What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to develop a formal mathematical model that quantifies an indicator of irrational behavior, termed 'Stupidity'.

January 17, 2026Open Access

The Theory of Stupidity: A Formal Model of Cognitive Vulnerability.

Key Points

The study aims to develop a formal mathematical model that quantifies an indicator of irrational behavior, termed 'Stupidity'.
Developed a mathematical model to assess cognitive failure probability.
Defined stupidity as a vulnerability related to attention control and environmental complexity.
Analyzed the effects of information load on rationality versus human behavior.
Quantified the relationship between information load and irrational decision-making.
Demonstrated that traditional links between intelligence and rationality are insufficient.
Identified key factors contributing to cognitive failure in complex environments.

Abstract

This paper presents a formal mathematical model of the integral "Stupidity" indicator (G) — a metric assessing the probability of irrational behavior (cognitive failure) of an agent under the influence of information load. Unlike traditional theories linking rationality to general intelligence, stupidity is defined here as an architectural vulnerability arising from an imbalance between environmental complexity and attention control mechanisms. Publication Information: Journal: Science, Technology and Education, 2025. № 4 (100). ISSN 2312-8267. DOI Prefix: 10. 20861. Conference: CXI International Scientific and Practical Conference «International Scientific Review of the Problems and Prospects of Modern Science and Education», Boston, USA, December 16-17, 2025. ISBN 978-1-64655-169-9. Related Work: This formal mathematical model serves as the foundation for the published book "The General Stupidity Theory" (ISBN 978-5-0068-9917-9), published January 14, 2026. Research Data: The validation code and synthetic datasets are available at: https: //github. com/bricsin4u/stupidity-theory-research-data

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