The fee is spent

Sunk cost is a payment you cannot get back. It is a reason to feel annoyed. It is not, by itself, a reason to continue. The class you dislike, the fare already paid, the hours already spent: the next hour should be chosen by what it will do, not by what is gone. People hear this and think it forbids grief or loyalty. It does not. It only says the spent fee cannot be unspent by sitting through a worse option.

Cognitive bias

Sunk cost

Sunk-cost thinking lets a past loss decide a future choice. Money or time already spent is gone whether you continue or stop. The live question is which option is better from now on.

Open the full card

Mini check

You keep attending a class you dislike because you have already paid the fee, even though a different class would serve you better and the fee will not be refunded either way. Which bias is this?

Sunk cost: the choice continues only because the fee was spent.Confirmation bias: only the evidence that agrees is allowed in.Framing: the same facts are made to feel different by wording.Appeal to authority: a famous name is cited outside their field.

Try it today

Name one thing you are continuing only because you already paid, and decide the next step without that payment.

Next step