The Sunk Cost fallacy

for ex-BKs to discuss matters related to experiences in BKWSU & after leaving.
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ex-l

ex-BK

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The Sunk Cost fallacy

Post25 Nov 2011

People seek to avoid feelings of regret thus, they invest more money and time in a project with dubious results rather than give it up and admit they were wrong.

To put it simply, "sunk costs" are investments or costs which can never be recovered. The Sunk Cost fallacy is a fact of human tendency which certain types of individuals seek to exploit a predicable weakness in our behaviour, in order to turn a profit or live off.
Losses loom larger than corresponding gains ... people strongly prefer avoiding losses than acquiring gains ... people feel losses more deeply than gains of the same value.

As humans, we are 'loss averse' and act irrationally when making decisions. We prefer avoiding losses twice as much as gambling on making gains. One common misconception is that we make rational decisions based on the future value of objects, investments and experiences when, in fact, we lose twice as much satisfaction from a loss than we gain satisfaction from an equivalent reward or good luck.

The truth is our decisions are tainted by the emotional investments we have built up. The more we invest in something, in terms of time, money and labour, the harder it becomes to abandon it ... like being a Brahma Kumari adherent.
We don't stick with things over and over again to create good experiences and pleasant memories but to hold back the negative emotions we expect to feel if we accept the loss of time, effort, money or whatever else we have invested.

When I think then at what point leaving the BKWSU turns into actual action, it might happen when the benefits of leaving appears twice as attractive as the apparent benefit of sticking with it. I suspect the promise of gaining a kingdom in heaven on earth does figure into that at a conscious level but might at a child-like unconscious level. It is probably more to do with the day to day experience of being a BK.

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