Speaking of awesome intelligence it was intended to make a small point (pop culture is not as kind to intelligence as it is to glossy, gossipy stuff) and later highlight that intelligence itself.  While the accolades of scholars–those whose own work has been influenced by Kahneman–are interesting to read, so are those published by reviewers advising lay readers to read his most recent book.  For example, last month in FT:

There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow.

In case you are a subscriber to the New York Times, and want a direct sample of the writing the shortest and most accessible is probably this article he published a couple months back.

More of his own words are here in the form of a conversation with a more than capable interviewer:

Kahneman was kind enough to take time out of a very busy book tour to answer a few of my questions.

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Much of your work focuses on the limitations of human intuition. Do you have any advice about when people should be especially hesitant to trust their intuitions?

When the stakes are high.  We have no reason to expect the quality of intuition to improve with the importance of the problem.  Perhaps the contrary: High-stake problems are likely to involve powerful emotions and strong impulses to action. If there is no time to reflect, then intuitively guided action may be better than freezing or paralysis, especially for the experienced decision maker. If there is time to reflect, slowing down is likely to be a good idea. The effort invested in “getting it right” should be commensurate with the importance of the decision.