‘HOW WE DECIDE’

By J. Lehrer

This book examines the process of decision making, one of the critical aspects of aviation professionalism. If we can understand how we make a decision, the traps in the process, and the flaws that affect some of our thinking, we can make better and safer aviation decisions. This process is not just an aviation tool but a part of our everyday life. As we read and discuss this book, I would like you to address the following questions and statements in your paper:

1. What is the most common trait used in decision making? Why is this potentially dangerous in the field of aviation?

2. How will this book and the understanding of the process of decision making affect the way I might make long and short term decisions when I am planning and executing a flight?

3. How do the predictions of dopamine affect aviation decision making?

4. Describe some of the physiological aspects of the brain with relation to the decision-making process (e.g. how different parts of the brain influence the process).