Having high intelligence is not always a blessing. It also has a downside.
A user asked the forum, “What are the downsides of having high intelligence?” Here are the top responses.
OVERTHINKING
“Overthinking and having high expectations. You constantly think you’re average and underqualified for something you’re qualified for.”
DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY
“It’s hard to wrangle it. It is very easy to fall into depression and anxiety if you feel like you aren’t filling your shoes, if that makes any sense.”
INTERRUPTING SPEAKERS
“Read a study one time that concluded that people with high intelligence mentally finish people’s sentences before they finish speaking them. It results in them interrupting speakers a lot. Also, it results in frustration that conversations are so slow and monotonous.”
LONELY
“I think it’s lonely. The smartest people I know are all depressed. I know people with higher Intelligence Quotients than me who are emotionally tortured.”
NEED TO STAY BUSY
“You need to stay busy, or you don’t feel like living anymore.”
AWARENESS
“Being intimately aware of just how messed up everything is, truly idiocy and ignorance are bliss.”
FULL OF DOUBTS
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves and wiser people so full of doubts.”
GET EASILY BORED
“School is easy, and you get bored. You can create issues and cause trouble, but still pass the class. Nobody understands why you aren’t getting high grades. Underachievement becomes a pattern.”
CONSTANTLY QUESTIONING REALITY
“Imposter syndrome, depression. I am constantly questioning reality. I am embarrassed by certain things about being human. I sleep 3 to 5 hours a night; I would love more. There is constant dialogue running in my head.
I appear to have ADHD and many autistic traits. It is challenging to enjoy TV shows or movies. I am socially awkward at times, motor mouth at other times.”
MENTAL ILLNESS
“The mental illness that comes with it. One of my best friends was in the top 1% at the college he went to. He got hooked on meth and fentanyl. He started staying up for days at a time and was convinced I was plotting to kill him. He thought I was cheating with his girlfriend (I never met her).”
YOU CAN’T RELATE TO PEOPLE
“You lose your ability to relate to people as far fewer people are at your level.”
ALWAYS OVERESTIMATE PEOPLE
“Always overestimate people and then get disappointed when you learn they weren’t worth it. Also, if anything is too straightforward, with little to no learning curve, I don’t bother. Hate jobs measured in efficiency, rather than efficacy.”
QUICKER THAN OTHERS
“I don’t know if it’s intelligence, but I think quickly and can simultaneously tackle problems from multiple angles. It causes friction at work, where I feel my colleagues are moving slowly. Another issue is that I constantly realize how many things I am unaware of and want to learn. It gets a bit overwhelming sometimes.”
UNMOTIVATED
“Being unmotivated to make money. Many of the smartest people I’ve ever met were just not that into working and found many other interests far more riveting than a salaried job with time commitments.”
REMEMBER EVERYTHING
“I tested high but not that high; my friends are far more intelligent than me. The biggest downside is I remember so many things very vividly.
Imagine marrying a spouse who remembers everything you said in almost every argument. Now, imagine if this spouse was petty. That used to be me; I would remember things she said and use it against her perhaps 2-3 years later. So the moral of the story is, if you’re smart, don’t be petty.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs Daaku Studio.