I’ve commented here before about the tendency for citizens to get up in arms about projects, when they didn’t pay attention to the policies that were adopted years before that enable those projects.
An article from Sunday’s Oregonian makes a related point: citizens will get in an uproar about small things, while often ignoring major items.
Some of this can be explained by the complexity of large projects, but what other psychology goes into where citizens focus their involvement?
4 responses to “Paying Attention to the Wrong Stuff”
I’ve always heard this referred to as “color of the bikeshed”
I think people get involved in public dialgue becaues they think they have something to offer and their involvement will make a differnce. It is not so much the importance of the project but their ability to contribute that determines their willingness to take the time.
Of course public hearings also include people venting with no expectation that their views will be adopted.
I think people get involved in public dialgue becaues they think they have something to offer and their involvement will make a differnce.
But we just give up on stuff we think is too big for us to influence? Ugh!
But we just give up on stuff we think is too big for us to influence?
Of course. Does anyone here think the redesign of Burnside is more important than world peace?