So I was thinking the other day how much oneitis is like an old car you have. With an old car, the first time it breaks down, you shell out the money. This is not unlike when a woman flakes on you or does something else negative, but you put up with it... You are now invested.

It becomes a snowball, your investments getting bigger and bigger, since "hey, I already paid for the new tires, I'll shell out more for the repairs". You become more invested in the car (girl), and since you already invested so much, you don't want to go out and buy a new car (find a new girl) because it means you wasted time on those other repairs.

Truth of the matter is, there is a point where paying for these investments costs a LOT more than simply finding a new one, but as humans, we hate loss aversion so much that we keep hoping that it's the last investment, and it'll pay off. Majority of the time, it's better to just shell out for the new one.

When I framed it like that, it helped me realize that I should not be putting as much effort into any one girl if I'm not getting much out of it, and there are some girls I need to seriously put on the backburner now. If they come around, great, but I'm not investing anymore energy into it.