The news of the death of this well-known couple just came from my CNN news feed:
The man whose life story was the inspiration for the film “A Beautiful Mind” died in a car accident Saturday in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey State Police.
Famed mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., 86, and his wife Alicia Nash, 82, both were killed when a taxi in which they were riding went out of control and crashed into a highway guard rail, according to Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Williams of the New Jersey State Police. The taxi driver was hospitalized.
A tw**t from Russell Crowe, who of course played Nash in the movie:
So sad to hear that this is the way their lives ended. Their life’s story lives on in many of us.
My son just told me that his former faculty advisor at Princeton was behind him on line for coffee a few days ago and said hi. I didn’t realize that he was still active at Princeton.
Very sad. I had no idea that John Nash was ztill alive.
Good grief. Echoes of CBS reporter Bob Simon’s death just a few short months ago.
Beautiful Mind was one of the best movies ever.
A Beautiful Mind was a decent movie, as Ron Howard films are wont to be. But “one of the best … ever”? Keep in mind “ever” includes Scorsese and Altman and Di Palma and Coppola — not to mention Bergman and Fellini and Godard and Kurosawa.
Car crashes are easily one of the most traumatizing events any human can experience. It’s ridiculous how we just kind of let it happen. You’d think there would be more activists out there talking about robot drivers. Instead, a lot of people are skeptical, afraid, or outright derisive about them. In a century from now I hope driving is largely automated and that most of the deadly and maiming collisions can be virtually eliminated.
I just realized that I wrote “skeptical, afraid, or outright derisive” about automatic driving and I don’t think I’ve actually seen a lot of that. That was stupid. I do get the feeling that the uptake of automated cars, once the technology exists and is proven safe, will be fought against by many. Right now it’s just a curious thing that Google is doing that has no effect on anyone.
I wonder how many would fight against it because the car would completely stop at stop signs/red lights (instead of rolling through them), follow at safe distances, drive at safe speeds according to the amount of traffic and weather conditions, not egregiously blow its horn at others, and otherwise drive safely.
Seems that humanity will always have to deal with human primate impatience and sense of entitlement/exceptionality. Some drivers are safe and cautious. Others aren’t, and it’s not because they don’t know how to be; they just can’t be troubled/bothered. I wonder if there’s a technological solution to that, short of a “Brave New World” solution.
(I note that spellcheck recognizes “exceptionality” but not “exceptionalism,” as in “American Exceptionalism.”)
The older or conservative folks may pine for the manual days but I think most will appreciate the extra sleep they can put in. Plus, playing on one’s phone while the car is moving will be completely safe. A network of connected robot cars all communicating with one another could also make wildlife fatalities a thing of the past. And it is entirely possible to have a lower top speed and still arrive at one’s destination more quickly if the average speed is higher, which it should be if automated transport systems are much more efficient. Anyway, if you can’t tell, I am a big fan of our robot overlords and I welcome their imminent arrival… heh!
So spellcheck is taking the foreigners’ side, huh?
“So spellcheck is taking the foreigners’ side, huh?”
Hit’s takin’ thuh “furriners”‘ side. (That’s “Appalachian,” not “Plantation,” Southern.)
Too right. Automated systems are hard enough in a constrained environment ; in a much freer environment like the highway, automated driving is a hellishly hard problem. And expecting (relying on) a “regular joe” driver to take over at a moment’s notice in the event of a too-complex event is not going to work. “Huh, whad’ja say? [Kerrunch]”
That said, Eventually automated driving will come. But probably not until after the era of the personal motorised vehicle has pretty much gone. Too much ego investment. What’s the proportion of drivers who think they’re better than average? About 90%?
You know, just for interest, next time I’m holidaying and thinking about hiring a push-bike, I might just see if there’s a trike. Just for the difference.
Sad way for a big mind like John Nash to go. Probably beats cancer though.
WHEN automated cars reach the point where I can stagger out of a party dead drunk, say “home!” to the car, and not have to worry about being persecuted by the cops, THEN I’ll have one. Till then, they don’t do anything I can’t have more fun doing myself.
Oh, and I want full manual override, for the case where the thing gets a virus and decides to see how fast it can go, like some Toyotas did recently.
What is sad in this case is they were ejected from the car and died on the scene because they weren’t wearing seat belts. Often while driving in cabs, people don’t wear seat belts. The driver of the cab had neck pain but should fully recover. The guy in the other car, who caused the accident had minor injuries.
That is terrible. I personally always buckle up whether I am in the back or anywhere. Human drivers terrify me.
My scariest cab ride was in Boston. The cabbie was running some scam with another cabbie where he was taking the money and not logging the time. He drove like a maniac and people were honking at him constantly. He really worried me because he struck me as the type of person who would rob you and dump your body as much as blink an eye. I buckled up for that ride & was happy to be out of the cab safely at the end!
Nah, that’s just typical Boston tactical driving.
You beat me to the seatbelt issue, Diana. Great minds and all…
I always wear a seat belt. Basic physics – if the car hits something and stops suddenly, what’s going to stop me? The seatbelt or something else less user-friendly?
Though I havn’t (touch wood) had occasion to use that feature of a seat belt, I can vouch that it’s invaluable at keeping you in your seat if the car rolls.
Nash got the “Nobel Prize” in math, the Abel Prize, just this Tuesday.
Nobel award for economic science
Mr Larsson is referring to the Abel Prize, not the [considerably less exalted] Nobel Memorial Economics Prize, which Nash was awarded in 1994.
Hopefully the money will go to his two sons now, both of whom have had a rather rough go of it, albeit in very different ways.
This is very sad. I wish they’d been wearing their seat belts. Are they compulsory in the US? They are here.
Yes, the are compulsory in the US. You often see, what I think are witty, signs warning you to “click it or ticket”.
There is the possibility that the seat belts were not in working order. This is coming from a commenter that has been in that situation in a taxi in several countries let alone her backyard where most of them happened.
How very sad.
Shame. What a way to go …
Very sorry to hear this. I loved the film. Crowe and Bettany have a wonderful chemistry on screen.