Your brain prefers to add rather than subtract and why that could derail success

Even if you aren’t a math person, your brain is often thinking in mathematical terms. But a new study shows you that your brain is often thinking using approaching problems through a mathematical lens, but it may not be doing it in the most productive way.

According to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, and published in the journal, Nature, humans more often than not add an element when trying to improve a situation as opposed to taking one away. This was found to be true in various scenarios and contexts.

Why your brain adds instead of subtracts

To demonstrate this, the authors set up eight experiments, wherein participants were asked to resolve hypothetical issues.

Consistently, subjects failed to appreciate subtractive changes as potential solutions. When the task did not (versus did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (versus several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy, or when they were under a higher (versus lower) cognitive load.

“Improving objects, ideas or situations—whether a designer seeks to advance technology, a writer seeks to strengthen an argument or a manager seeks to encourage desired behavior—requires a mental search for possible changes,” the authors wrote in the new paper.

“We investigated whether people are as likely to consider changes that subtract components from an object, idea, or situation as they are to consider changes that add new components. People typically consider a limited number of promising ideas in order to manage the cognitive burden of searching through all possible ideas, but this can lead them to accept adequate solutions without considering potentially superior alternatives.”

The authors found that people are instinctually additive.

“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.”

“It happens in engineering design, which is my main interest,” said Leidy Klotz, Copenhaver Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Systems and Environment. “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, even when the only right answer is to subtract. Even with financial incentive, we still don’t think to take away.”

“Additive ideas come to mind quickly and easily, but subtractive ideas require more cognitive 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.”