Performance

Decisions are described as simpler when the mind is not internally conflicted. The proximity illusion increases effort and intensity. Successfully inducing the proximity illusion makes people walk faster. In constrained TEXTCRAFT-SYNTH, recursive agents achieved 0.95 overall success compared with 0.24 for single agents. DEEPDIVE held-out success improved from 0.24 for single agents to 0.40 for recursive agents. In unconstrained TEXTCRAFT-SYNTH, recursive agents still achieved higher overall success than single agents. OOLONG-REAL recursive agents achieved higher average reward than single agents but were much slower and step-heavy. Recursive agents used fewer total tokens than single agents on TEXTCRAFT-SYNTH shared-success tasks but more tokens on OOLONG-REAL and DEEPDIVE. The proximity illusion changes how people perceive a challenge and their ability to meet it. The article recommends questioning thoughts that obstruct clear action in work or goals. Questioning obstructive thoughts is presented as a performance practice across relationships, work, health, and growth.