Lots of scientific researches have been conducted to determine the cause of high intelligence, and a lot of it boils down to genetics. In addition, science shows that personal beliefs, everyday habits and even physical appearance can also indicate intelligence.
The following five signs are indicative of high intelligence. How many do you have?
1) Anxiety.
Noone enjoys having anxiety, but science has consistently discovered that those who often experience anxiety are smarter. One study found that the worse the symptoms of people with anxiety disorders, the more intelligent they were. What’s more, another study showed that anxious participants were more focused and effective at executing tasks. So if you’re worried about worrying, maybe you don’t have to worry anymore.
2) Taking risks.
A 2015 Finnish study found that individuals who are open to new challenges and not afraid to take risks tend to have higher intelligence. In the study, volunteers were put in a driving simulation test where they had the opportunity to either drive past yellow traffic lights or wait for the lights to turn red. Results showed that participants who made quicker riskier decisions during the simulations had more white brain matter — an area of the brain associated with cognitive function.
3) New ideas.
Historically, new ideas might mean rejecting superstition and finding new ways of organising society. One study argues that this explains why more intelligent people are more likely to be atheists and more likely to be politically liberal (Kanazawa et al., 2010). This study found that young adults who described themselves as ‘very conservative’ had an average IQ of 95, while those who described themselves as ‘very liberal’ had an average IQ of 106.
4) A good sense of humor.
In one study, 400 psychology students took intelligence tests that measured abstract reasoning abilities and verbal intelligence. Then they were asked to come up with captions for several New Yorker cartoons, and those captions were reviewed by independent raters. As predicted, smarter students were rated as funnier.
5) Curiosity and passion for new information.
High intelligent people love to read newspapers, news blogs, educational materials and everything else that will keep them informed. They are not choosy on the information but will generally yearn for information in all areas. They care about everything in the world. For them, they can learn from the information and improve themselves step by step.
