Plan continuation bias

Biological Parallel

Migrating birds continue toward traditional breeding grounds even when early arrivals report food failure—plan continuation bias overrides new information. Once committed to a migratory plan (physiological preparation, fat deposition, departure), updating based on distant signals is costly. The mechanism: plans create commitment through sunk physiological costs. Changing destination mid-migration requires navigational recalculation, new fat reserves, different route knowledge. Unless local conditions are catastrophic, continuing the plan is cheaper than revision. Inertia is metabolically rational.