12 things people with high IQs enjoy that others often dislike
Ever wonder why your smartest friend would rather spend a Friday night alone than at a party?
It’s a classic scene, right? You’re trying to rally the troops for a big night out, and your brainiest pal is perfectly content to stay in with a book or a complex project. It might seem odd, even a little antisocial.
But what if I told you that many of the habits of highly intelligent people—the very things that might make them seem a little quirky to the rest of us—are actually backed by a whole lot of science?
We’re talking about a brain that’s wired just a bit differently. A mind that craves depth over distraction, complexity over convention, and meaning over mindless chatter. It’s not about being eccentric for the sake of it; it’s about a brain that’s hardwired for complexity, novelty, and deep processing.
So, let’s pull back the curtain and explore 12 surprising things that people with high IQs often love, even when it makes everyone else scratch their heads.
They actually enjoy spending time alone
Let’s start with the big one: solitude. For many, the idea of spending a weekend alone sounds like a punishment. But for highly intelligent people, it’s often a luxury. This isn’t about being shy or having social anxiety. It’s a deliberate choice.
Groundbreaking research by evolutionary psychologists Norman P. Li and Satoshi Kanazawa found something stunning. They analyzed data from a huge survey of 15,000 adults and discovered that while most people reported being happier when they socialized more, the opposite was true for the highly intelligent. In fact, for people with higher IQs, more frequent socializing was linked to lower life satisfaction.
Why? It all comes back to what the researchers call the “savanna theory of happiness.” The theory suggests our brains are still wired for the ancestral environment, where living in tight-knit tribes of about 150 people was crucial for survival. But intelligence, they argue, evolved to help humans solve “evolutionarily novel” problems—challenges our ancestors never faced. So, highly intelligent people may be better equipped to handle modern life without needing the constant comfort of their “tribe.”
They have a wickedly dark sense of humor
You know that friend who cracks a joke at the most inappropriate time, and you can’t help but laugh even though you know you shouldn’t? Chances are, they’re pretty sharp. An appreciation for dark, morbid, or “black” humor is strongly correlated with high intelligence.
A fascinating study from the Medical University of Vienna put this to the test. Researchers showed 156 participants a series of twisted cartoons from German artist Uli Stein—jokes about death, disease, and other taboo subjects. They then measured the participants’ IQ, mood, and aggression levels.
The results completely flipped the script on the “grumpy sadist” stereotype. The group that both understood and enjoyed the dark humor the most had the highest verbal and non-verbal IQ scores. Not only that, but they also scored the lowest on aggression and had the most stable, positive moods.
The researchers concluded that processing a dark joke is a “complex information-processing task.” It requires your brain to work on multiple levels at once—understanding the surface meaning, catching the morbid twist, and emotionally detaching just enough to find it funny instead of horrifying. It’s a mental workout, and it seems that only people with high cognitive ability and a stable emotional state can really pull it off.
They’d rather have deep talks than small talk
“So, how about this weather?” If that question makes you want to run for the hills, you might be in good company. Highly intelligent people often find small talk painfully boring and prefer to dive straight into deep, substantive conversations.
It’s not because they’re snobs; it’s because their brains are hungry for more. Psychologist Matthias Mehl at the University of Arizona conducted a clever study where he had participants wear recorders to “eavesdrop” on their daily conversations. He found a clear pattern: the happiest participants spent far less time on superficial chit-chat and significantly more time engaged in meaningful discussions.
This craving for depth is tied to a personality trait psychologists call a high “need for cognition,” which is just a fancy way of saying they genuinely enjoy thinking hard and analyzing things. Small talk offers zero cognitive return on investment. It’s like a snack with empty calories—it fills the time but provides no intellectual nourishment.
Deep conversations, on the other hand, are a playground for a curious mind. They enable the exploration of new ideas, the testing of theories, and the formation of genuine connections. For a smart person, conversation isn’t just a social ritual; it’s a primary tool for collaborative thinking and understanding the world.
They’re often night owls, not morning larks
While the world seems to celebrate the “early bird,” many of the brightest minds do their best work long after the sun has gone down. Research suggests that being a night owl is a strong indicator of higher intelligence.
Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist, analyzed a large longitudinal study that tracked thousands of adolescents into adulthood. He found a clear link: the more intelligent the child, the more likely they were to be nocturnal as an adult. For example, those with a childhood IQ over 125 tended to go to bed around 12:30 AM, while those with an IQ below 75 hit the hay around 11:40 PM.
Kanazawa’s theory is that this goes back to our evolutionary roots. For our ancestors, life was dictated by the sun. Staying up late was a “novel” activity, and he argues that intelligence evolved precisely to deal with such new and unusual situations.
You might like: The Top 10 Things That Keep Americans Up at Night
They thrive in a bit of creative chaos
If your smart friend’s desk looks like a tornado just passed through, don’t be so quick to judge. While society preaches “a tidy desk equals a tidy mind,” science suggests that a messy environment can actually be a catalyst for creativity.
Psychological scientist Kathleen Vohs from the University of Minnesota conducted a series of brilliant experiments to explore this. In one, she put participants in either a perfectly neat office or a messy one and asked them to come up with new uses for a ping-pong ball. The result? Both groups came up with the same number of ideas, but the ideas from the messy-room participants were rated as significantly more creative and interesting by independent judges.
In another test, people in the tidy room were more likely to choose a “classic” product, while those in the messy room opted for the “new” one. Vohs concluded, “Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights. Orderly environments, in contrast, encourage convention and playing it safe.”
They’re surprisingly comfortable with being wrong
This one might sound backward, but stick with me. True intelligence isn’t about knowing everything; it’s about recognizing how much you don’t know. This trait is called intellectual humility, and it’s a superpower.
Researchers define it as “the degree to which people recognize that their beliefs might be wrong.” It’s the wisdom of Socrates, who famously declared that he was wise only because he knew he knew nothing. People high in intellectual humility aren’t just better learners; they’re more resilient and actively seek out challenges and opposing viewpoints to refine their own understanding.
Think about it: if your ego is tied to always being right, you’ll defend a bad idea to the death. But if your goal is to get it right, you see a challenge not as a personal attack, but as a valuable piece of data. You can update your beliefs without feeling like a failure.
They tend to worry more than others
The old saying “ignorance is bliss” seems to have a grain of scientific truth to it. Studies have consistently shown that people with higher IQs are more prone to anxiety and worry.
A large-scale study of over 3,700 members of Mensa (the high-IQ society) found that they were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (20%) and mood disorders (27%) compared to the national average. Another study found that patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) actually had higher average IQ scores than healthy volunteers.
Why would a powerful brain lead to more worry? Because that same brain is incredibly good at running simulations. A more verbally intelligent person can “consider past and future events in greater detail, leading to more intense rumination and worry.” They can see a dozen potential negative outcomes in a situation where someone else might only see one or two.
They’re always open to new experiences
If you know someone who’s always trying a new hobby, traveling to an obscure place, or diving into a random new subject, you’re likely looking at a highly intelligent person. Of the “Big Five” personality traits, “Openness to Experience” is the one most strongly and consistently linked to high IQ.
Openness is exactly what it sounds like: a deep-seated curiosity about the world. It involves a love for art, adventure, unconventional ideas, and new experiences. Research shows that people high in this trait have a powerful “cognitive hunger” and are intrinsically motivated to learn for the sake of learning.
The connection is particularly strong with what’s called “crystallized intelligence”—the vast library of facts, skills, and knowledge you accumulate over your lifetime. It makes perfect sense: an open person is constantly feeding their brain new information, which in turn builds their crystallized intelligence.
They have a non-stop inner monologue
Do you have a little voice in your head that narrates your day, debates with you, and rehearses conversations? While not everyone has one, a rich and wordy inner monologue is more common in adults with high verbal intelligence.
This internal speech is a powerful cognitive tool. It’s involved in planning, problem-solving, memory, and self-motivation. fMRI scans even show that when you’re “talking to yourself” in your head, your brain activates the same areas responsible for producing actual speech.
Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Some of the most brilliant minds, like Albert Einstein, were visual thinkers who experienced their thoughts as images and abstract concepts rather than words.
They appreciate complex and intricate music
While a simple, catchy pop song can be fun, many highly intelligent people find themselves drawn to more complex musical genres like classical, jazz, or progressive rock. This isn’t just a matter of taste; it’s a reflection of a brain that enjoys a good workout.
The pleasure we get from music is deeply tied to pattern recognition. Our brains are constantly making predictions about what note or chord will come next, and we get a little hit of dopamine when our predictions are either met or cleverly subverted. Simple, repetitive music is easy for the brain to predict, which can quickly become boring.
Complex music, with its intricate melodies, shifting time signatures, and sophisticated harmonies, presents a much more challenging and rewarding puzzle. For a brain with a high need for cognition, decoding these complex patterns is intellectually stimulating and deeply satisfying. It’s the musical equivalent of solving a difficult puzzle or playing a game of chess—the enjoyment comes from the mental engagement itself.
They prefer their coffee black and bitter
How you take your coffee might say more about you than you think. While it may sound strange, a preference for bitter tastes—like black coffee—has been linked to some surprising personality traits.
One study from the University of Innsbruck found that people who enjoyed bitter foods were more likely to score higher on “dark triad” traits like Machiavellianism and psychopathy. But before you start side-eying your black-coffee-drinking coworker, there’s a more down-to-earth explanation.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula found that black coffee drinkers tend to be more straightforward, no-nonsense, and efficient. They value simplicity and function over frills. A latte is a dessert; a black coffee is a caffeine delivery system.
This preference for black coffee can be seen as a desire for an unadulterated, pure experience. It reflects a mind that prioritizes the “signal” (the caffeine and true flavor) over the “noise” (the sugar and cream that mask it). It’s a small, daily choice that mirrors a larger cognitive style of valuing clarity and directness.
They think better while on their feet
Have you ever seen someone pace back and forth while they’re on the phone, deep in thought? They’re not just restless; they’re tapping into a simple but powerful creativity hack. A landmark study from Stanford University found that walking can boost creative output by an average of 60%.
In a series of experiments, researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz had participants complete tasks that required creative thinking, either while sitting down or while walking on a treadmill. The results were overwhelming. Walking significantly improved performance on “divergent thinking” tasks—the kind of broad, exploratory brainstorming needed to generate new ideas.
Interestingly, walking slightly impaired performance on “convergent thinking” tasks, which require finding a single correct answer. This shows that walking doesn’t just make you smarter across the board; it specifically puts your brain into a more creative, open, and associative state. The effect was so strong that it even lingered for a while after the participants sat back down.
Key Takeaway
So, what do all these quirks—from loving solitude to pacing while you think—have in common? They aren’t just a random collection of habits. They are interconnected expressions of a mind that is fundamentally wired for deep processing, novelty-seeking, and cognitive efficiency. The habits of highly intelligent people often involve creating an optimal mental environment for their brains to function at their best: analyzing, creating, and understanding the world in all its complexity. It’s less about being different and more about being true to their own cognitive nature.
6 tips for successful weight loss for women in 2025
6 Tips For Successful Weight Loss For Women in 2025
Successful weight loss for women often calls for an individualized approach, taking into consideration the unique physiological, psychological, and lifestyle factors that influence a woman’s weight. It’s not just about adopting a generic calorie-restricted diet or a strenuous exercise regime. Instead, it encompasses a holistic view of health, including balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, and stress management.
In this article, we will walk you through a step-by-step guide to help you on your fitness journey and discuss how Ozempic may benefit your weight loss routine.
