How do you determine the difference between catching a falling knife and buying the dip?

I guess this boils down to: do you hate losing more than you love winning, or do you love winning more than you hate losing?

Since yesterday when Bitcoin was at $37k, I've been seeing a lot of posters talk about not catching a falling knife. Bitcoin is down 50% from its ATH just a few months ago. Many altcoins are well over 50% too.

Like anybody, I hate the idea of catching a falling knife and watching the value of my investment drop immediately after buying. However, missing the opportunity to buy more and increase my position in an asset I want to hold is even more agonizing.

Too many times I've waited and ended up missing out. Back in August of 2021, when BTC dropped to $29k and ETH to 1,800, for example. Sure, I bought on the way down, but not nearly half as much as I wanted to as I didn't want to catch the falling knife. Both coins rocketed back too fast for me to realize what was happening.

So many posters saying this is a falling knife sound like they're talking out their asses.

So how do you decide when a knife is falling or to buy the dip?

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Edit***

Damn, kinda surprised by all the thoughtful, well-reasoned responses. Was expecting a barrage of shitposts. Russian drama got you bringing out the sensitive side. ;-)

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