The ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way that my mathematical ideas did. So I took them seriously.
I don't think exactly like a professional economist. I think about economics and economic ideas, but somewhat like an outsider.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nash emphasizes a unique, outsider perspective on economics, rather than strictly adhering to traditional academic views.
In this quote, John Forbes Nash, Jr. expresses his distinctive approach to understanding economics. Rather than conforming to the conventional methods and thoughts of professional economists, he adopts an outsider's viewpoint, suggesting that this perspective allows for innovative ideas and interpretations in the field of economics. This approach reflects his broader belief in the value of independent, critical thinking.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about interdisciplinary approaches to problems, one might use this quote to illustrate the value of diverse perspectives.
More from John Forbes Nash, Jr.
All quotes βIt is easy to say that there are the rich and the poor, and so something should be done. But in history, there are always the rich and the poor. If the poor were not as poor, we would still call them the poor. I mean, whoever has less can be called the poor. You will always have the 10% that have less and the 10% that have the most.
People are always selling the idea that people with mental illness are suffering. I think madness can be an escape. If things are not so good, you maybe want to imagine something better.
I think mental illness or madness can be an escape also. People don't develop a mental illness because they are in the happiest of situations, usually. One doctor observed that it was rare when people were rich to become schizophrenic. If they were poor or didn't have too much money, then it was more likely.
It's almost as if a demon might have passed from one host to another.
Similar quotes
The idea that murder victims' families are best served by continuing the cycle of violence is something that I consider to be not only a lie, but criminally negligent. You lie to victims' families when you tell them they're going to receive closure if they participate in the process and witness the execution of a human being.
This is what happened when one left one's home - pieces of oneself scattered all over the world, no one place ever completely satisfied, always a nostalgia for the place left behind.
A man may acquire a taste for wine or brandy, and so lose his love for water, but should we not pity him.
Even though I write about the human race, the further away from them, the better I feel. Two miles is great; two thousand miles is beautiful.
The greatest mistake in the treatment of diseases is that there are physicians for the body and physicians for the soul, although the two cannot be separated.
I never really thought of my neighborhood in South Philly as being a neighborhood; it was more a state of mind. For people who aren't familiar with those kinds of places, it's a whole different thing. Like, 42nd Street in New York City is a state of mind.