We've seen in some ways how preference falsification operates and sot of the effects that it has. But what are the consequences? Should we just simply say, well, you know, different groups rise and fall at different times? What are the negative effects of preference falsification? One of the huge costs is that we can't have uninformed debate. All sorts of ideas that might prove very useful don't get expressed. And bad ideas don't get scrutinized, because people are afraid of criticising them. There are two extreme ideas that are surviving in different communities - one on the right, one on the left. Neither gets criticised. People who have reservations, people who have ways