God forbade...must reading!

Committment




The escalation of committment, described in a Barry Staw paper, known by the following sayings:



                                                         "Knee deep in the muddy"

                    "Throwing good money after bad"

                                                                     In for a dime, in for a dollar"



  The term is used to describe poor decision in business, government, politics and gambling. Irrational escalation when irrational decisions based on rational decisions, in the past, justify action already taken. An example, in a bidding war, more is bid than is worth.



  Take the case of Robert Campeau who ended up buying Bloomingdale's for 600-million more than it was worth. The Wall Street Journal said, "we're not dealing with price, anymore, but ego's". Campeau was, soon, forced to declare bankruptcy.



  In an attempt to increase market share, competing brands spend money with few results. This seen between Maxwell House and Folger's,  Coke and Pepsi,  Kodak and Polaroid. A commercial application of the Red Queen rule.



The Red Queen hypothesis taken from Lewis Carroll's, Through the Looking Glass,
where the Red Queen said  "the chess board moves, Alice must keep running just to stay in place."



  Sex is an evolutionary puzzle. Males make up half the population, yet, they bear no offspring, directly, or, generally, contribute little toward survival. In some circles, like lions, males pose a positive threat to live young fathered by other males. The sexes spend resources to attract and compete for mates. The attraction is two-fold. In birds of paradise, potential mates are attracted, but so are predators.



  This brings in Richard Dawkins, 'selfish gene' whose goal is to reproduce itself, but, may draw from producing other genes. The author does not intend to imply  'selfish genes'  are driven by motives, feelings or will, but, the effects described as if they were.



  The implication, a power struggle between genes, but, generally, genes win without a fight. Only a problem when the organism is smart enough to know its interests, distinct from their genes. As in birth control to prevent fertilization, putting a hold on replicating genes.





Wikipedia