I think it’s somewhat natural and am not personally surprised. It’s easy to quickly select an option, that has no consequence, compared to actively considering that not selecting something is an option. Not selecting something feels more like actively participating than just checking a box and moving on. /shrug

We -- the people who live in front of a computer -- have been training ourselves to avoid noticing annoyances like captchas, advertising, and GDPR notices for quite a long time.

We find what appears to be the easiest combination "Fuck off, go away" buttons and use them without a moment of actual consideration.

(This doesn't mean that it's actually the easiest method.)