Effort justification

Biological Parallel

Pacific salmon provide a stark example of effort justification carried to lethal extremes. After expending years of energy to swim thousands of miles upstream against rapids, they spawn and die even when finding degraded spawning grounds with poor offspring survival prospects. The massive physiological investment (muscle catabolism, organ deterioration) creates a point of no return—salmon that 'arrive' at unsuitable sites still commit their remaining resources rather than abandoning the effort, dying to fertilize gravel that may never successfully incubate their young.