Preface



Living a Lie

The Significance of Preference Falsification

Private and Public Preferences

Private Opinion, Public Opinion

The Dynamics of Public Opinion

Institutional Sources of Preference Falsification



Inhibiting Change

Collective Conservatism

The Obstinacy of Communism

The Ominous Perseverance of the Caste System

The Unwanted Spread of Affirmative Action



Distorting Knowledge

Public Discourse and Private Knowledge

The Unthinkable and the Unthought

The Caste Ethic of Submission

The Blind Spots of Communism

The Unfading Specter of White Racism



Generating Surprise

Unforeseen Political Revolutions

The Fall of Communism and Other Sudden Overturns

The Hidden Complexities of Social Evolution

From Slavery to Affirmative Action

Preference Falsification and Social Analysis



Notes

Index

Timur Kuran is Professor of Economics and King Faisal Professor of Islamic Thought and Culture, University of Southern California.