6 Reasons Why Intelligent People Are Unhappy
Trade IQ for happiness in life. Unfortunately, we can't choose the gifts we are given thanks to our genes. We are the product of a multitude of hereditary traits, the modest rest is done by our upbringing and the environment in which we grow up. As far as intelligence is concerned, research now assumes that it is largely innate. We can tweak it a bit - through lifelong learning, for example - but basically we have to make do with the intellect that we have. Highly intelligent people do not automatically have an easier time in life; on the contrary. They find it difficult to lead a social life and build bonds throughout their lives. Moreover, high intelligence is accompanied by a corresponding sense of entitlement. There is no magic formula for happiness. Neither money nor talent nor a high IQ guarantee it. In this article we would like to explain to you why intelligent people sometimes find it difficult to lead a happy life.
High standards.
If enough is never enough, how can you be happy? If you're used to playing in the big leagues from a young age, you'll never be satisfied with mediocrity. Here lies not only the problem in the choice of partner, but intelligent people themselves are never sufficient in their own view. For the particularly intelligent among us, much more is possible than for the average person. They know that their zenith is far from being reached and therefore always strive for higher things. What they never get to know in the process is the feeling of contentment, which, as we know, is the precursor to happiness. Those who operate at a constantly high level from the day they are born have, of necessity, reached the glass ceiling at some point. They find it difficult to accept this fact. They tend to perceive stagnation as failure and blame themselves for it.
Their "soft skills" are poorly developed.
Unfortunately, above-average intelligence is often accompanied by a lack of interpersonal qualities. Even as children, the particularly bright ones stand out unpleasantly. They disrupt lessons, offend teachers and classmates with blunt comments, and don't always make it easy for their parents and guardians either. Finding playmates who can keep up with their abilities proves to be an additional problem. So, for better or worse, these children grow up to become reclusive adults. However, those who have never been able to learn the rules of social interaction will find it even more difficult to make contacts and enter into relationships later in life. To make matters worse, self-imposed isolation makes it almost impossible for these people to develop empathy and compassion for others. This unfavorable combination of many factors later produces adults who have an excess of intelligence, but display poor manners and have no understanding for those around them. They are often also "know-it-alls" and, as we all know, nobody likes them. However, since we humans were designed to be social creatures, this unfortunate mix drives the super-smart ones straight into loneliness.
They suffer from psychological problems.
A higher than average IQ often brings with it a predisposition to mental problems. Social phobias and bipolar disorders, together with classic depressions, lead the field of clinical pictures here. But that's not all, especially the particularly smart among us often suffer from so-called existential depressions. This refers to the constant dissatisfaction of falling short of one's own expectations and possibilities. This problem really only grips people who are constantly thinking and can never put their super brain into rest mode for even 1 minute. This is also proven by the reverse that other studies have given us in recent years. Less intelligent people are happier than intelligent people.
Their minds are constantly analyzing.
Like a beehive, the minds of intellectual high-flyers hum and buzz. Their heads are in high gear 24 hours a day; there are no rest periods. The particularly intelligent ones have to pick apart and literally atomize every conversation, every line in the news and every other piece of information they receive into microscopically small pieces. No thought goes unexamined, no feeling remains unreflected. There is virtually nothing that their minds would immediately classify as uninteresting or irrelevant. Whereas averagely gifted people have integrated a kind of filter into their perception that is essential for survival and that lets them immediately separate the wheat from the chaff in the event of information overload, the super-smart don't have this luxury. To them, everything seems important and remarkable because they are used to getting to the bottom of things. But in order to enjoy moments of happiness, we need to come to rest, at least once in a while.
The good is not good enough for them.
We live in reality, our imagination and our ability to work out future scenarios are nice bonus programs, but they don't have much in common with reality. Happiness takes place in the form of moments of happiness in everyday life. Those who can, are happy about the smallest things and do not constantly hope for the opulent "happy ending", or the lotto jackpot. The intelligent among us have a hard time limiting their existence to the real and true. For these great minds, reality is simply not enough. If they choose a partner, their brain calculates in no time at all how high the probability is that they are now missing out on a person who would fit them and their life plan much better. If they choose a profession, even if it is the job of their dreams, they fall prey to the same thought patterns. What is, is never good enough for the highly gifted. It has to be even better, and the fear of missing out on that upgrade puts a dark veil over their every decision, nipping any trace of joy about it in the bud.
They are very hard on themselves.
The super smart are not only hard on their contemporaries, they prefer to be hard on themselves. Their inner critics never fall silent, they do not know anything like satisfaction with the actual state. Those who are accustomed to constantly outperforming will remain their own toughest coach and their most merciless referee for life. A certain tendency to perfectionism adds to the difficulty. This has never made life easier for anyone, and certainly not happier or more beautiful. A higher-than-average IQ is sometimes like an invisible wall that keeps the brightest minds with all their might from indulging in moments of joy or even coming into contact with happiness.
Today’s Conclusion:
Happiness is a choice, not an accident. We humans build the worst prisons for ourselves. Chronic dissatisfaction and ingratitude towards the world and life are the building blocks for this. We make so many choices every day, wouldn't it be a good idea to consciously choose happiness? We can control how we feel and what we think if we want to, and we humans are not exactly lacking in willpower. A high degree of intelligence may be a blessing and a curse in equal parts, but we decide for ourselves which side wins. That's it for today.