Few people know this term, yet most of us live by it. Sunk Cost thinking is what keeps us in lost wars, bad relationships, unhealthy communities, toxic situations – you name something that is bad for us and sunk cost thinking is part of the problem. It is a cognitive bias that keeps us going down a particular path – even if it is the wrong path – because we have already invested a lot of time, money, and/or emotion into it. We stay in a war because leaving would “dishonor” those who have sacrificed their lives already. We keep putting money into a business or program because “we can’t give up on our commitment.” We stay in a relationship because we “believe that the other will change.” It is the opposite of cutting one’s losses. It is at the core of the joke’s punchline, “If that burnt-out light bulb was good enough for grandma, it’s good enough for me!”
We see it in politics and in the church and in our families; we have publicly supported an idea or concept or belief and are embarrassed to admit that we are wrong. It is anti-evolutionary, focusing on who we have always been and not on who we might become. For example, I tell people that I wasn’t always so accepting of people who are not straight; I didn’t understand it and I had been taught by the culture to believe it was wrong. I had to admit that my upbringing and cultural biases were wrong about a lot of things. I had to acknowledge that the way we had always done it may have been the best they could do then, but not now. It is a frightening thing to listen to people who use 18th-century thinking to address 21st-century problems. Things have changed a little, don’t you think?
Religious institutions are guilty of this; we keep doing the same programs and worship because we see it as part of a grand history that should be cherished and maintained. Never mind that Jesus didn’t say thee and thou. Never mind that even Amazing Grace was criticized as new once. Wise people keep what works and get rid of that which doesn’t. Foolish people hang on, even if it will hurt them. Some cherished relics should be kept; some should be jettisoned. It isn’t that hard to tell the difference between that which inspires and that which drags us down.
Maybe that’s why we call the things we drag around through life baggage. We think we need it, so we hang on to it. It connects us with things that may have mattered once but are no longer necessary or even meaningful. In every part of life, I encourage you (and myself) to evaluate our choices. For me, I try to choose that which brings life and joy and spirit. I have tried to rid myself of those parts of myself that have dragged me and others down. I have worked to give up on those aspects of myself that do not bring life, and I will continue to do so because I am not done yet. Cutting our losses is scary, but it is also liberating. And it makes us all better.
Prayer – Holy God, You have created us as amazing people, but You are not done with us yet. Help us to improve on what You have started. Amen.
Today’s art is “Our Future” by Jane Zhang (2019).