I Love/Hate Snow

I have a love/hate relationship with the fluffy white stuff we call snow. That first snow always brings out a sense of beauty among the hills. I love the feeling of finally being able to go out and enjoy making a giant snowman and making that first snow angel. But at the same time there are always the negatives to snow. The risk of getting injured goes way up. The sidewalks and roads are very slippery. Slipping and falling or sliding and crashing can be two ways to get you injured before the holiday season.

            There are many reasons why I love the snow. Snowmobiling is the main reason I love snow. Getting out and ripping up the fields on the fresh snow is an amazing feeling. The air is so cold yet you are so hot from constantly moving on the snowmobile. Going off jumps and trail riding is so much fun. Whenever it gets cold I can’t wait for that first snowfall. I always strive to be the first one out on our family owned land.

            Another reason I love the snow is all the fun you can have with it. You can go sledding, have snowball fights, build snowmen, and the list goes on and on. Ever since I was little I strive to get the chance to go out and enjoy the fluffy snow. So far this year I have taken full advantage of the snow and played other games like football, capture the flag, and smear the you know what.

            At the same time there are many negatives to snow. That first snow brings horrible driving. As the first snow approaches you should really take time to prepare your car for the weather ahead. You should also relearn your winter driving skills because if you don’t, you will end up in a ditch, in a crash, and possibly dead. This year, my first time driving was horrible. The first time I went out I slid through a stop sign and almost had a horrible crash. I put my car in the ditch to avoid the devastating crash.

            One major negative is shoveling, shoveling, and more shoveling. It doesn’t matter if you’re shoveling the driveway or shoveling the sidewalk. All shoveling is torture and is not fun. First of all it does a number on your back and arms. It doesn’t matter if you’re the fittest person in the world. You will be in a world of hurt the next couple days after shoveling. The worst shoveling is when you are parked on the side of the road and the snow truck plows you in. When I’m in a hurry and my car is stuck in 2 feet of snow, I get really pissed off.

            One of the most annoying parts of snow is that it is wet, cold, and at some time it hurts. A regular pair of shoes on average goes up to about the ankle. If the weather is predicting more than 3 inches of snow you better wear boots otherwise you will have snow in your shoe. This happens to me all the time and is not fun. Playing in the snow gets you all wet too. After a long time of playing in the snow it becomes a nuisance because by then you have gotten snow in your face, in your jacket, and probably in your boots. When it all melts it just makes your clothes wet and very uncomfortable. On occasions you get a blizzard that makes the snow go from east to west and hurts when it hits your face.

            The ultimate worst part of snow is when it all melts. First of all you can’t have the fun that you once had. The other reason is that it is a sloppy mess and makes everyone angry. From stepping in puddles, to making your car all nasty, to flash floods. Melting snow is a mess that creates frowns and angry faces.

            No matter what I will always stay in Wisconsin and deal with the snow. It creates many opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities that you wouldn’t be able to do in states like Florida or California. The positives out way the negatives by far. Even though the summer is way better than the winter, I still enjoy being able to have fun in the snow and get outside.

John Forbes Nash Jr.

What comes to mind when you hear of paranoid schizophrenia? From a stereotypical standpoint, most people would come up with words like crazy, delusional, and other negative opinions. But come to find out, a man, diagnosed with this disease, won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 (Mandel 1). Through John Forbes Nash Jr.’s papers he wrote in game theory, he was awarded the prestigious prize along side of John C. Harsanyi and Richard Selten (“John” 1). In his time he was known as one of the most brilliant mathematicians that walked the earth and anyone in the field of mathematics and economics knew who he was. John Nash’s work is remarkable because he was one of the first to introduce game theory distinctions, he had to overcome an incurable disease, and his papers in game theory gave the United States government something to look forward to in economics.

            John Forbes Nash Jr. was born on June 13, 1928 in Bluefield, West Virginia (“John” 1). He was raised by his mother, who was an English school teacher, and his father, who was an electrical engineer and a WW1 veteran (“John” 1, 2). John also had a sister named Martha that was two and a half years younger than him. As a child he went through standardized schooling and ever since his first days in elementary school, he was seen as an advanced student. In high school John started getting intrigued by mathematics, chemistry experiments, and also electrical experiments (“John” 2).

            After high school, John went to Carnegie Tech. in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on a full scholarship where he entered as a chemical engineering major (“John” 2). Throughout his stay at Carnegie, John was struggling to decide whether he wanted to switch to chemistry or to mathematics. In the end he decided to stay with mathematics and progressed so much, that they gave him an M.S. in addition to a B.S. (“John” 2). After graduation he got offers from Harvard and Princeton to apply as a graduate student (“John” 2). He ended up choosing Princeton because they seemed more interested in him coming there to study. There he studied mathematics and started to get very intrigued with game theory. Through his game theory ideas he was able to achieve a mathematics Ph.D (“John” 2). In 1951 John went to M.I.T. as a “C.L.E. Moore Instuctor” (“John” 2).

While at M.I.T. in 1956, John met a student named Alicia Larde. In that same year John decided to marry Alicia who he claimed to be the love of his life (“John” 3). John resigned as a teacher in 1959 as a result of his mental state becoming delusional at the age of 31 (“John” 3). He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia around the same time he found out that Alicia was pregnant (“John” 3). John was put in a hospital for 50 days to undergo evaluation. He was in and out of hospitals involuntarily for a long time. He was also spending a lot of time with different psychiatrists. In 1963 Alicia divorced John but never really let him go. She was always there for him and took care of him daily (Nasar 5). John was granted permission to visit Princeton whenever he wanted. People referred to him as a “ghost-like” presence and he was known as “the Phantom of Fine Hall” (Mandel 2). Eventually as time passed John miraculously got better and learned to block out the delusional influences. He continued to do work and research on game theory.

Then in 1994 John Nash received the news that he was up for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Economics. He then went on to win the award in economics for his 27-page doctoral thesis paper on game theory that he wrote when he was 21 (Nasar 2).

John Forbes Nash Jr. has done many things in the field of mathematics and economics. He is most famously recognized for his work in game theory. John’s contributions include “introducing the distinction between cooperative games, in which binding agreements can be made, and non-cooperative games, where binding agreements are not feasible. He also developed an equilibrium concept for non-cooperative games that is now called Nash equilibrium.” (“John” 1). His doctoral thesis is what brought him his fame. In the early 1950’s, his thesis name “Noncooperative Games” was published (Boman 1). This work was considered to be the mathematical foundation for game theory (Boman 1). Game theory was first invented by a man by the name of von Neumann who also helped build the A-bomb and invented the modern computer (Nasar 2, 3). He wrote a book called The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior which was about configuring mathematical rules about rivalries (Nasar 3).

John Nash followed up John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s theory. Their theory was only for rivalries in which if one gained the other lost (Nasar 3). “Nash focused on rivalries in which mutual gain was possible. He showed there were stable solutions –no player could do better given what the others were doing –for such rivalries under many circumstances. He turned game theory, a beguiling idea, into a tool economists could use to analyze everything from predatory pricing to trade deals.” (Nasar 3). 

John Nash’s work as a mathematician is obsolete and made him known as one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. The most incredible part of his work was that everyone had to wonder if his work was credible because of his mental state. In the late 80’s, the Nobel committee started to talk about awarding a prize for game theory (Mandel 2). Obviously John Nash was well deserving of the award and was at the top of the list. But the committee had to question Nash’s state of mind (Mandel 2).

On the day the winner of the prize is announced the Swedish Academy of Sciences has to vote for approval (Mandel 2). In almost all the prize nominations, the vote goes through in favor of the nominee without question. But in this case the committee was skeptical on whether John Nash deserved the award based on his mental state. For the first time in history, John Nash passed by only a handful of votes (Mandel 2). Nash’s incredible feat’ over paranoid schizophrenia is truly amazing.

Critics were skeptical on whether or not Nash’s work in game theory was useful at the time of the selection of the Nobel Prize winner. But at the time when he was studying the theory, it was looked upon as a good way to help with economical decisions for the government. “It wasn’t until Nash that game theory came alive for economists,” said Robert Solow, a Nobel laureate in economics at M.I.T. (Nasar 4). John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern gave insight to future economic answers in game theory but John Nash helped introduce a full scale working explanation on how game theory can give future economists answers to economic questions.

After John Nash received the Nobel Prize in Economics, there was a book and a movie made, both named “A Beautiful Mind”, that reflected his remarkable life (Weston 1). His life and accomplishments are a truly inspiring story that many have come to see. Being the next big thing in mathematics after being heavily praised at Carnegie Tech, M.I.T, and Princeton is not an easy thing to take on. After being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and falling off the map how could anyone regain what they had and win a Nobel Prize. John Forbes Nash Jr. did it and is truly amazing. His work in game theory gave excitement to future economists and was praised to be the next big thing. For his genius doctorate he wrote when he was 21, John Nash is well deserving of the Noble Prize in Economics that he won in 1994.