The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Why We Stay in Uncomfortable Situations -

Our brain hates many things:

Being wrong

Being in awkward situations

Being rejected

But one thing the brain hates the most is loss. So, it actively tries to avoid those losses, even at the risk of incurring more losses down the line.

This is why we:

• Buy two extra packs of detergent to get that 3 for 2 discount even though we can afford only one pack
• Stay in the horrible job with the toxic boss because quitting is an admission of failure and failure is the height of loss.
• Eat that second tub of ice cream because it spoils tomorrow
• Sit pretty in that abusive 10 years relationship because what will happen to the kids? And what will our IG fans say?

This phenomenon is known as the sunk cost fallacy. We focus much of our decision-making on how and where to focus our time, money, resources, and effort. Sunk costs, like the name implies, are things we have already invested and cannot recoup. It can be something physical, like money and assets, or intangible things like time, emotional energy, and youth. Because the brain focuses on losses, sunk costs are inflated and prioritized, even when staying in the current…