We all cognise stupid when we see it ( or do it ) . But what defines it ? researcher from Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest , Hungary and Baylor University recently teamed up to find a scientific answer . Theypublished their findingsin the ably name journalIntelligence , thinking that the results might help us analyze our activity and prevent us from doing speechless things .
Since we are all “ stupid ” from prison term to time , the scientists had plenty of real - sprightliness case fabric to work with . accord toReal ClearScience , they pull together 180 stories that gave model of stupefied activeness from both the Internet and the daily reports of 26 college students . To verify the fib were short enough for analytic thinking , easily understandable , and were in reality “ dazed , ” a squad of seven individual vetted the actions .
Next , researchers had 154 college students order the stories for “ folly ” on a 1–10 scale , using one of 12 questionnaire that cited 15 fib of foolishness . The raters were tasked with deciding which psychological factors contributed to the stupid action ’s occurrence , how responsible the individual or environment was for causing it to arise , and whether any consequences followed .
The college students largely agreed on what was dazed and was n’t . Researchers reviewed the data , and synthesized their findings into three family . One way an action can be stunned , they write , is if “ the histrion pick out mellow risk while lacking the necessary skills to perform the risky action”—say , if thieves incidentally took GPS navigation devices when they mean to slip mobile phone phones , and were notice because they forgot to sprain them off . They dubbed this phenomenon “ confident ignorance . ”
The second criteria , “ Absentmindedness — Lack of practicality , ” would be familiar to any space cadet who forget to fill up their natural gas tanks or pay their cite wag bills on a regular base . As for the third class , “ want of ascendency , ” which stem from obsessional , compulsive , or addictive behavior , was responsible for for brain - dead behavior . ( One illustration : using a TV game substance abuse as an alibi to stand up a friend . )
And while we ’re all shamefaced of stupid actions , researchers did retrieve that people tend to try us for them more if we take over a high level of obligation or inflict serious outcome on anyone .
Of course , the study did have its limits ; all participant were Magyar college scholar , and about 79 pct of them were woman . There are surely ethnical variations on the construct of stupid . Still , at the end of the twenty-four hours , some thing are just so universally , evenfatally , dumb that nigh all of us will shake our heads in disbelief .
[ h / tReal Clear Science ]
