Sunk Cost: The Most Expensive Dinner of Dev's Life

Dev has spent too much to walk away. That is the sunk cost fallacy: letting what is already gone decide what you do next.

A man in a black suit tells a woman in a red dress across a lounge table that he has invested too much to walk away

The woman, unimpressed, gestures lightly as the man rests his chin on his hand

The man pleads with an open hand while the woman rests her chin on hers, unmoved

The woman turns to leave in a long red gown while the man stays at the table, hand over his mouth

The woman delivers her final line to the man across the lounge table

Lesson card: The Sunk Cost Fallacy. The man sits alone with the bill while the woman walks away in the background

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The idea

Sunk cost fallacy

The sunk cost fallacy is continuing something because of what you have already spent on it, not because of what it will give you next.

Spot it in RC passages: In reading passages, an argument that defends a plan by what has already been invested is a weak argument; questions on strengthening or weakening it often test exactly this.

What are you still doing only because you have already put so much in?

Practise RC passages →

Read this comic as text

A man in a black suit tells a woman in a red dress across a lounge table that he has invested too much to walk away. Dev: I've invested too much in us to walk away now.
The woman, unimpressed, gestures lightly as the man rests his chin on his hand. Her: Darling, you've confused expenditure with intimacy.
The man pleads with an open hand while the woman rests her chin on hers, unmoved. Dev: After everything I've spent? Her: The money is gone, Dev. The tragedy is that your taste hasn't improved.
The woman turns to leave in a long red gown while the man stays at the table, hand over his mouth.
The woman delivers her final line to the man across the lounge table. Her: You didn't stay because you loved me. You stayed because leaving meant admitting you were wrong.
Lesson card: The Sunk Cost Fallacy. The man sits alone with the bill while the woman walks away in the background. The Sunk Cost Fallacy. Don't let the past bill your future. What's spent is gone. Decide based on what comes next. Would you choose it again today? Sunk cost is continuing something because of what you have already spent, not because of what it will give you next.

What is the sunk cost fallacy?

The sunk cost fallacy is continuing something because of what you have already spent on it, not because of what it will give you next.

How does the sunk cost fallacy show up in RC passages?

In reading passages, an argument that defends a plan by what has already been invested is a weak argument; questions on strengthening or weakening it often test exactly this.

What should I take away from this comic?

Dev has spent too much to walk away. That is the sunk cost fallacy: letting what is already gone decide what you do next. Ask yourself: What are you still doing only because you have already put so much in?