Full of green highways and pitfalls.
You may curse your luck for ending up in the bottom of the swamp but the truth is that your bad strokes made you fall there.
You can try to get out of a sticky situation but its going to be difficult.
But if you’re on the highway and stick to it – life can be an easy ride all the way.
You just need some natural talent and put some effort into it and you’ll “play” just fine.
Movies with mathematicians always seem to have their protagonists stretch human thought to its limits, constantly reminding us that intelligence and insanity are two sides of the same coin.
In my thirties I feel a bit torn and probably get too paranoid at times. I’m wondering if the whole world is conspiring against my success or am I just a half-wit dilutional asshole? Nevertheless, objectively “the world” has been wrong about me numerous times, and speculations divert more from the facts as I try to elevate my mindset to higher levels…
- Good Will Hunting
This might be the first movie (for my generation) that grounded maths to a human level. Surely a touching film and I could see similarities with my life (and partner). I can even recall being a “golden boy” among professors in the past. But like this story, I had to let down a lot of people to do what I wanted. It’s not about being self-centered. It’s the price you are paying when you don’t follow what is expected from you simply because you consider it to be sub par.
- A Beautiful Mind
This story definitely relates more with the paranoid side of brainstorming, mentioned above. The movie encapsulates the fear of almost all innovators – that maybe their ideas are not as original as they think they are – maybe it is in fact the need to be special rather than the actual accomplishment of the creation. It is intriguing and a personal concern – but then again if we knew beforehand what would be the point of living? The solution of the story is also educational – you can try to live with your handicap, whatever that is, and still be exceptional. In the end, it doesn’t matter what you think or what skills/defects you have – all that matters is what happens.
- Proof
An interesting story of a woman dismissing her intelligence in the fear that it will lead her to madness. I have been many times the witness of people patronizing smart minds, mainly out of intimidation and inability to understand. That does bring isolation on the table that could make someone socially unstable or worse. But being a bright mind is a gift by itself and an added responsibility to learn and control. Like any other weapon, at times you put it away and other times you point it appropriately. You only need to use the percentage of your brain needed in every occasion – that will bring the right balance.
- Pi
Reaching the limits of paranoia, this movie is considered a cult classic – both by cinephiles and scientists. If there is any movie that can bring you closer to the true meaning of God – this is it. The story of a man driven so much by his ambitions to understand the world that he ultimately burns out himself. A fine lesson and a nice reminder that above all we are still bounded by the limits of our existence.
It’s still debatable if all this is effort to mentally excel is indeed worth it – considering all the side-effects. What’s more interesting to me though is that there is a certain point in intellectual advancement after which you will become an outcast. If people don’t understand you, they will label you insane…
I don’t know what you think of the world but I know this: People that tend to say that the world is “bad”, turn out to be(come) bad themselves. And when they say that things are getting worse and there’s no other way, what they mean is that THEY are getting worse and that there’s no other way for THEM!
I know this: we could live in harmony if that’s what we really wanted. Don’t feel pitty for all those miserable people – because in most cases they feel defeated from the things they failed to do than from the things others did to them.
I am not sad, and if being miserable is the way to go then I’m not gonna comply. The world is NOT the best place it can be, but neigher YOU are the best person you can be.
Be the things you expect from others and maybe you’ll realize that that can be enough.
You still don’t get it do you?
When I am happy I am really happy and when I am sad I am really sad…
It’s not about being one way or another.
Change is good. Feeling is good. Tension for what you’ll experience next is GOOD.
That’s how I choose to live my life.
Under no circumstance can I bare a desensitized life where everything is predictable, blunt and “safe”.
That’s living a slow death.
You still don’t get it do you?
This may be common knowledge for some, but for me it came as a surprise to realize that the words that we use to badmouth people can actually have a meaning.
Coming from a strict family I was taught that curses are simply “bad” and that I shouldn’t phrase them, repeat them or even think about them (if possible). But that just left me misinformed and misguided – later, and after exercising the cursing habit myself, I got to realize the meaning of popular words like:
CRAP
something useless – pointless – that has no reason of existence
ASSHOLE
taking something good and turning it to something bad
DICK
erratic escalation of a situation and spontaneous use of force
So, the claim here is that maybe there is a level of truth in those words to the point it might even be considered shear honesty. I can assume this proves (in a good way) why cursing feels good and relieving…