Preference falsification explains why stable regimes collapse overnight. When public lies suffocate private truths, society becomes a house of cards waiting for a spark. Professor Timur Kuran joins Balaji to reverse engineer the mechanics of conformity, analyzing how knowledge falsification blinded the Soviet Union to its own demise and how similar patterns are emerging in the West. If these ideas interest you, we're building startup societies at Network School. You can apply online at https://ns.com. OUTLINE 1:46 - Definition of preference falsification 6:36 - The external lie shapes the internal narrative 11:12 - If truths are outlawed, only outlaws have truths 16:49 - Too fake to tell 30:35 - Repressive regimes know there's preference falsification 40:43 - Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order 46:37 - The big problem in the Middle East 51:33 - There's huge potential in the Middle East 56:59 - Growing number of atheists in the Middle East 1:01:45 - Turkey is ahead of the curve 1:05:51 - The West has become more fundamentalist 1:12:35 - Next step after corporate personhood REFERENCES I. Books * Private Truths, Public Lies: https://www.amazon.com/Private-Truths-Public-Lies-Falsification-ebook/dp/B082QVPYPL * The Truth Machine: https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Machine-Blockchain-Future-Everything-ebook/dp/B072V11VYR * Weapons of the Weak: https://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Weak-Everyday-Peasant-Resistance/dp/0300036418 * The Origins of Political Order: https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Political-Order-Prehuman-Revolution-ebook/dp/B00457X7VI * Freedoms Delayed: https://www.amazon.com/Freedoms-Delayed-Political-Legacies-Islamic-ebook/dp/B0C94Q5RJB/ II. Videos * UAE Foreign Affairs Minister predicting that Europe is going to produce more fundamentalists : https://youtu.be/s0jIKBhUDeA?si=tPQTVH0V04hl0m7_ III. Studies and Articles * The extreme punishments in Maoist China: https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub6/entry-7457.html * Too Fake to tell: https://balajis.com/p/too-fake-to-tell Number of atheists in the Arab World are rising: https://fpif.org/number-of-atheists-in-the-arab-world-rivals-the-west/ * The Rise of atheism in Saudi Arabia: https://secularhumanism.org/2020/01/men-without-god-the-rise-of-atheism-in-saudi-arabia/ * More Turks Identify as Nonbelievers: https://www.turkishminute.com/2025/05/30/more-turks-identify-as-nonbelievers-fewer-as-devout-new-survey-reveals/ * The Decline of religiosity in Iran: https://www.geocurrents.info/blog/2022/10/13/irans-striking-decline-in-religiosity/ SOCIALS https://x.com/ns https://x.com/timurkuran https://ns.com/