This is often my pain as a senior dev. If the more junior members of my team propose something, and it's perfectly acceptable, if I just rubber stamp it then it looks like I didn't read it or do anything. So with some of the past managers I've had, I felt like I had to find something to point out, so best to find something that doesn't inconvenience the proposal author too much.

I could see the same dynamic in reverse when I had to propose stuff to the central tech team at that employer.

Why not compliment them with a job well done? Add some details in your compliment that shows you've read their proposal.

Do you mean the babble hypothesis? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babble_hypothesis

That's exactly it! I didn't knew it had a name until today. Thanks!