Preference Falsification - YOU HAVE MORE POWER THAN YOU THINK!

[Alex]

Have you ever noticed how the stance from people around you on certain issues seems to change almost over nigth on a large scale? Take for example Weed legislation a few years ago being pro weed legislation was almost untenable and got you weird looks from the average Joe and now it's an stance as common as being for higher quality education. Why is that? 

 

Well in part it can be explained through the Concept of preference falsification a Concept that the Economist Timur Kuran came up with to explain how people flip flop their preferences after for example an regime change. Preference falsification basically means that you pretend to be for something in public, but internally hold another stance for fear of the consequences that come with presenting your real stance in public. 

Going forward with the Marijuana example, if you worked at an average office five years ago and told your coworkers about the vast array of benefits weed legislation would do to society, you would probably get weird looks and they would brand you as an stoner that just wants to justify is weed habit. On top of that you could be involved with criminal activitys (even if they are mild) which would justify in your coworker group to ostracized you even more. So to avoid all that many people sacrifice their intergrety to fit into the group and falsify their preference on the given issue. 

Today you can easily hold this stance without fearing any ridicule from your peers because there are examples out there that proof that your stance is rigth and depending on where you live Marijuana is seen as less as an dangerous drug but more as medicine or an recreational l vice. 

But what implications does this have for you as an conscious citizen? Well it means that your stance counts more than you think, the opinion you hold on any given issue can serve as a precursor for other citizens to switch their stance on any given issue. It also means that being brave enough to hold unconventional opinions is never a lost cause because if enough brave people stand up for their preferences they will inevitably drag the whole society toward their prefered position, this is especially important for minority issues ,E.g. Gay rigths, because most people just don't care enough to drive political progress forward. 

If you want to learn more I suggest you listen to the Following Podcast where Timur Kuran lays out his theory more in depth. 

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/the-portal/timur-kuran-the-economics-of-revolution-and-mass-d/

Edited August 26, 2019 by Alex