Maybe there are two different concepts of "prefer".
The status quo is likely to always be some sort of local maxima/minima.
So most people may prefer it to most available small changes, but most people may prefer a large change if there was a way to get there in a coordinated way.
If people can make small changes independently to get to a better state, what accounts for them not doing so?
I can't believe it if I can't imagine it, and if you think it's possible, you should share how.
I think this is a dispute over semantics. It's not very productive to argue whether something is true or false when people define terms differently. Better to explain how you define them.
The status quo is likely to always be some sort of local maxima/minima.
So most people may prefer it to most available small changes, but most people may prefer a large change if there was a way to get there in a coordinated way.