People are bad at spotting simple solutions to problems

Leonardo Da Vinci said that a poet recognises perfection when there is nothing left to remove. 

In other words, less is more. But when solving problems people tend to think the other way, adding elements rather than removing them.

 Gabrielle Adams at the University of Virginia and colleagues asked people to complete several tasks where solutions involved either adding or subtracting elements. All the experiments were designed so that subtraction would be one of the most efficient options. 

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