Tendency to Minimize Energy Output

Organisms conserve energy whenever possible—taking shortcuts, choosing the path of least resistance, and defaulting to habits over deliberate thought. This is adaptive in resource-scarce environments but maladaptive when the easy path isn't the right path. In modern life, this manifests as cognitive laziness, choosing familiar over optimal, and avoiding the mental effort required for good decisions.

When to use it

When designing user experiences, processes, or incentive systems. When people aren't following best practices despite knowing them. When you want to change behavior—reduce the energy cost of the desired action.

How it can help

Explains why people default to heuristics even when stakes are high, why process improvements are resisted, and why the status quo has such power. Helps design systems that work WITH this tendency (make the right thing easy) rather than against it.