One would think that highly intelligent people have easier lives. All that brainpower should make someone more disciplined, better at decision-making, and more focused on taking good care of their mental health. However, having a super-powered brain comes with its own problems, a lot like owning a Ferrari will give you more grief than a Toyota.
Some people may be super smart but don’t really believe it because their lives aren’t exactly perfect and they still struggle with their faults and foibles. But that just means they’re human. In fact, highly intelligent people face challenges that aren’t necessarily solved by simply thinking their way out of them.
Three ‘bad habits’ that super smart people often have
Psychologists and researchers have found that if you have one (or more) of these habits (that some folks deem “bad”), then there’s a chance you are highly intelligent.
1. Smart people get bored easily
Highly intelligent people can often get bored when forced to perform repetitive, meaningless tasks. They can also become easily bored in conversations that aren’t intellectually stimulating. It’s also common for highly intelligent people to get bored when engaged in activities that are too easy or don’t provide any real learning opportunities.
However, there is some good news. Highly intelligent people also have a strong desire to be intellectually stimulated, so they can often think their way out of boring situations or find something interesting in a tedious task.
2. Smart people swear a lot
People often chastise those who use bad words for having a small vocabulary, which forces them to resort to vulgar language rather than find a more elegant way to express themselves. However, studies have found that people with large vocabularies—a sign of high intelligence—use curse words more often than those without. So, next time someone gives you grief for using colorful language, tell them it’s a sign of being highly intelligent.
3. Smart people stay up late
A 2024 study out of the UK found that night owls, those who go to bed late, and early risers, those who get up early, scored differently on cognitive tests. In two separate tests, night owls scored 13.5% and 7.5% higher than early risers. Those in the middle or “intermediate” types also scored higher than the early risers, by 10.6% and 6.3%.
Night owls are often seen as lazy or undisciplined, so it was probably a shock to many to learn they were more intelligent than those who go to bed early. It seems that, at least part of the adage, “early bed and early to rise, make a person healthy, wealthy, and wise,” isn’t really true. Early risers have a thing or two to learn from those who like to stay up and sleep in.
Ultimately, it seems that our assumptions about smart people aren’t all true. Many enjoy salty language, staying up late at night, and have a hard time paying attention if they aren’t being challenged. It goes to show that even though intelligence is a blessing, it doesn’t lead to a life that always looks perfect from the outside. And that if you struggle with staying focused, minding your language, or binge-watching late-night TV, it doesn’t mean you aren’t smart; in fact, it could be the exact opposite.
