6-2016 Taxis are no good for game theorists

John Forbes Nash, Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American mathematician who made fundamental contributions to game theory, differential geometry, and the study of partial differential equations. Nash's work has provided insight into the factors that govern chance and decision making inside complex systems found in daily life

Serving as a Senior Research Mathematician at Princeton University during the latter part of his life, he shared the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with game theorists Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi. In 2015, he was awarded the Abel Prize for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations. One would have expected him to be a leading contender, perhaps even a virtual certainty, for a 1962 Fields' Medal, but mental illness destroyed his career, long before those decisions were made.

Nash’s research into game theory and his long struggle with paranoid schizophrenia became well known to the general public because of the Academy Award-winning motion picture A Beautiful Mind (2001), which was based on Sylvia Nasar’s 1998 biography of the same name. The film opened in the United States cinemas on December 21, 2001. It went on to gross over $313 million worldwide and win four Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. It was also nominated for Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score.

On May 23, 2015, John and his wife Alicia Nash were killed in a car crash while riding in a taxi on the New Jersey Turnpike near Monroe Township, New Jersey, USA. They were on their way home after a visit to Norway, where Nash had received the Abel Prize.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Game theorists should not hire taxis.