1) buy a new spatula and use it = positive utility
2) buy a new spatula, then forget it exists = negative utility
3) never buy the spatula = neutral
The ideal situation is #1. Alicorn is describing a fix to the common failure state, which is #2. Using this technique should result in either #3 (you won’t use the item and therefor don’t buy it) or #1 (you remember to use it)
The issue is that to get $80 worth of value from the cloak, you have to remember to use it. This will require changing habits that would previously have relied on other possessions (in Alicorn’s case, sweaters). For some people and some purchases, people forget to evaluate this. Alicorn has developed a technique that makes her aware of this requirement, helps her evaluate whether she really will remember to use it, and then further helps her to actually use it.
I think you’re confusing commitment with the sunk cost fallacy. Alicorn is committing to using a new wardrobe algorithm, which will properly value the cloak. Her old algorithm would undervalue it, because it wasn’t designed to handle “I have a cloak”. The sunk cost fallacy applies only if Alicorn continues wearing the cloak despite it being a reduction in utility; everything she has said here seems to indicate that wearing the cloak increases her utility; she just has to be careful to remember it as an option.
1) buy a new spatula and use it = positive utility 2) buy a new spatula, then forget it exists = negative utility 3) never buy the spatula = neutral
The ideal situation is #1. Alicorn is describing a fix to the common failure state, which is #2. Using this technique should result in either #3 (you won’t use the item and therefor don’t buy it) or #1 (you remember to use it)
The issue is that to get $80 worth of value from the cloak, you have to remember to use it. This will require changing habits that would previously have relied on other possessions (in Alicorn’s case, sweaters). For some people and some purchases, people forget to evaluate this. Alicorn has developed a technique that makes her aware of this requirement, helps her evaluate whether she really will remember to use it, and then further helps her to actually use it.
I think you’re confusing commitment with the sunk cost fallacy. Alicorn is committing to using a new wardrobe algorithm, which will properly value the cloak. Her old algorithm would undervalue it, because it wasn’t designed to handle “I have a cloak”. The sunk cost fallacy applies only if Alicorn continues wearing the cloak despite it being a reduction in utility; everything she has said here seems to indicate that wearing the cloak increases her utility; she just has to be careful to remember it as an option.