A Beautiful Mind

Mathematicians

won the war.

Mathematicians broke

the Japanese codes-

and built the A-bomb.

Mathematicians...

like you.

The stated goal of the Soviets

is global Communism.

In medicine or economics,

in technology or space,

battle lines are being drawn.

To triumph,

we need results-

publishable,

applicable results.

Now who among you

will be the next Morse?

The next Einstein?

Who among you will be

the vanguard...

of democracy, freedom,

and discovery?

Today, we bequeath

America's future...

into your able hands.

Welcome to Princeton,

gentlemen.

It's not enough Hansen won

the Carnegie Scholarship.

No, he has to have it

all for himself.

It's the first time

the Carnegie Prize...

has been split.

Hansen's all bent.

Rumor is he's got his sights

set on Wheeler Lab,

the new military

think tank at M.I.T.

They're only taking

one this year.

Hansen's used

to being picked first.

Oh, yeah,

he's wasted on math.

He should be running

for president.

There could be

a mathematical explanation...

for how bad your tie is.

Thank you.

Neilson,

symbol cryptography.

Neils here broke

a Jap code.

Helped rid the world

of fascism.

At least that's what

he tells the girls,

eh, Neils?

The name's Bender.

Atomic physics.

- And you are?

- Am I late?

Yes.

Yes, Mr. Sol.

Oh, good.

Uh, hi.

- Sol. Richard Sol.

- The burden of genius.

- There he is.

- So many supplicants,

and so little time.

Mr. Sol.

How are you, sir?

Ah, Bender.

Nice to see you.

Congratulations, Mr. Hansen.

Ah, thank you.

I'll take another.

Excuse me?

A thousand pardons.

I simply assumed you

were the waiter.

Play nice, Hansen.

Nice is not Hansen's

strong suit.

Honest mistake.

Well, Martin Hansen.

It is Martin, isn't it?

Why, yes, John, it is.

I imagine you're getting

quite used to miscalculation.

I've read your pre-prints-

both of them.

The one on Nazi ciphers,

and the other one

on non-linear equations,

and I am

supremely confident...

that there is not

a single seminal...

or innovative idea

in either one of them.

Enjoy your punch.

Gentlemen, meet John Nash,

the mysterious

West Virginia genius.

The other winner

of the distinguished

Carnegie Scholarship.

Oh, okay. Oh, yeah?

Of course.

Oh, Christ.

The prodigal

roommate arrives.

Roommate?

Oh, God, no.

Ugh.

Did you know that having

a hangover is-

is not having enough water

in your body...

to run your Krebs cycles?

Which is exactly

what happens to you...

when you're dying

of thirst.

So, dying

of thirst...

would probably feel...

pretty much like

the hangover...

that finally

bloody kills you.

John Nash?

Hello.

Charles Herman.

Pleased to meet you.

All right, well done.

Well, it's official.

I'm almost human again.

Officer, I saw

the driver who hit me.

His name was Johnny Walker.

Whew.

Well, I got in last night

in time for...

English department

cocktails.

Cock was mine,

the tail belonged

to a particularly lovely

young thing...

with a passion for...

D.H. Lawrence.

You're not easily

distracted, are you?

I'm here to work.

Hmmm, are you? Right.

I see.

Crikey!

Is my roommate a dick?

Hmm?

Listen.

If we can't break the ice,

how about we drown it?

So what's your story?

You the poor kid

that never got to go

to Exeter or Andover?

Despite my privileged

upbringing,

I'm actually

quite well-balanced.

I have a chip

on both shoulders.

Maybe you're

just better...

with the old integers

than you are with people.

My first grade teacher,

she told me...

that I was born

with two helpings of brain,

but only half

a helping of heart.

Wow!

She sounds lovely!

The truth is that l-

I don't like people much.

And they don't

much like me.

But why,

with all your obvious

wit and charm?

Seriously, John.

Mathematics-

Mathematics is

never going to lead you

to a higher truth.

And you know why?

'Cause it's boring.

It's really boring.

You know half these schoolboys

are already published?

I cannot waste time

with these classes...

and these books.

Memorizing

the weaker assumptions

of lesser mortals!

I need to look through...

to the governing dynamics.

Find a truly original idea.

That's the only way

I'll ever distinguish myself.

It's the only way

that I'll ever-

Matter.

Yes.

All right,

who's next?

No, I've played enough "Go"

for one day, thank you.

Come on.

I- I hate this game.

Cowards, all of you!

None of you rise

to meet my challenge?

Come on, Bender.

Whoever wins,

Sol does his laundry

all semester.

Does that seem unfair

to anyone else?

Not at all.

- Look at him.

- Nash!

Taking a reverse

constitutional?

I'm hoping to extract

an algorithm...

to define

their movement.

Oh.

Psycho.

Hey, Nash, I thought

you dropped out.

You ever going

to go to class or-

Classes will

dull your mind.

Destroy the potential

for authentic creativity.

Oh, oh, I didn't

know that.

Nash is going to stun us all

with his genius.

Which is another way

of saying...

he doesn't have

the nerve to compete.

You scared?

Terrified.

Mortified.

Petrified.

Stupefied... by you.

No starch.

Pressed and folded.

Let me ask

you something, John.

Be my guest, Martin.

Bender and Sol here

correctly completed...

Allen's proof

of Peyrot's Conjecture.

Adequate work...

without innovation.

Oh. I'm flattered.

You flattered?

Flattered.

And I've got

two weapons briefs...

under security review

by the D.O.D.

Derivative drivel.

But Nash achievements:

zero.

I'm a patient man, Martin.

Is there an actual

question coming?

What if you never come up

with your original idea?

Huh?

How will it feel

when I'm chosen

for Wheeler...

and you're not?

What if you lose?

Ah, there it is.

You should not have won.

Hmmm.

I had the first move,

my-my play was perfect.

The hubris

of the defeated.

The game is flawed.

Gentlemen,

the great John Nash.

You've been in here

for two days.

You know Hansen's

just published another paper?

I can't even find a topic

for my doctorate.

Well, on the bright side,

you've invented window art.

This is a group

playing touch football.

This is a cluster of pigeons

fighting over bread crumbs.

And this here is a woman

who is chasing a man

who stole her purse.

John, you watched

a mugging.

That's weird.

In competitive behavior

someone always loses.

Well, my niece knows that,

John, and she's about this high.

See, if I could derive

an equilibrium...

where prevalence is

a non-singular event,

where nobody loses,

can you imagine the effect

that would have...

on conflict scenarios,

and arms negotiations...

When did you last eat?

When did you last eat?

...currency exchange?

You know, food.

You have no respect

for cognitive reverie,

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