Why declaring cabinet ‘highest IQ’ ever, is not smart

Last night President-elect Trump proclaimed his team “by far the highest IQ of any cabinet ever assembled” (here is the video for those who can’t believe anyone would say that).

Thinking people should be reminded of Daniel Khaneman’s illuminating work on human behavior, the prevalence of mental errors in over-confidence and the critical importance of Emotional Intelligence in effective decision making.  Michael Lewis’s latest book The Undoing Project is about Khaneman’s life work and partnership with Amos Tversky and    Kahneman’s excellent 2011 book ‘Thinking fast and slow‘ explains key findings in detail.

This 2012 appearance on Charlie Rose is also a good refresher.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman discusses his book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” which examines the nature of intuition and the two systems that drive how we think.  Here is a direct video link.

The most obvious risk for the new US government out of the gate, is that Trump’s semblance of supreme confidence has engendered high expectations in his supporters for quick and dramatic change to improve their problems. On the other side, his detractors are expressing the lowest approval rating and expectation for any incoming President in decades. President Trump and co therefore have a good chance of surprising detractors while disappointing supporters.

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