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Monday, April 11, 2016

The Sunk Cost Fallacy

David McRaney
You are Not So Smart Blog: The Celebration of Self-Delusion
Originally published March 25, 2011 (and still relevant)

The Misconception: You make rational decisions based on the future value of objects, investments and experiences.

The Truth: Your decisions are tainted by the emotional investments you accumulate, and the more you invest in something the harder it becomes to abandon it.

The blog post is here.

Note: This heuristic may be one reason psychologists hang onto patients longer than required.