I’ve read a ton of books on psychology over the past five years, and I’ve hardly come across a single work that doesn’t make a reference or has a quote from Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’. Kahneman passed away last March at the ripe old age of 90. When we hear about the passing of people at such an age, we usually shrug and appreciate their luck for such a long run. I too did and felt the same, until last night.
The WSJ reports that Kahneman, at the time of his death, was perfectly healthy, engaged in numerous writing assignments and showed no signs of cognitive decline. Despite this, he decided to end his life using assisted suicide, which is ‘offered’ in Switzerland.
The decision was shared with a few of his close friends. A few days before his end, he travelled to Paris with his wife and daughter, revisited the sights of his harsh childhood (Kahneman was a Holocaust survivor), wrote daily and then moved to Switzerland for his tryst with death.
Kahneman is famous for his Peak-End Rule. According to it, our memory of every experience – be it a date, a medical procedure or a stint in an organization – is shaped by our most intense moment (the “peak”) and the final moments (the “end”), rather than averaging the entire experience. So it’s not the duration of the date but the highs and the note on which it ends that matter for our memories. A painful dental procedure can be stored as an okayish memory if it ends on a relatively happy note.
Kahneman probably knew that his 90s might not be the ‘end’ that he desired, so decided to go on his own terms. He had also seen the horrors of terminal dementia which his mother suffered through. What greater example can there be for embodying your life’s philosophy? I’m reminded of Simone Weil, who also decided to quit similarly on her own terms.
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