Events

Ahab hunting down Moby Dick. Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner. Learning Latin. Walking over hot coals. Standing in a long line for boba tea or entrance to a small, overpriced clothing retail store. Forking up for luxury nonsense. What do these activities have in common? They’re all examples of the overvaluation of what economists call “sunk costs”: the price you’ve already irretrievably paid in time, money, effort, suffering, or any combination of them for an item, an experience, or a sense of self-esteem.

“We make fallacious decisions based on what we’ve invested in something, even if the probability of actually gaining an objective advantage from it is zero,” said Neir Eshel, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “And it’s not just us. This has been shown in animals across the animal kingdom.” Blame dopamine: the “do it again, do it some more” brain chemical that’s been much talked about in connection with pleasure, learning, and habit formation.

Engineers Without Borders USA is a national organization that connects hundreds of student and professional chapters across the country with communities in need around the world. The Stanford University Chapter, recently founded in 2025, has partnered with the Peltetec community in Ecuador, who is currently relying on an outdated and deteriorating water supply system. In this presentation, students from the Stanford Chapter will discuss their recent trip to Peltetec and their continued work to fund and execute this project.

Abby Maxman is the President and CEO of Oxfam America, where she leads with a transformative vision for a more just and equitable world. Under her leadership, Oxfam America is advancing its commitment to addressing the root causes of poverty, inequality, and injustice, through locally led partnerships in humanitarian policy and practice, and advocating for economic justice, gender equality, climate action, and rights and dignity in crisis.

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/people/abby-maxman/

Paulette Nonga Ongla is the CEO and President of Sayap Africa, a 501(3)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to empower, assist, and rebuild local communities in more than 10 African countries, addressing multi-sectoral problems with lmpactful and sustainable solutions that change lives. Sayap Africa focuses on central concerns, including: education; health; economic development; clean water and renewable energy; gender equality and women rights; youth training art and culture; protection of the environment and sustainable agriculture;and digital literacy.