What exactly is the distinction between wants and beliefs, and why is it important? When individuals express a wants or personal preference, they are stating something that is purely personal and subjective. Another person has no grounds to challenge, rebut, or support my wants. Wants are neither true nor false. If I express my preference for chocolate ice cream, someone cannot challenge that and claim, "No,you don't" I have a privileged status with regard to my wants. In the public sphere,they are taken as a given. Thus do economists treat human interests. Willingness to pay measures the intensity with which I hold my wants(I won't pay more than a few dollars for a dish of chocolate ice cream),but willingness to pay says nothing about the legitimacy or validity of that wants.