Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference FalsificationPreference falsification, according to the economist Timur Kuran, is the act of misrepresenting one's wants under perceived social pressures. It happens frequently in everyday life, such as when we tell the host of a dinner party that we are enjoying the food when we actually find it bland. In Private Truths, Public Lies Kuran argues convincingly that the phenomenon not only is ubiquitous but has huge social and political consequences. Drawing on diverse intellectual traditions, including those rooted in economics, psychology, sociology, and political science, Kuran provides a unified theory of how preference falsification shapes collective decisions, orients structural change, sustains social stability, distorts human knowledge, and conceals political possibilities. |
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... bandwagon toward 20 . For a bandwagon to form and start moving , it is necessary though not sufficient for individual choices to be interdependent . The people making choices must also be heterogeneous , at least in the sense that it ...
... bandwagon can keep rolling as long as the changes in social pressure induced by new riders impel at least one additional person to jump on . There is no reason , of course , why the bandwagon should keep rolling until everyone is aboard ...
... bandwagon that changes public opinion dramatically . Once a bandwagon gets under way , people cannot but notice that public opinion is changing . In self - interest , they become more alert to signals emanating from the wider community ...
Contents
Collective Conservatism | 105 |
The Obstinacy of Communism | 118 |
The Ominous Perseverance of the Caste System | 128 |
Copyright | |
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