What is the Sunk Cost Fallacy, and how can it be a positive thing to quit? When a person commits the Sunk Cost Fallacy, they’re choosing to stick with a decision they made in the past, even though the outcome of this decision no longer appeals to them. They’re focusing too much on the resources they’ve already invested, and allowing the past to cloud their decision about the future. It can be a positive thing to quit, because it allows you to move on from things you are no longer enjoying. People are more likely to be happy if they quit a job that makes them miserable, even if they spent years studying to get that job.
Why are we prone to make the mistake, give some examples of cases in your life where you’ve committed the mistake? People make this mistake because they’ve been taught that quitting is bad, and that they should stick with the choices they’ve made. They also make it because they see quitting as a sure loss, when they have the chance to invest more resources, and possibly recover what they’ve already lost. Taking this risky gamble seems like the right choice for them, because they are allowing the sunk cost to effect what they think their risks going forward are. When I was in high school, I joined the Softball team because I knew my parents wanted me to be involved in sports. I had also convinced myself that I would love being on the team. I
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Both of these sayings focus on the concept of the Sunk Cost Fallacy. The first saying encourages this fallacy, saying that if you’ve invested a penny, it is worth investing however much else you may need to. The second saying is the opposite. It criticizes people who spend more money on a project they should not have invested in to begin with. These statements give an example of a person who has no concept of the Sunk Cost Fallacy, and an example of someone who understands it