...As Stupid Does

A couple of scientists at a Hungarian university joined with a researcher at Baylor University to do some scientific research on what exactly constitutes stupidity. In case you are wondering why Hungarian researchers would partner with someone from a college in Waco, Texas, the name of the Baylor prof is Zoltan Kekecs, and who wouldn't want to have a name like Zoltan on your scientific paper?

I would have thought they would publish excerpts from the Congressional Record and left it at that, but I would make a poor scientist or at least a lazy one. The study culled stories about stupid events from news sources and the internet -- there was apparently no shortage -- and selected ones that were clear and relatively brief (The omission of Congressional Record excerpts now seems to make more sense).

The incidents were then rated for stupidity on a scale of 1-10 and examined to see what psychological factors might influence the actions. They came up with these elements of stupidity: 1) confident ignorance, or taking high-risk actions without the skill or knowledge to do so safely, 2) absentmindedness or lack of practicality, basically boiling down to not paying attention and 3) lack of control, meaning obsessive or addictive behavior.

Because the students conducting the research were Hungarian college students, a group that runs roughly four-fifths female, a fourth category was considered before being rejected as too specific: Hülye boyfriends who never call back because they're playing video games.