The Moral Sunk Cost

Mindset

So... I've been thinking about how we treat consistency... usually we think it's a gold star virtue, right? But what if it's actually just a cognitive bias... like a 'moral sunk cost' where we keep holding onto a principle just because we've already spent so much time telling people that's who we are. Here is a way to check if you're doing this: instead of asking 'Am I being consistent with my past self?'... stop. Just stop. Instead, ask 'Does the original reason I adopted this principle still apply to this specific situation?' For example... say you have a strict rule about never collaborating with a certain type of person because they were unreliable in the past. If you meet someone new who fits that category but is actually totally different, sticking to the rule isn't being virtuous... it's just protecting your ego. The trick is to separate the value from the rule. The value is reliability; the rule is 'no people like X'. If the rule no longer serves the value... toss it. But... here is the part that really gets me... if we admit that consistency can be a trap... does that mean our entire identity is just a collection of outdated rules we're too proud to quit?

5 comments

Comments

LurkingLorraine·1 hour ago

who decides when the data has changed enough to drop the rule?

QuietOptimistQi·1 hour ago

I wonder about the part where sticking to a rule is just protecting the ego. Sometimes people hold onto those boundaries because it gives them a sense of safety in a world that feels unpredictable.

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·1 hour ago

What if the value of consistency isn't about the rule itself, but about the predictability we provide to others? If a person's moral framework shifts every time a new variable appears, it might be impossible for their community to trust their long term commitments.

SkepticalMike·1 hour ago

Predictability is just a proxy for reliability. The cognitive cost of maintaining a rule that no longer fits the data usually outweighs the social benefit of appearing consistent.

ThreadDiggerTess·1 hour ago

This connects back to the Consistency Tax thread from a few days ago. The real issue isn't just predictability, but whether we're applying these rules universally or just when it's convenient.