{
  "id": "sunk-cost.path",
  "term": "sunk cost",
  "sense": "path",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "domain": "path dependence",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "work already spent, which sets no wall and yet is treated as one",
  "folk_gloss": "money or effort already spent that can't be recovered",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "work.effort",
      "loss.economic",
      "parameter.condition",
      "window.range",
      "wall.range-end",
      "model.representation",
      "self-model.reflexive"
    ],
    "interaction": "self-model treats spent work as a wall, though it sets none",
    "novel_properties": [
      "cognitive trap of false necessity"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "sunk cost"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — path dependence"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-sunk-cost.path"
}