13 Unexpected Indicators of High Intelligence That May Be Just As Illustrative As IQ Tests

We’re used to relying on test results to evaluate people’s IQ. But there are other, not-so-obvious indicators of high intelligence. For example, it’s quite possible that messiness or forgetfulness may be a sign that a person is much smarter than they think.

We at CHEERY decided to read studies to find out which habits and inclinations may be signs of high intelligence.

You love talking to yourself

Almost all people talk to themselves from time to time. But some people believe that talking to yourself out loud is wrong and that it’s one of the signs that a person is losing their mind. But in fact, it can mean just the opposite.

According to experts at Bangor University in the UK, talking to yourself can help you focus, formulate the goals you want to achieve, and improve cognitive abilities.

You can lie well

Researchers from the University of North Florida, USA, and the University of Sheffield, UK, found that children with good working memory can lie more inventively. Working memory is responsible for processing information. The better children are at processing information, the easier they can come up with believable lies.

Another study showed that the same tendency is true for older people. Communicative people with a higher IQ are better at lying, and they do it more often than others. So, the ability to lie well may be directly connected with high intelligence.

You can quickly forget useless information

In fact, the ability to forget is just as important for the brain as the ability to memorize. According to studies at the University of Toronto, our brain has to be able to get rid of useless information to function properly. It means that forgetting painful episodes of our lives is a good thing. In this case, our brain can process new information faster and find the right solution more effectively.

You are rhythmically accurate

Swedish scientists proved that the ability to keep time is connected with high intelligence. And it’s not about musical abilities or a good ear.

Researchers proved that people who do tests and tasks more effectively are better at keeping time. The team that carried out the study also suspect that accuracy in timing is important to the brain processes responsible for problem-solving and reasoning.

You often play video games

Researchers at the University of York decided to find out if there’s any link between good performance at video games and high intelligence. Scientists studied 2 popular online genres: multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) and first-person shooters.

It turned out that people that score well in MOBA games, such as Dota 2, also score well in IQ tests. But no such link was found in first-person shooters.

You are often sarcastic

According to a study, using sarcasm in conversations can often lead to conflicts. At the same time, it stimulates imagination and resourcefulness, not only in people using sarcasm, but also those that hear it. The people that use sarcasm often usually have quite well-developed abstract thinking.

You love being lazy

Researchers from Florida Gulf Coast University decided to find out if people that are more inclined to mental work also dislike physical activity. This study focused on students, who wore a special tracking tool on their wrists for a week.

The result showed that “thinkers” are less active from Monday to Friday. A possible conclusion is that people with higher IQ are not very afraid of boredom.

You don’t like cleaning

Despite popular misconceptions, it seems that smarter people are also messier. They don’t like cleaning up.

Of course, this tends to be true as long as they can still find everything they need. Creative chaos can be good for your imagination and the time other people spend on cleaning can be better spent on learning new things and skills.

You prefer dark humor

Scientists have been wondering for a long time if there was a connection between intelligence and sense of humor. Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna decided to study this question and arrived at an unexpected conclusion.

It turns out that people who love dark jokes are less aggressive and more intelligent. Scientists think that in order to understand dark humor, you need to be pretty smart and have high emotional intelligence.

You trust people around you

Scientists from the University of Oxford have found that smarter people are usually more trusting of other people. This may be because they can quickly interpret and understand a person’s character, helping them gauge whether or not that person is likely to betray them.

You learned to read early

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London have conducted a study together. The results showed that the children that started reading early become smarter adults. Reading books affects different parts of the brain.

A different study showed that dyslexia has no connection with intelligence. Such people have a brain that works differently, so their intelligence level has no connection to being able to read fast. Besides, there are a lot of really intelligence people among those with dyslexia, they can think outside the box and solve problems efficiently.

You spent a lot of time playing video games as a child

Almost all parents are worried when their children spend too much time watching TV, playing video games, or using social media. So, scientists at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, decided to find out how these things affect people’s intelligence.

A group of children was watched for 2 years. The results were unexpected. TV and social media had no effect on their development. But playing video games had a positive effect on their cognitive abilities.

You are often worried

Scientists from the SUNY Downstate found that high intelligence and excessive worrying go hand in hand. This is because excessive worrying is useful for survival because it helps people avoid potentially dangerous situations. In this way, even anxious thought patterns can turn out to be beneficial.

Which of these signs have you noticed in yourself or people you know?