you who do not know who he is, he was the mathematician played brilliantly by Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind." Anyhow, the movie essentially chronicled the rise, and heartbreaking fall of Nash's career due to Paranoid Schizophrenia. Near the end of class however, is when I began to question what I was absorbing. The end of the film spoke about how John Nash eventually beat his schizophrenia by what he referred to as "willing my way out of it." It was here that my Professor decided to step in and claim that Nash most likely did not “will” his way out of anything; she claimed that it was most likely the simple deterioration of his disease, or the silent slip into tolerance that only comes after so many years of dealing with it. I could not disagree more. First of all, Nash was a genius. John Nash did more for his field than the majority of his colleagues in the past 50 years; solving proofs and theorems that drove many other “stable” mathematicians to the brink of madness. To say he was incapable of rationalizing himself through schizophrenia is absurd. Through the years that he was tortured by the emotional collapse, loss of career, and the voices of his subconscious, Nash was in the front row to witness the nature of his disease. Who better than a genius to “will” his way out of something like this? At any rate, the film started me thinking about the capabilities of the human mind. I would love to hear some feedback on this, as I’m really curious what others think…but do you think that people are capable of healing themselves of disease, or any other ailments, mental or physical, using only their minds? I think that humans are more than able to cure themselves of anything from a headache, to the schizophrenia that Nash defeated. The percentage of our brains that we’re not using is astounding, and if someone finds a way to open themselves to even touching on one simple percentage more, who knows the consequences and the capabilities. I have always believed that what our society treats as “insane” and “sane” is nothing more than majority rules. As Nash said, “Insanity is more or less an issue of conformity…” eloquently said by \| 11:50 PM \| \| \|	Tyler Knott Productions Tyler Knott Photography Vimeo Tumblr Twitter Clutch Del.icio.us MySpace Last.fm LinkedIn Resumé Atom Feed Twitters follow me on Twitter Horizon Expanders McGraw Donovan Dave Morin Flickr Blog Jaymie Keller Kevin Casey Nate Warner Rachel Hoffenberg Sarah Joelle Sarah Joelle's Music My Photography Past Downpours Copyright This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.