ABSTRACT
Public service makes much of daily living easier and healthier. Post-rational planning, or working beyond rationality, questions whether rationality—with its inherent limits—is enough to help us solve serious social problems. Such questioning may sound disturbing—especially when failure to respect scientific evidence can clearly have deadly consequences, as seen with varying policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking a post-rational approach to planning and policy compels us to concurrently recognize the many other influences on decisions impacting the public interest. A key premise of a post-rational approach is that there are no silver bullets or magic pills to prompt perfect advice or decisions. Rather, planners and policy analysts must combine strong value systems and ethics with effective tactics to carry out the public good. Values without tactics and vice versa will not make the world a better place. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
