Preferences

Economists are usually reluctant to talk about the formation and change of preferences. They tend to assume that preferences are given and constant over time. They think, if we allow preferences to change, then we can explain any economics phenomena using the change of preferences and hence explain nothing.


When we talk about market, individual preferences are not that important anyway, because on an aggregate level, the market demand, which is formed by preferences, is pretty constant and robust to changes. But when we shift our scope from the market to individual level, to better understand how individuals interact with each other, it is necessary to have a look at how preferences are form and how they will change over time.


Investigation of issues like disagreements forces use to think about preferences. Preferences may be forged by your background, e.g. your family, your education. Preferences can change due to interaction with other people.Because people's background varies a lot, which gives rise to a wide range of preferences.


Disagreements in society will usually be disagreements about the relative value to be assigned to particular goods/activities/experiences. Differences in preferences imply that the same good/activity/experience has quite different values for different people from different groups and backgrounds.Disagreements are inevitable. 


While realizing this will not settle all controversies, failing even to know where the disagreements are from will definitely make the resolution more difficult.