9 signs you are smarter than normal

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Have you ever wondered if you're above average intelligence?

A good sign would be if you know how averages work.

Are you a fan of xkcd webcomics and really insistent on people knowing it?

Picture: xkcd

Did you once take an internet IQ test and it told you what you wanted to hear? That your IQ is 142.

That your Meyers-Briggs personality type is INTJ?

Do you have a line in your back pocket about why studies including self-reporting are less scientific? Or why sample sizes matter and why you shouldn't compare demographics for creating two margins of error?

Congratulations. You might be a smartass.

Here are some actual signs that are indicative of intelligence, according to studies:

1. Politically liberal

One study in 2010 found that "very conservative" young adults had an average IQ of 95, while "very liberal" adults had an average IQ of 106.

However, this was true for surveyed young adults, who are more likely to be left wing.

2. Anxiety

People with high intelligence are more prone to anxiety.

One study argued this was because worrying about conditions that could have endangered humans, allowed them to futureproof against them, thus turning anxiety into a survival trait.

You're probably more likely to spot patterns and counter them.

3. Mental Health disorders

Psychologists have found through research that higher childhood IQ is linked to features of bipolar disorder in young adulthood and other disorders of mood.

4. Trusting

An analysis of US polling data found that more intelligent people were more likely to be trusting, as well as happier and healthier.

5. Solitary

Studies have found that the more intelligent people socialise with friends, their life satisfaction goes down - contrary to what people usually would expect.

It seems that clever people often need more time alone.

6. Laziness

Bill Gates said:

I will always choose a lazy person for a difficult job. Because he will find an easy way to do it.

Lazy people are more likely to enjoy their own thoughts.

However, people have different needs for cognition - which shouldn't be confused with intelligence.

The author of a recent study into cognition said:

Thus, high-NFC [need-for-cognition] individuals seem more content to ‘entertain themselves’ mentally, whereas low-NFC individuals quickly experience boredom and experience it more negatively.

7. Night owls

Studies of adolescents found the brightest were more likely to go to bed later and wake up later.

It's not clear how this sits with successful people being more likely to get up early.

Maybe they grow up and reverse behaviour? Or maybe success isn't dependent on IQ.

8. Twisted sense of humour

If you love dark humour you're more likely to be highly intelligent.

A recent study by researchers from the University of Vienna found that black humour was linked to higher intelligence, identifying the understanding of a dark joke as a "complex information-processing task".

There are often layers to a dark joke (don't click that link if you've ever been offended by anything).