Here's a though experiment. Take a pice of 30" copper pipe, 1/2" diameter, like those used in plumbing and bend it in your hands. Now keep the same length, but increase the diamter to 6". The larger diameter would be thinner, but would be harder to deflect. It would also be more prone to breakage.
I learned this lesson back in the 80's when I worked at a bicycle shop. That's back when the manufacturers started experimenting with over-sized tubing. Today, all bikes use the larger diameter for greater stiffness at the same, or less weight.
Goog