Rob Probst

I appreciate Mayor Victor Luca’s reminder “What has council ever done for us (and the role of governance), in last Friday’s Beacon.

When services and governance are going well, citizens take things for granted and fail to appreciate the effort and standards of our local governors.  The mayor’s reminder is another informative, well-reasoned and thought-provoking communique, typical of the updates he has provided to the community.

I believe his recommendation to maintain a rational, critical approach for decision-making about projects and infrastructure is commendable.

Common sense isn’t very common.  Two American-based Israeli psychology professors, Tversky and Kahneman, investigated human decision-making, winning numerous accolades, and for Kahneman, a Noble Prize.

They concluded that a large percentage of human decisions are emotional, a result of personal bias and a desire to avoid loss and regret.  Humans tend toward fast decision-making, a primal instinct when facing a wild predator.

These factors reduce our inclination for data collection, asking the ‘right questions,’ an aspect of critical thinking, and using a logic-based approach in decision-making.  We tend to jump to conclusions, especially if there’s a perceived reward.  It’s understandable.  Humans are emotional beings.

But. We’ll get better outcomes if we think slow rather than fast, according to Kahneman, eliminate emotion and biases, ask the ‘right questions’ and conduct a logic-based decision-making process.   I commend Dr Luca’s deliberate, systematic approach, decision-making, stability and desire to do what’s best for our Whakatāne community.