Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman Dies at 90

Nobel Prize winner, Daniel Kahneman, who pioneered theories in behavioural economics that heavily influenced the discipline, has died at age 90, his employer confirmed.

Kahneman, who wrote the best-selling book “Thinking Fast and Slow,” argued against the notion that people’s behaviour is rooted in a rational decision-making process – rather than it is often based on instinct.

Princeton University, where Israeli-American academic Kahneman worked until his death, confirmed his passing in a statement on its website Wednesday.

“Many areas in the social sciences simply have not been the same since he arrived on the scene. He will be greatly missed,” said former colleague and professor, Eldar Shafir in a press release.

In 2002, Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in recognition of his research in the fields of psychology and economics.

His most popular theory opposed traditional economic approaches that people were fully rational and self-interested.

Instead, the theory argues that people have mental biases that can distort their judgments.

It’s an age-old debate if indeed money can buy happiness or not.

Among several studies and research, Kahneman’s input was also cited in the report “Can Money Buy Happiness?”

The award — the only Nobel not originally included in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 last will and testament — was established in 1968 to celebrate the Swedish central bank’s 300th anniversary.

AFP