The research also noted that individuals rate additive solutions as more feasible and effective.
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This bias tends to increase with age, and even AI advice leans heavily toward additive recommendations.
Interestingly, the data showed that people only naturally suggest subtractive advice to close friends. For themselves or strangers, they almost always default to recommending more activities.
The authors of the study concluded that this bias creates a problematic social cycle.
Advising each other to constantly do more in an already time-poor world leaves people feeling significantly more overwhelmed.
Dr. Tom Barry from the University of Bath noted that while people recognize the value of removing harmful elements, their instincts resist it.
This turns mental health management into an endless list of chores.
According to Barry, effective advice must establish a proper balance between doing more and doing less.
This philosophy can also apply to how people direct their time and money toward political activism.
Therapist Linda Sanderville advocates for a subtractive approach through "radical imagination." She intentionally schedules regular periods to completely disconnect from all forms of digital media, television, and news.
Sanderville explained that it is incredibly difficult to consume and create in the same psychological state.
Giving the brain a break from consumption provides the necessary space to process information.
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Consciously creating this mental space is essential since natural instincts favor consumption. Reducing the daily grind allows individuals to spend their limited energy on things that deeply matter.
