Quantum mechanics and rational ignorance

Abstract

In the present article we use the quantum formalism to describe the process of choice under rational ignorance. We consider as a basic task a question or an issue where the only answers are 0 and 1. We show that under rational ignorance the opinion state of a person can be described as a qubit state. We analyze the predictions that the quantum formalism give in the study of rational ignorance. We find that answers to different uncorrelated questions are contextual, that is they are influenced by the previous questions, even if uncorrelated. Another interesting prediction is an uncertainty effect which holds when we consider the statistical variance of two or more questions under rational ignorance.