IT DOESN’T ADD UP

In a new paper featured on the cover of Nature, University of Virginia researchers explain why people seldom look at a situation, object or idea that needs improving and think to remove something as a solution – instead, typically adding an element, whether it helps or not. The team’s findings suggest it’s a fundamental reason that people struggle with overwhelming schedules and that humanity is exhausting the planet’s resources. “It happens in engineering design, which is my main interest,” says lead research Professor 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 to our detriment.” The reason for it, researchers found, is that additive ideas come to mind quickly and easily, while subtractive ideas require more cognitive effort. “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,” says Klotz.