The Leonardo Paradox: Neurodivergent Cognitive Architecture and the Institutional Containment Problem in Elite University Selection Systems

This document presents the full theoretical formulation of The Leonardo Paradox, a framework describing the structural incompatibility between high velocity neurodivergent cognitive architectures and the selection and containment systems of elite universities.

The work develops a comprehensive model of vertical time and horizontal time processing, demonstrating how doctoral admissions and supervision systems systematically misinterpret parallel generative cognition as lack of focus, overproduction, or supervision risk.

Using an autoethnographic institutional audit and a documented nine front research submission programme, the theory explains how elite universities claim commitment to neurodiversity inclusion while operating gatekeeping mechanisms optimised for neurotypical temporal compliance.

This text is a standalone theoretical foundation intended to support subsequent peer reviewed articles and applied analyses. It is not a journal article submission but the primary source document to be cited by later empirical and theoretical publications derived from this framework.