IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (Meaning: My Warped, Personal Opinions and Musings)
From the Author:
Salutations.
I am JaiChai.
And if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now.
I invite you to interact with everyone, learn, and have as much fun as possible!
For my returning online friends, "It's always great to see you again!"
Got'ta Have Them Priorities!
From personal experience, I can confidently say this: Marines couldn't care less about brushing their teeth when they're knee-deep in shit - much less listen to a math lecture!
But if something gave them an edge for getting a girl, they were all over it like flies on fresh cow shit!
That's why a few Marines in my unit listened to my small mathematics lecture about the Nash Equilibrium, got stoked about it, and even field tested it!
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
First, let me introduce John F. Nash.
Who was John Nash?
John F. Nash, Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American Mathematician who made huge contributions to game theory (the acclaimed Nash Equilibrium), differential geometry, and the study of partial differential equations.
In spite of battling paranoid schizophrenia and spending many years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, he became the only person to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics AND the Abel Prize (a Norwegian prize awarded annually by the Government of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians).
His life is portrayed in Sylvia Nasar's biography, A Beautiful Mind, as well as a film of the same name starring Russell Crowe as Nash.
The Nash Equilibrium in a Nutshell
In game theory, the Nash equilibrium, named after American mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., is a solution concept of a non-cooperative game involving two or more players in which each player is assumed to know the equilibrium strategies of the other players, and no player has anything to gain by changing only their own strategy.
...a group of players are in Nash equilibrium if each one is making the best decision possible, taking into account the decisions of the others in the game as long as the other parties' decisions remain unchanged.
Horny Students and a Breakthrough Mathematical Theory
It wasn't until the movie "A Beautiful Mind" that the general public was introduced to the story of how John Nash came up with his theory.
In the movie, it depicts his theory in a simplified way - in terms of landing a hot date.
If everyone in the guy's group went after the most popular girl of the girl's group, the crowding creates a bottleneck. Guys block each other out. The end result is that only one guy (at best) gets the girl and has a chance of getting laid that night.
Then, if the losers (guys rejected by the popular girl) go after the other girls, the girls are likely to reject them too (I mean, who wants to be considered a third rate consolation prize?).
But if all guys agree to NOT hit on the most popular girl, the chance of every guy getting laid increases exponentially.
See these two videos about the moment of Nash's epiphany:
Or perhaps you'd like to view this slightly longer version: "Nash Equilibrium (4:23 minutes)"
Marines are not just Mindless Killing Machines
Most other services admire and respect the tenacity of Marines, but they also know that most of them probably didn't win the Spelling Bee in elementary school.
Bluntly speaking, Marines have a reputation for following orders to a tee, but also are legendary for their bonehead mistakes; that is, doing some utterly ignorant and stupid things.
For example, after treating a particular Marine for multiple instances of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), I found out that he was "conserving his supply of condoms" by reusing one condom several times!
WTF?!
Condoms in the military can easily be obtained from the unit medic for free!
Needless to say, most Marines have a hard time thinking critically or creatively. Consequently, the abstract constructs of advanced math and game theory is usually beyond their mental capabilities.
A MARINE PROOF CLAYMORE:"DO NOT EAT. FRONT TOWARDS THE ENEMY."
(This less than stellar mental capacity is attributed to the average "Grunt" - Military Occupational Specialty - MOS 0311 "Rifleman". The Special Force Marine is different and is at the same level of intelligence and resourcefulness as any other Special Force Operator from the other services.)
(Circa late 1990's)
One day during a mission, our LAV died.
What's an LAV?
The LAV-25 (Light Armored Vehicle) is an eight-wheeled amphibious armored reconnaissance vehicle used by the United States Marine Corps and Canadian Army. It was built by General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, based on the Swiss MOWAG Piranha I 8×8 family of armored fighting vehicles.
(And they really suck to be inside of. It feels like being a sardine packed in a can.)
Anyway, we had some time on our hands.
I happened to be studying the Nash Equilibrium for my MBA. So I pulled out my notes and tried to review them while the other guys did whatever they could to stay awake.
By this time, we were all bone weary and tended to doze off whenever we were not physically moving. We could instantly fall asleep anywhere and in positions most would deem extremely uncomfortable; such as: in a tree, laying in mud, standing up - you name it!
After an hour of chilling, playing cards, and shooting the shit (trivial conversation) with each other, the other Marines noticed that I was busy studying and got a little curious.
Then my Comms guy said,"Hey Doc, what's got you so focused? Is it some porn you've been holdin' out on us?"
"Nah. It's just some Math stuff for my business degree that y'all probably ain't interested in."
To my surprise - or most likely because they were bored, they gathered around and listened to my version of the Nash Equilibrium for 10 or 15 minutes. Of course, all they cared about was the part about getting girls.
Soon afterwards, the LAV was repaired, we continued with our mission, and I quickly forgot about the little math lecture.
A Field Test
Weeks passed and finally we were done with our mission.
To my surprise, a few Marines began asking me about the Nash Equilibrium.
I was amazed that anyone remotely remembered anything I said in the math mini-lecture while our LAV was being fixed over a month and a half ago.
But they did.
In fact, they not only showed me that they comprehended it, they adapted it to make out big time!
Here's what happened...
After a few more weeks of arduous duty, we finally completed our mission and got some "Basket Leave" (time off-duty that's not charged against our earned vacation) in Asia (the Philippines).
The group decided to put the Nash Equilibrium Theory to the test - but with a twist.
First they drew lots to designate "The Lucky Son-of-a-Bitch" who was chosen to get the cutest, sexiest and the most "Drool Factor Hot" Filipina in our favorite restobar.
He stationed himself outside while the others entered the establishment.
Note: The rest of the group swore a blood oath NOT to hit on her (or show any signs of interest) and only go after the other girls in the bar.
Of course, the other girls were eating it up because they were so used to playing second fiddle to "The Goddess of the Bar" who emitted pheromones that attracted any person (male or female) within 50 kilometers!
In no time flat, every guy in the bar had a companion and were having a Hell of a great time.
Then as planned, the Lucky SOB was told that it was time for him to "come and get it".
Low and behold, after the initial shock of not getting all the attention wore off and a little self-doubt set in, "The Goddess" was more than happy to meet the last guy.
End result?
They didn't even have to resort to "Plan B" - Leaving the first bar and repeating the process in other bars until everyone had secured a date.
My thoughts at the time?
(sniffle, sniffle) "Look at them...."
By JaiChai
Really Appreciate You Stopping By.
Truly hope to see you again!
About the Author -
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, long-term girlfriend and three dogs.
