- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
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This is a civilization parable referencing iconic mathematician John Nash (a man whose life was portrayed in the award-winning film A Beautiful Mind) and the naturalism-superheroine Wonder Woman (a comic book character symbolizing American liberty).
This parable was inspired by Capitalism: A Love Story.
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"My name is John Nash. I've been trying to use mathematics to derive an equilibrium for competitive economics which would hypothetically facilitate peaceful commercial pacts/treaties between First World and Third World nations. My mathematical inquiries have become so deep and convoluted, that I fear I'm losing my mind. Now, I find myself reading countless Wonder Woman (DC Comics) stories and hallucinating that the wondrous superheroine is visiting me in my dreams to help me in my quest and leading me to greater revelations about deadly dragons and leviathans of chaos. I have become Wonder Woman's slave."
"My mathematics theories include generating pigeon-scattering 'algorithms' in breadcrumb picking behaviors which can be likened to computer programs that collect data based on availability or the formatting of caches. I've discovered that competitive economics is dependent on decision-making and game-theory equations that help us evaluate win-loss categorizations that computers use to determine the value of input. I'm starting to think that humans will become obsessed with computers, just as I've become obsessed with Wonder Woman. I understand/appreciate how Wonder Woman is a muse of humility and courage and democracy and encourages us to think about the dangers of tampering with Mother Nature. However, my inquiries about computers and the human species is making me more and more fixated on the naturalism-symbolism of Wonder Woman. Am I going MAD?"
"I decided to purchase three nice tile-design plant/flower vases, made of clay and ivory, for my house on the campus of Princeton University, a very prestigious Ivy League school in America where I teach and study. Princeton trustees demand that I continue to publish and teach so I can justify my personal/private 'offbeat' research into game-theory and computer-algorithm applications to competitive-economics and capitalism and even biology. If I'm to understand what makes humans so appreciative of 'natural evolution,' I have to understand why our species is becoming so 'dependent' on computers. I fear that my fascination with Wonder Woman is making me too 'hypnotized' by the 'concept' of liberty(!)."
"I just watched the two futurama-dystopian paranoia films Superman III (a movie about the superhero Superman tackling the diabolical giant evil supercomputer which could potentially destroy/scramble civilization) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (a time-travel paranoia-story about a future Earth ruled by evil A.I. machines which have enslaved humanity, prompting a serious human rebellion). Both Superman III and Terminator 2 obviously symbolize our modern-day species curiosity about the coordination of intellect with values. Am I obsessed with Wonder Woman because I'm worried about the deterioration of the human imagination?"
"Maybe my inquiries about game-theory mathematics are prompting me to better understand/appreciate how functionalism is linked to evolution and why competition is a 'natural' part of capitalism. Maybe my obsession with Wonder Woman is related to my 'natural' fear of schizophrenia, an insanity arising from my labors with pages of equations about the complexity of life itself. I don't want my fixation on Wonder Woman to affect my rational investigations about how competitive-economics can give rise to 'forms' of labor-machinery. After all, competition is a part of life."
TRUMP: Are you a fan of Wonder Woman, Carter?
CARTER: I love the new Gal Gadot film!
TRUMP: Did you see Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (Russell Crowe)?
CARTER: No, but I know of the life/works of mathematician John Nash.
TRUMP: He won the Nobel Prize for his work in math/economics.
CARTER: Yes, and Howard's film was quite stimulating...
TRUMP: I wonder if Nash was a fan of Wonder Woman.
CARTER: Why do you wonder that, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Well, Wonder Woman symbolizes evolutionary splendor.
CARTER: Right; Nash worked with the species 'splendor' of capitalism-math.
TRUMP: Wouldn't it be ironic if Nash was obsessed with Wonder Woman?
CARTER: It seems there's something in human DNA that makes us curious about life.
TRUMP: Yes, curiosity is a part of the human mind.
CARTER: It's curiosity that killed the cat; but it's curiosity that also fuels science!
TRUMP: If modern networking embraces peaceful commerce, we have to praise thinkers.
CARTER: Maybe Wonder Woman is like the Statue of Liberty...a symbol of sanctuary.
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This parable was inspired by Capitalism: A Love Story.
====
"My name is John Nash. I've been trying to use mathematics to derive an equilibrium for competitive economics which would hypothetically facilitate peaceful commercial pacts/treaties between First World and Third World nations. My mathematical inquiries have become so deep and convoluted, that I fear I'm losing my mind. Now, I find myself reading countless Wonder Woman (DC Comics) stories and hallucinating that the wondrous superheroine is visiting me in my dreams to help me in my quest and leading me to greater revelations about deadly dragons and leviathans of chaos. I have become Wonder Woman's slave."
"My mathematics theories include generating pigeon-scattering 'algorithms' in breadcrumb picking behaviors which can be likened to computer programs that collect data based on availability or the formatting of caches. I've discovered that competitive economics is dependent on decision-making and game-theory equations that help us evaluate win-loss categorizations that computers use to determine the value of input. I'm starting to think that humans will become obsessed with computers, just as I've become obsessed with Wonder Woman. I understand/appreciate how Wonder Woman is a muse of humility and courage and democracy and encourages us to think about the dangers of tampering with Mother Nature. However, my inquiries about computers and the human species is making me more and more fixated on the naturalism-symbolism of Wonder Woman. Am I going MAD?"
"I decided to purchase three nice tile-design plant/flower vases, made of clay and ivory, for my house on the campus of Princeton University, a very prestigious Ivy League school in America where I teach and study. Princeton trustees demand that I continue to publish and teach so I can justify my personal/private 'offbeat' research into game-theory and computer-algorithm applications to competitive-economics and capitalism and even biology. If I'm to understand what makes humans so appreciative of 'natural evolution,' I have to understand why our species is becoming so 'dependent' on computers. I fear that my fascination with Wonder Woman is making me too 'hypnotized' by the 'concept' of liberty(!)."
"I just watched the two futurama-dystopian paranoia films Superman III (a movie about the superhero Superman tackling the diabolical giant evil supercomputer which could potentially destroy/scramble civilization) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (a time-travel paranoia-story about a future Earth ruled by evil A.I. machines which have enslaved humanity, prompting a serious human rebellion). Both Superman III and Terminator 2 obviously symbolize our modern-day species curiosity about the coordination of intellect with values. Am I obsessed with Wonder Woman because I'm worried about the deterioration of the human imagination?"
"Maybe my inquiries about game-theory mathematics are prompting me to better understand/appreciate how functionalism is linked to evolution and why competition is a 'natural' part of capitalism. Maybe my obsession with Wonder Woman is related to my 'natural' fear of schizophrenia, an insanity arising from my labors with pages of equations about the complexity of life itself. I don't want my fixation on Wonder Woman to affect my rational investigations about how competitive-economics can give rise to 'forms' of labor-machinery. After all, competition is a part of life."
TRUMP: Are you a fan of Wonder Woman, Carter?
CARTER: I love the new Gal Gadot film!
TRUMP: Did you see Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (Russell Crowe)?
CARTER: No, but I know of the life/works of mathematician John Nash.
TRUMP: He won the Nobel Prize for his work in math/economics.
CARTER: Yes, and Howard's film was quite stimulating...
TRUMP: I wonder if Nash was a fan of Wonder Woman.
CARTER: Why do you wonder that, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Well, Wonder Woman symbolizes evolutionary splendor.
CARTER: Right; Nash worked with the species 'splendor' of capitalism-math.
TRUMP: Wouldn't it be ironic if Nash was obsessed with Wonder Woman?
CARTER: It seems there's something in human DNA that makes us curious about life.
TRUMP: Yes, curiosity is a part of the human mind.
CARTER: It's curiosity that killed the cat; but it's curiosity that also fuels science!
TRUMP: If modern networking embraces peaceful commerce, we have to praise thinkers.
CARTER: Maybe Wonder Woman is like the Statue of Liberty...a symbol of sanctuary.
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