The Happiness of Subtraction
Dr. Laurie Santos and Tim Harford explore the human bias towards action and the difficulty of subtraction. They share insights and strategies for doing less and taking things away to improve happiness and performance, drawing on examples from test pilots to parenting.
Deep Dive Analysis
16 Topic Outline
Introduction: The Bias Towards Action and Doing Less
Chuck Yeager's X-1A Flight: The Power of Doing Nothing
The Happiness Moral: Why We Struggle with Inaction
Examples of Masterly Inactivity: Medicine and Sports
The Challenge of Active Surveillance in Healthcare
Introducing the Difficulty of Subtraction
Ryan McFarland's Balance Bike: Subtracting for Innovation
Research on Subtraction Bias: Lego and Recipe Experiments
The Washington D.C. Itinerary: Too Much and No Subtraction
Marie Kondo and Minimalism: Subtracting Physical Clutter
Opportunity Cost: The Economic Principle of Scarcity
Over-scheduling Children: The Problem of Not Subtracting Enough
Keith Jarrett's Cologne Concert: Forced Subtraction Leads to Innovation
Simulating Forced Subtraction for Problem Solving
Overcoming the 'Yes-Damn Effect' with Strategic Saying No
Harnessing Opportunity Cost for Better Decision-Making
6 Key Concepts
Bias Towards Action
This is an instinctive human tendency to want to take action when faced with a problem, even if those actions might be ineffective or make the situation worse. It highlights our struggle to pause and let things be, even when inaction is the optimal choice.
Masterly Inactivity
This concept suggests that sometimes the most effective approach is to do nothing or very little. Examples include doctors over-prescribing treatments or soccer goalkeepers diving during penalty kicks when staying still might yield better results, driven by pressure to appear active.
Active Surveillance
A medical term, often used in cancer treatment, where instead of immediate surgery or chemotherapy, doctors 'watch and wait' to see how a tumor develops. Despite being called 'active,' it represents a form of inaction that many patients find incredibly scary, preferring to 'do something' even if futile.
Subtraction Bias
This is a deep cognitive bias where people find it much harder to solve problems by taking things away (subtracting) than by adding new elements. Experiments show subjects will add more blocks to stabilize a structure or ingredients to a recipe, even when removing something would be simpler and more efficient.
Opportunity Cost
A fundamental economic insight stating that everything you do, buy, or spend time on comes at the cost of something else you could have done, bought, or spent time on. Recognizing this helps in realizing that even good things might need to be subtracted to make space for other, potentially better, good things.
Yes-Damn Effect
This describes the common experience of saying 'yes' to a commitment in the present moment, only to later regret it (saying 'damn') when the time for that commitment arrives. It highlights how we often overcommit due to immediate social pressure or a failure to anticipate future time constraints.
5 Questions Answered
Humans have an instinctive bias towards action, feeling the need to be in control and actively solve problems, even when inaction might be more effective or prevent worsening a situation. This pressure to act can be seen in various fields, from test piloting to medicine and sports.
Goalkeepers typically dive left or right during a penalty kick, even though statistics show they would have a better chance of saving the ball by staying in the center. They feel pressure to act and appear to be trying, rather than risking looking ridiculous by standing still.
Research shows a deep-seated cognitive bias where people are much more likely to add elements to solve a problem than to remove them, even when subtraction is simpler, more efficient, or explicitly incentivized. This 'subtraction bias' affects everything from design to daily planning.
Opportunity cost highlights that every choice to do one thing means not doing another. Recognizing this helps in understanding that even good activities or possessions can get in the way of other good things, making it necessary to subtract some 'good' to make space for more enjoyment or other valuable experiences.
The 'yes-damn effect' occurs when we say 'yes' to commitments in the moment, often out of politeness or a desire to please, but later regret it ('damn!') when the time comes to fulfill those obligations. This leads to overscheduled lives and increased anxiety.
12 Actionable Insights
1. Understand Opportunity Cost
Recognize that every action, purchase, or time commitment has an opportunity cost, meaning it prevents you from doing something else. Use this awareness to prioritize and consciously subtract even ‘good stuff’ to make space for better things.
2. Overcome Addition Bias
Actively challenge your mind’s inherent bias towards adding when solving problems; consciously look for opportunities to subtract, even if it feels less intuitive or takes more effort to consider.
3. Practice Masterly Inactivity
When faced with a problem, especially when actions are ineffective or make things worse, pause, take hands off the controls, and let things be, as this pause offers the possibility of a new choice.
4. Subtract to Solve Problems
When solving problems, consider subtracting elements rather than always adding new ones, as removing unnecessary components can simplify learning and improve functionality.
5. Prioritize Subtraction Over Organization
To manage clutter and overwhelm effectively, focus on subtracting items and commitments rather than just organizing existing ones, because true relief and space come from having less.
6. Simulate Forced Subtraction
To overcome the bias for adding, use a thought exercise: imagine you are forced to subtract something to solve a problem, as this can make subtraction strategies more obvious and help identify unnecessary elements.
7. Practice the No-Yay Effect
To combat the ‘yes-damn effect’ and reinforce the benefits of saying no, implement the ’no-yay effect’: decline a commitment, then mark your calendar for the original due date with a reminder of your freedom, allowing you to experience the positive emotional reward of your decision.
8. Say No to Say Yes
When declining an invitation or commitment, reframe it as saying ‘yes’ to a higher priority, such as family time. To reinforce this positive choice, blind copy your spouse or accountability partner on the refusal email, making your decision visible and appreciated.
9. Reduce Kids’ Schedules
For parents, resist the urge to over-schedule children with numerous activities. Instead, consciously subtract commitments to allow kids time for rest, play, and social interaction, which can reduce anxiety and improve well-being.
10. Simplify Under Constraint
When faced with severe limitations or disruptions, embrace them as opportunities to simplify your approach or discover new, more effective methods that might not have occurred to you otherwise.
11. Resist Pressure to Act
When under pressure to act, especially in situations with high uncertainty, consider staying still or doing nothing, as it might yield a better outcome than guessing and acting.
12. Consider Active Surveillance
In medical situations, especially concerning conditions like cancer, be open to ‘active surveillance’ or ’non-operative management’ (watching and waiting) as a valid and potentially beneficial approach, even if it feels counter-intuitive to ‘do nothing’.
5 Key Quotes
When we're faced with a problem, most of us instinctively want to take action. We feel the need to do something, even in cases when we kind of know our actions will be ineffective or even make stuff worse.
Dr. Laurie Santos
You can't learn to equalize your weight on a bike with training wheels because the wheels wind up doing all the balancing work.
Dr. Laurie Santos
You can't organise your way out of too much. You can only subtract your way out of too much. You have to get rid of stuff.
Tim Harford
Everything you do, everything you buy, every hour you spend, is getting in the way of something else. It's something else you can't do, it's some other way you can't spend that hour, it's some other thing that you can't afford to buy because you bought that first thing.
Tim Harford
Sometimes you have to get rid of stuff that you really do want to do, stuff that is worth doing, because you can't do everything, and it's painful to face up to that.
Tim Harford
3 Protocols
Simulated Forced Subtraction
Dr. Laurie Santos (describing Leidy Klotz's suggestion)- In a problem-solving situation (e.g., business meeting), have someone on the team pose the question: 'What if we were forced to take something away?'
- Consider what would be removed if adding new elements was not an option.
- Identify the 'one thing' that would be taken out, even if it doesn't come naturally at first.
No-Yay Effect
Dr. Laurie Santos- When asked to commit to a project or event that you don't truly want to do, say 'no'.
- Record the fact that you were asked to do this commitment.
- Go to the date in your calendar when that project or event would have been due.
- Write a note to yourself reminding you that you didn't have to do that commitment on that day.
- Experience the positive feeling ('yay!') of having saved yourself time and stress, reinforcing the benefit of saying 'no'.
Blind Copy Opportunity Cost Reminder
Tim Harford- When declining an invitation or commitment via email, phrase your refusal by explicitly stating what you are saying 'yes' to instead (e.g., 'I'm saying yes to my family').
- Blind copy (BCC) the person you are prioritizing (e.g., your spouse) on the refusal email.
- This provides visibility to your loved one about the decisions you are making to prioritize them, reinforcing the positive impact of your 'no'.