Anais Nin and John Nash; the Social Nature of Acceptance and Success

Paper Summary:

The artistic community in Anais Nin's professional life and the mathematical community in John Nash's professional life are similar in that they are both very exclusive. The paper shows that they are also markedly different in the type of achievements that might be considered successful yet, both Nin and Nash are asked to prove their own value based on success. The paper examines Sylvia Nasar's book about John Nash entitled "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobe Laureate John Nash" in which Nasar shows that, in Nash's culture, the proof is a successful publication and therefore placement into a good academic post-doctoral position. For Nin, as seen in her autobiography, "The Diary of Anais Nin", success is proven by her ability to create and defend a work that is socially challenging enough to be among the works of her contemporaries, a socially challenging lot. The paper shows that , although professional development may seem to be the ultimate goal of each of these players, the acceptance they glean from the almost fraternal social groups they wish to be members of is integral to their eventual success.

From the Paper:

"Another proving ground for Nash was the MIT mathematics common room. "The social atmosphere of the MIT common room resembled some of the more raucous scenes from the cult movie IF, about a British public school that is taken over by its boys." (Nasar 1998 142) In this environment Nash finds acceptance as he often does among men alone. The eccentricities of the different characters do not always mesh as they constantly compete for rank in many realms and express it sometimes cruel debating and personal character bashing. Yet, here there is a place for Nash's strange social behavior. Though, Nash is eventually very successful in his professional career, his personality and mental-state challenges him eternally."

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