So it turns out Up and Atom made a video about this a while ago(https://youtu.be/cALezV_Fwi0)! Thanks for bringing that to my attention commenters! I've just watched it and it's really good! The whole channel is fantastic actually. Check it out! This spring paradox is actually an analogy for Braess's Paradox which is about traffic. The surprising behaviour of the springs when the blue rope is cut is just like how journey times can actually go down when you close a major road, even with the same

Did you know the Spring Paradox is an analogy of the traffic-based 'Braess's Paradox'? Allow me to explain the theories... | Steve Mould