This list of interesting facts points to the connections between Kahneman’s fascinating background and his life’s work.
- Research runs in Kahneman’s blood; his father was a research director at a chemical plant.
- As the Nazis invaded France, Kahneman’s father was interned in a Jewish camp for six weeks, but managed to have his release arranged.
- During the German occupation, a tense but ultimately friendly encounter with a Nazi soldier sparked Kahneman’s interest in psychology.
- As a precocious eighth grader, Kahneman was kept off the Honor Roll because he was awful in gym class.
- Kahneman is married to Anne Treisman, a decorated psychologist who also teaches at Princeton.
- Foreign Policy named Kahneman as one of its Top 100 Global Thinkers last year (he was #71).
- Bloomberg hailed Kahneman as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Global Finance, alongside such hotshots as Ben Bernanke, Elizabeth Warren, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffet.
- Kahneman’s longtime cohort Amos Tversky has obvious academic credibility, but what people may not know about him? Kahneman calls him one of the funniest people he’s ever met.
- Kevin Pelton at Basketball Prospectus took numerous lessons from Kahneman’s work and showed how they applied to professional sports.
- After conducting studies on the impact of money on happiness, Kahneman found that there was a predictably dramatic difference between people living in poverty and people making 60k a year. Beyond that, though, the study offered some surprises: millionaires didn’t show any greater emotional happiness than people around the 50k zone.