Ep. 603: Avoid the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, and Why it’s Hard to Plan for Emergencies

We talk about how to avoid the mental trap of the “sunk-cost fallacy.” Plus, why it’s so hard to plan for emergencies and the biases that keep us from preparing for risk. 

Episode highlights:

Try This at Home: Avoid the sunk-cost fallacy—the mental trap that keeps us committed because of the time, money, or energy we’ve already spent [04:57]

Happiness Hack: Create a personal reading syllabus with deadlines to help you read more [12:58]

Happiness Stumbling Block: Six common biases that make it difficult to assess and prepare for rare but serious emergencies [16:03]

Demerits and Gold Stars: Gretchen’s Demerit: Turning into a Knicks bore; Elizabeth’s Gold Star: To her friend Mindy for a new exercise experience [24:11]

Mentioned in this episode:

The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disasters by Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther (Amazon, Bookshop)

This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark by Craig Fehrman (Amazon, Bookshop)

Audition by Katie Kitamura (Amazon, Bookshop)

Rolling utility cart

Happier Labor Day resources