Canonical definition
Sunk Cost Effect is the tendency for money, time, or effort that cannot be recovered to influence what you choose next, even when the future costs and benefits should be enough to make the decision.
Free cognitive-bias Agent Skill
Sunk Cost Effect
Use Sunk Cost Effect as a focused cognitive-bias lens. Explain the pattern, check whether it plausibly fits the situation, surface an alternative non-bias explanation, and return a practical counter-check without diagnosing people or claiming causation.
Agent SkillsHermes AgentOpenClawChatGPT SkillsCodex
What the agent should do
Use one bias carefully, not as a diagnosis.
Output
- Plain-language explanation
- Observed signal
- Alternative explanation
- Evidence boundary
- Practical counter-check
- What would change the assessment
Install
Free. One SKILL.md. No API key.
Hermes Agent
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skills/bias-cognitive-bias-sunk-cost-effect && curl -fsSL https://cognitive-biases.github.io/agent-skills/bias-cognitive-bias-sunk-cost-effect/SKILL.md -o ~/.hermes/skills/bias-cognitive-bias-sunk-cost-effect/SKILL.mdOpenClaw
mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/bias-cognitive-bias-sunk-cost-effect && curl -fsSL https://cognitive-biases.github.io/agent-skills/bias-cognitive-bias-sunk-cost-effect/SKILL.md -o ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/bias-cognitive-bias-sunk-cost-effect/SKILL.mdOther Agent Skills-compatible tools
Download SKILL.md and put it in the skill directory or import surface supported by your agent.
Boundary
A lens, not a verdict.
The skill must preserve uncertainty, surface a non-bias explanation and avoid turning a cognitive-bias label into a claim about a person's motives, intelligence or mental health.