I think that there is a certain level of "living with" complexity that people are capable of handling until they fall back on fast thinking systems. For example

I think that there is a certain level of "living with" complexity that people are capable of handling until they fall back on fast thinking systems. For example, the complexity of the cereal aisle or picking a new show to watch on netflix, picking a new person to date on an app - once there is an overwhelm that requires deep thinking to solve a problem, a person defaults to an intuitive internal model to solve the problem. The cereal box with the fruit on it doesn't tell the whole story, the show with 5 stars is actually not a good show for you, that person might have a great smile - but be a horrible partner. This leads to sub-optimal choices for many things from getting a car loan, picking the healthiest food at a restaurant, marrying someone that has is toxic. All this is to say, American's feel as at least their living space is under their control and able to be simplified. And so the appeal of minimalism.