There are different states of minds (SOM) the different stakeholders might be in towards a given proposal. The degree of engagement by stakeholders is affected by the degree that stakeholders are aware of the proposal, and the degree that stakeholders are impacted by the proposal.

Most of the time, the majority of stakeholders are likely apathetic or unaware of changes unless they are actively contributing to protocol code or building a product that is dependent on a consensus change. It is therefore important in consensus changes for all stakeholders to form an opinion ahead of the actual consensus change, moving away from apathetic and unaware (SOM3, SOM4) to either being supportive or not supportive of a change (SOM1, SOM2, SOM5, SOM6). It is only when stakeholders are engaged that it is possible to reach consensus without whiplash that might result from regret of not participating. If stakeholders remain apathetic or unaware of changes, the risk is that new precedents may be set without their input or their apathy delays the consensus process. Future changes might then build on these precedents, and by the time stakeholders re-engage, they could find that bitcoin has evolved into something very different from what they initially supported.