How Daniel Kahneman Lived and Died and What It Meant to Me

Last night, a friend told me that Daniel Kahneman had died by assisted suicide. He referred me to an April 14, 2025, hashtag#NewYorkTimes article titled 'There’s a Lesson to Learn From Daniel Kahneman’s Death' by Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer. After reading, I felt compelled to reflect on how his life intersected with my own.

Daniel’s decision to end his life by assisted suicide struck me with a quiet kind of awe. He chose to die, as he lived, intentionally with full agency. He was 90 and in good health, and knew that components of his body were beginning to decline, that his mind was starting to slip, but he didn’t wait for fate or fragility to decide for him. Instead, he acted on a belief he held since he was young, that the indignities and miseries of old age were unnecessary and avoidable. This wasn’t a rash decision. It was a final, deliberate act of clarity.

In 2021, I invited him to speak to my graduate class. He responded, “Hi, Thank you for the interest, but I am old and retired from all teaching. Best, dk.” In that brief message, his voice felt exact, honest, direct, and unembellished. He didn’t romanticize or bring deep emotion into his aging. He accepted it on his terms.

I am grateful for his work, as it has shaped my life and my current pursuit of a master's degree in cognitive neuroscience, with a focus on decision-making. Thinking, Fast and Slow didn’t just influence my academic path; it shifted how I saw myself. It offered me a new lens for understanding the mind’s mechanisms and helped me cultivate greater agency over my own decisions. It made me a better researcher, educator, husband, and human being. Kahneman’s research continues to inform my work in decision-making and neuroscience, as well as my training of others to reduce bias and think more clearly and intentionally.

His final choice was consistent with the rigor of thought he brought to everything he did. It was rational, personal, and courageous. He did not cling to life for fear of death, nor did he allow sentiment to override what he saw as a logical conclusion: that his life, meaningful and rich, had reached its natural closure.

I mourn the loss of his presence, but I am moved deeply by the integrity of his final decision. He gave us one last lesson, not just in how to think, but also in how to live and how to choose when it is time to stop. You’ll be able to read the article here.