Don't give [the audience] four; give them two plus two.

Andrew Stanton, a Pixar writer-director (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL·E), uses this line when teaching story craft and audience engagement. It appears in his widely circulated TED talk on storytelling, where he argues that effective narratives invite viewers to participate rather than passively receive information. In that setting, Stanton frames the idea as a practical rule for writers: don’t over-explain or deliver every conclusion outright. Instead, provide enough cues and structure that the audience can infer, anticipate, and emotionally invest—doing a small but meaningful amount of mental work that makes the story feel more satisfying and “alive.”

The “two plus two” metaphor urges storytellers to leave interpretive space. Giving the audience “four” means stating the conclusion explicitly—spelling out motives, themes, or implications so completely that there’s nothing left to discover. Giving “two plus two” means presenting clear, well-chosen elements that allow the audience to connect the dots themselves. That act of inference creates engagement, trust, and pleasure: viewers feel respected and become collaborators in meaning-making. The principle also guards against didacticism and exposition-heavy writing, encouraging subtext, implication, and dramatic evidence over explanation.