How considering memory as an analogy to preparedness reveals its weaknesses

Abstract

Threats that fully escape our attention pose a potential, but also a true and invisible, danger to us. They should stand out as the main concern for practitioners who are responsible for the state and level of preparedness. However, to address them, we should first grasp them as pure possibilities. Figuring them out requires tools. This article introduces analogies as a potential tool for this task and analyses the concept of preparedness itself with it. By using memory as a source analogy, the article enables us to consider preparedness as a potential source of vulnerability—it reveals how we can help ourselves in becoming better prepared by scrutinizing the current practices by systematically analyzing the presumptions underpinning them. The vulnerabilities that are most likely to escape our attention are the ones that have become a constitutive part of our very thinking of preparedness. Better preparedness without a systematically and thoroughly scrutinized concept of preparedness will never be able to fulfill the promise it signals to the public. This article outlines one way to pursue such an understanding and employs it as well.

A renewed awareness: Reinvigorating preparedness research for crisis and disaster management

“…This is the point that, Heino and Huotari (2023) bring forward in their paper: “How considering memory as an analogy to preparedness reveals its weaknesses.” They claim that while disaster preparedness is shaped by our current conceptions of what might occur, threats that fully escape our attention pose a true and invisible danger to us. Figuring out what these threats are and how they might affect us, requires a renewed toolkit.…”

“…To step up preparedness policies, we might be better off assessing generic risks and preparing for a broad set of contingencies, instead of letting the recent past guide our efforts in a specific direction. This is the point that, Heino and Huotari (2023) bring forward in their paper: "How considering memory as an analogy to preparedness reveals its weaknesses. " They claim that while disaster preparedness is shaped by our current conceptions of what might occur, threats that fully escape our attention pose a true and invisible danger to us.…”

“…As we argued above, the very idea of preparedness often comes with a sense of urgency that we need to act now to prevent future harm. Contingencies that require preparedness are often true magnets of attention in the public debate and are often translated directly into renewed plans and exercises (Heino & Huotari, 2023).…”

“…Figuring out what these threats are and how they might affect us, requires a renewed toolkit. Heino and Huotari (2023) identify analogies as a helpful tool for this task to systematically analyze the presumptions underpinning our conception of risk and vulnerabilities. They point out that we often group knowledge together instead of remembering lots of pieces of information when we attempt to remember critical information, and likewise treat distinct vulnerabilities as if they belong to equivalent categories.…”

“…Being more sensitive to categorization might help to identify vulnerabilities that have escaped our attention. Heino and Huotari (2023) claim that the challenge is to find ways to systematically cast light on the categorization of vulnerabilities. Progress lies in enhancing the power of imagination as a disciplined approach to reflective practice (Weick, 1989).…”