Consider the following two sentences:
- Because the more time a person invests into specific interests, the better their results.
- Because the more time a person will invest into their specific interests, the better their results.
Why is it that the first one is preferred on stylistic grounds?
I’m taking it that you’re interested in the different verb forms in each example. The present tense can be used to express a general truth, such as ‘Water boils at 100 degrees centigrade’, and this is how it is being used in (1).
In (2) the modal verb will + the plain form of invest gives a rather different emphasis. It suggests that a certain amount of volition is required in following the advice offered. It’s less a question of one or the other being preferred on stylistic grounds, and more a question of what meaning the writer is trying to express.
As others have pointed out, these are dependent clauses, and in my school, we were taught there are essentially three categories of dependent clauses, based on their tense:
If you work hard, you will succeed.
If you worked hard, you would succeed.
If you had worked hard, you would have succeeded.
These all carry different sense and meaning, but if we use this template to judge your sentences, your first sentence is correct because it falls in the template. And second one doesn't.
Maybe what you're stating is a fact, or a general observation, and hence the first sentence from the template makes more sense.
