"Of course, a small number of people would choose to cut their losses; I'm talking about most people here, not everyone."
The crowd, after hearing this, seemed thoughtful.
This problem is actually quite similar to one Laine often faced in his previous life: the choice between "a guaranteed one million or a fifty percent chance of five million, fifty percent of nothing." Even though everyone knew the expected return of the second choice was higher, most would choose the first, as it offered a secure one million.
But if it turned into "a guaranteed loss of one million or a fifty percent chance of losing five million, fifty percent chance of no loss," most people would choose the second. They knowingly picked the larger expected loss because what if they hit the jackpot with no loss at all?
It's worth emphasizing here, Laine refers to most people, not everyone, excluding the overly critical and those who are rational enough.
