Scientific Definition
Continuing a failing course of action because of prior investment.
Plain-English Definition
Continuing a failing course of action because of prior investment.
Feynman Explanation
The deeper the hole, the more we insist on digging.
Core Principle
Continuing a failing course of action because of prior investment.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Continuing a failing course of action because of prior investment.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Sunk cost logic is the silent killer of capital allocation.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The deeper the hole, the more we insist on digging.
Examples
- A project keeps getting funding because it has already consumed so much.
- Sunk cost logic is the silent killer of capital allocation.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Set kill criteria before the project begins, not after it struggles.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Set kill criteria before the project begins, not after it struggles.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Binding the future self with a present cost-of-defection to overcome impulse and inertia.
A mechanism that locks you into a future action to overcome present temptation.
How will I feel about this in 10 minutes / 10 months / 10 years?
Inattention or forgetfulness caused by low attention, hyperfocus, or distraction.
Forgetting to compare an offer with the next-best alternative.
Outcomes that could have happened but did not.
Overthinking a situation so that decision-making stalls.
The first number on the table silently sets the range for every number after it.
Tversky & Kahneman's classic: identical outcomes flip from 'risk averse' to 'risk seeking' when framed as lives saved vs. lives lost.
Our perception is shaped by what we selectively pay attention to.
Favoring suggestions from automated systems over conflicting human judgment.
A color appears different depending on adjacent colors.