Another possible explanation for why older JW converts won't leave....

by besty 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  yesidid

  Another explanation is that:

  Over the years we gather around us a support system, friends and relatives we can lean on for support when things go wrong.

  As witnesses their support system is in the Watchtower fold. They are told not to make friends "in the world".

  As we get older it is difficult to get that support group again from scratch. We just dont have the energy to go out and join clubs or whatever is required to cultivate people with similar interests.

  So we are feeling old and vulnerable and more than ever need the only support we are ever likely to have.

  This is the case with some of my older friends and relatives.

  y
• 

  Mickey mouse

  Links in with Terry's wax fruit analogy.
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  In economics it is known as a sunk cost. It isn't rational for one to consider costs already incurred an paid for when determining a future action, but many people still do. From Wikipedia on "sunk costs" (bold emphasis mine):

  In economics and business decision-making, sunk costs are retrospective (past) costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are sometimes contrasted with prospective costs, which are future costs that may be incurred or changed if an action is taken. Both retrospective and prospective costs may be either fixed (that is, they are not dependent on the volume of economic activity, however measured) or variable (dependent on volume).

  In traditional microeconomic theory, only prospective (future) costs are relevant to an investment decision. Traditional economics proposes that an economic actor not let sunk costs influence one's decisions, because doing so would not be rationally assessing a decision exclusively on its own merits. The decision-maker may make rational decisions according to their own incentives; these incentives may dictate different decisions than would be dictated by efficiency or profitability, and this is considered an incentive problem and distinct from a sunk cost problem.

  Evidence from Behavioral economics suggests this theory fails to predict real-world behavior. Sunk costs greatly affect actors' decisions, because humans are inherently loss-averse and thus normally act irrationally when making economic decisions.

  Sunk costs should not affect the rational decision maker's best choice. However, until a decision-maker irreversibly commits resources, the prospective cost is an avoidable future cost and is properly included in any decision-making processes. For example, if you are considering pre-ordering movie tickets, but have not actually purchased them yet, the cost remains avoidable. If the price of the tickets rises to an amount that requires you to pay more than the value you place on them, the change in prospective cost should be figured into the decision-making, and the decision should be reevaluated.

  The choice of how to spend one's time and one's life is just another economic decision that many people make irrationally, taking sunk costs (time already spent) into account when it really has no bearing on a decision for a future life course.
• 

  DaCheech

  great analogy.

  i have caught on to this scam, I stopped donating any $$$$ many years ago.

  I try to let my mother know that she should not sacrifice her meager social sec. check on THEM.

  I try to bring my kids up in the watered down version of the Witlesses, and therefore will stall their baptism at all costs
• 

  Mad Sweeney

  There is the literal sunk cost of money, but more than that it is the sunk cost of invested time, energy, education, and everything else one sacrifices when they "buy out time for spiritual interests (loaded phrase)." Nobody wants past efforts to seem wasted, even when they KNOW they HAVE BEEN and have NO BEARING on the future.
• 

  alias

  Over the years we gather around us a support system, friends and relatives we can lean on for support when things go wrong.

  As witnesses their support system is in the Watchtower fold. They are told not to make friends "in the world".

  As we get older it is difficult to get that support group again from scratch. We just dont have the energy to go out and join clubs or whatever is required to cultivate people with similar interests.

  My parents, now in their 70s, have almost 40 years of thier lives invested. My dad took an early retirement and they moved to serve where the need is great. They've been serving there ever since and will be until the end of their days.

  They, like many old-timers, are at a point where their whole existence is dependant upon being active in the JW culture. Their whole social life and purpose is wrapped up in and around supporting the organization. It's sad, but that's their reality and only source of self. I'd never in a million years try to destroy that for them.

  To me, their hope is grounded in sincerity, and no different from others who believe in some wonderful afterlife. They are good people surrounded by a lot of other good people who'd give you the shirt off their back to help you. Sad that they have given so much of their lives for a concept perpetuated by a group of men. It's a no-win situation for either of us.

  alias
• 

  kurtbethel

  They have fallen into the previous investment trap. It could be evidence of mental disease. Regarding this trap, remember this:

  "In every case, the question is: With what you have now, what is the best way to use that to get the most in the future?" What you’ve paid to get where you are now is irrelevant; those resources are gone and can’t be retrieved, no matter what you do."