10 SIGNS YOU’RE ACTUALLY A GENIUS
#10 “Introversion”- If you like to keep to yourself, would rather sit in silence than
be part of a raucous crowd or think that an isolated cave in the mountains sounds like
the perfect getaway you could be a genius.
Studies show that three-quarters of people with I.Q.s over 160 are introverts.
The reason?
While extroverted people care about pleasing people, partying and are motivated by social
standing, introverts concern themselves with how the world around them works and are driven
by their quest for self-fulfillment.
At a group event the introvert will usually choose to observe and take in their surroundings
as opposed to the outgoing socialite who will interject with any thought that comes to mind.
The ability to retract themselves from conversation can free them from being overwhelmed by the
demands of society and stick to their studies.
Some of the greatest greatest geniuses were notoriously anti-social.
Director of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick, rarely made public appearances and
was extremely secretive.
Author Emily Dickinson suffered from agoraphobia, rarely leaving her home for the last twenty
years of her life.
And even the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, isolated himself in his Neverland Ranch for
days on end.
So if you think your social anxiety is unbearable at times just remember you’re not...alone.
You may be in the company of geniuses.
#9 “Sense of Humor”- The class clown may not be as dumb as he appears.
It turns out having a sense of humor is one of the main signs of being intelligent.
Human beings developed our senses of humor as an evolutionary tactic to deal with stress
and to cope with adversity, so it’s not surprising that the funniest of us may be
more mentally evolved.
Studies have shown that having a sense of humor actually correlates more to intelligence
than creativity, if only slightly.
The inherent understanding of comedy and what makes people laugh is very closely related
to rhythm and mathematics and sure enough studies show that people who have good senses
of humor do better in math.
Not only does sense of humor have an impact on intelligence, what kind of sense of humor
does as well.
In the journal Cognitive Processing psychologist posited and proved that the darker the sense
of humor the greater the intellect.
No wonder the Joker is always one step ahead of Batman!
#8 “Insomnia” - This may be the secret to why owls are viewed as being wise.
While common folk are snuggled up and snoozing, geniuses come to life!
We all know the legend of Da Vinci’s infamous nap routines but he wasn’t the only one
who said ‘no’ to a wink in order to think.
Many highly-gifted people have insomnia and irregular sleep patterns in common.
Even when differing in I.Q.
researchers have found that some of the most successful people sleep less than the full
eight-hours.
One reason may be that a genius has trouble turning their brain off at night due to constant
over-firing of synapses and ideas whizzing around.
A lot of creative people find solace in the quiet of night and gain a second wind once
the world around them finally leaves them alone in their own thoughts.
Scientists have also suggested that geniuses may be able to function with equal or higher
brain functionality than most, even when not getting the necessary sleep.
#7 “Swearing”- It has been often said that swearing is a crutch used by individuals
with smaller vocabularies.
However Scientists disagree.
Their research has found that there is a link to how adept one is at swearing and their
mastery of language.
The experiments they ran tested people’s knowledge of everyday words and compared them
to their knowledge of curse-words and the results showed that the people who had more
expansive everyday vocabularies could also registered the most “bleeps”.
They also ran a test to see how many curse words people could rattle off in a minute
and then given an IQ test and found that the people who could think of the most curses
tested for higher IQs.
The theory that they gathered from the results is that people that swear often have a tendency
to be able to express themselves more uniquely.
#6 “Smelly and Sloppy”- If you find yourself wearing the same socks for days, forgetting
to shower or find it impossible to keep your workplace clean.
Don’t go changing to try and please us, you might be suffering from genius.
Why?
A lot of hyper-intelligent people are slobs because they would lose track of time while
in deep concentration or put priorities like invention or experimentation in front of their
own personal grooming.
Disorganization in geniuses can often be attributed their different way of thinking.
What may look like a pig-pen to the average Joe may make perfect sense to a genius.
Creative types especially are found to have their own unique organization that may not
match the view of tidiness the outside world has.
The renaissance artist Michelangelo, famous for The Statue of David and painting the Sistine
Chapel, was especially unkempt.
He rarely bathed and almost never changed his clothes.
On certain occasions he would wear his shoes so long that when they were taken off the
skin on his feet would peel away with them.
Yeah...kinda makes Einstein’s lack of a comb seem rather normal.
#5 “Laziness”- If it’s a struggle getting mundane chores done around the house and even
hard motivating yourself to do things you love.
If your couch has a permanent imprint of your backside don’t get up just yet--sit back
and check another box on the genius list.
One of the reason’s for geniuses being lazy is that tasks that less intelligent people
fill their days with such as errands and exercise the genius may find unimportant or getting
in the way of creation and research.
Being lazy can also be chalked up to outsider’s perception: Normal people may take a lot longer
to get something done than a genius who can put it off to the last minute and still come
through with flying colors.
This makes the normal person seem proactive and busy and the genius like a procrastinator.
The genius may also be able to cut-corners or find ways around problems that others can’t.
The laziness of the gifted is also attributed to the fact that though they may appear to
be doing nothing, really their brain is on hyper-drive and they are juggling many thoughts
at once.
Why mow the lawn when you could stay in your pajamas and solve string theory?
#4 “Addiction”- This is one facet of genius that you definitely shouldn’t try to develop.
However, we can’t deny that there is strong pattern of addiction in the incredibly gifted.
One of the reasons that geniuses find themselves victims of addiction is due to the overworking
of the brain.
Geniuses have a hard time shutting off their thoughts whether they are creative ideas or
irrational stresses of everyday life.
This causes geniuses to find an escape via self-medication and has lead to a lot of very
talented people losing themselves in alcohol or other dangerous substances.
Psychologists theorize that another reason that so many of our best minds fall prey to
addiction is that their intelligence or creativity may be linked to mental illness.
The number of highly intelligent people who suffer from disorders such as depression,
obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety is staggering.
#3 “Adaptability”- Are you good at thinking on your feet?
Do you find yourself able to change and improve in adversity?
Then you have one of the main hallmarks of genius.
When faced with an unknown or unexpected challenge the layman might crumble or try to fall back
on their rolodex of stock solutions.
The genius will thrive using their ability to attack a problem with unique tactics.
The level of one’s adaptability is directly correlated to their capacity for innovation.
This is the reason that so many great inventions have come as results of problems thought unsolvable.
Adaptability can also help a genius rise above the rest when working in group atmospheres,
whereas a person with a normal I.Q.
might not be able to take criticism or unable to let-go of their own personal opinions,
a genius will evolve through criticism and let others ideas stoke the flames of creation
and combine them with prowess.
One of the reason Abraham Lincoln is one of America’s greatest presidents was his ability
to listen to ideas from all sides, even the opposition.
A genius can not only take lemons and make lemonade but find other ways to use the lemons
like killing weeds and preserving vegetables!
#2 “Left-Handed”- Sorry Righties, this one you can’t choose!
There has long been debate over whether or not your dominant hand plays a role in one’s
creativity and cognition.
Yes, Da Vinci, Mark Twain, Mozart and Bill Gates to name a few, were all Southpaws.
But you could probably find a list of just-as-good right-handers if you tried right?
Well, it may not all be conjecture as recent studies have shown that on average left-handers
display right brain hemispheres that are more developed.
This part of the brain controls one’s ability to manifest mental representations of objects
and to compute and differentiate the spaces between things.
Left-handed people also exhibit a stronger connection between the two sides of the brain,
making it easier for them to process information.
This connectivity may be a result of left-handers having to adapt to a right-hand world thus
being forced to be more ambidextrous.
Why do you think most switch-hitting baseball players start off lefty?
#1 “Jack of All Trades”- Are you good at a lot of different things but but lack
the excellence in one particular area?
Though it may be hard for you to choose a career path the odds are in your favor that
you have a little genius in you.
Research shows that there is a strong connection between being well-versed in numerous subjects
and higher intelligence.
Knowledge of various teachings and trades helps one to think outside the box and apply
something that would seem unrelatable to find a unique way to solve a problem at hand.
Take for instance the Renaissance Man: Leonardo Da Vinci.
Da Vinci’s intense curiosity for anatomy helped him to become one of the most accurate
painters and sculptors of the human form.
There is even a term for geniuses that excel in a multitude of talents, polymath.
Some other famous polymaths include: Aristotle a philosopher, poet, musician and zoologist;
Howard Hughes, an industrialist, filmmaker and record-breaking aviator; and of course,
Benjamin Franklin, who was the ambassador to France, invented the bifocals amongst other
innovations and authored hundred of proverbs that are still used today.
So if someone tells you you have too many hobbies, you might retort “You don’t have
enough!”