If, as the saying goes, less is more, why do we humans overdo so much? In a new paper featured on the cover of Nature, University of Virginia researchers explain why people rarely look at a situation, an object or an idea that needs improving, in all kinds of contexts, and think to remove something as a solution. Instead, we almost always add some elements, whether it helps or not.
"It happens in engineering design, which is my main interest," said Leidy Klotz. "But it also happens in writing, cooking and everything else. Just think about your own work and you will see it. The first thing that comes to our minds is, what can we add to make it better. Our paper shows we do this is harmful to ourselves, when the only right answer is to subtract(减去)."
Klotz, whose research explores the overlaps between engineering and behavioral science, teamed with three colleagues from the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy on the interdisciplinary (跨学科的) research that shows just how additive we are by nature.
"Additive ideas come to mind quickly and easily, but subtractive ideas require more cognitive(认知的) effort," Converse said. "Because people are often moving fast and working with the first ideas that come to mind, they end up accepting additive solutions without considering subtraction at all.
"The more often people rely on additive strategies, the more cognitively accessible they become," Adams said. "Over time, the habit of looking for additive ideas may get stronger and stronger, and in the long run, we end up missing out on many opportunities to improve the world by subtraction."
Klotz has a book that takes a wider view of the topic, Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less: coming out a week after the Nature paper. "It's an incredibly interesting finding. and I think our research has great implications across contexts, especially in engineering to improve how we design technology to benefit humanity," Klotz said.
