9 Surprising Downsides of Being Highly Intelligent

Being a highly intelligent person do you feel that you have a harder time than the rest of the people? That your intelligence can sometimes be a bad thing?

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds,” said Einstein once.

Having a high IQ will undeniably let you confront and do well in some dreaded tasks: to do the unthinkable and questioning everything, including supernatural things. Interestingly, numerous downsides are attached to it.

Here Are 9 Surprising Downsides of Being Highly Intelligent

1. You are more likely to suffer from depression.

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” – Ernest Hemingway.

It is common that intelligent people usually suffer from loneliness, anger, and depression because of their heightened thought process and different perspectives about the world.

Want to know more about how highly intelligent people can go through mental disorders? Read Mood Disorders Are The Price Paid By The Highly Intelligent And The Creatives

2. You have a habit of over-analyzing everything.

Overthinking! It is the most difficult feature of being intelligent. They always analyze bigger problems that they can’t solve in their mind. This is the reason why they have a tendency to feel depressed.

These people have a totally different perspective than regular people. They try to run away from unsatisfactory feelings by using their imagination skills. They believe that they’ll find the infinite peace in that world and they get lost in their imagination.

3. You risk appearing/being arrogant.

You are informative. You are logical. You know what you are talking about. You can easily spot fallacies in debates and counter them effectively. Be it with your content or with your oratory, you hold the conversation or win the debate.

That’s great! Except, people don’t like it. They don’t like their beliefs to be questioned, their reasoning to be invalidated, and their choices to be proven wrong. Sure, you might be focusing on the content and enjoy intellectual stimulation, but you’d be amazed to know how quickly people get personal.

To their ears, you are just an arrogant brat trying to prove everyone stupid. (or perhaps you are trying to prove them stupid, in case of which, you are arrogant).

Want to know more about the struggles of highly intelligent people? Read 7 Struggles Of Highly Intelligent People

4. You are automatically expected to be the best, no matter what.

People expect too much from them since they are intelligent. Intelligent people are usually overwhelmed by these expectations. You have nobody to talk to about your weaknesses and insecurities. You’re panicked about what would happen if you didn’t perform up to snuff. This makes you so cautious about your failure that you cannot sometimes afford to take risks just fearing that what would happen if you lose.

5. You are supposed to not need any kind of help.

Hey, you are smart! What else do you need in life? So what if you missed a month of classes due to illness? You are a brilliant scholar, smart enough to catch up. You don’t need my class notes. Did the boss give you the toughest client? You can manage him all by yourself, you are so smart! Too many chores at home? You are smart, you can multitask, you don’t need a hand. Problems in personal life? Why, you are so smart, you give solutions to everyone in their problems. Why would you need a shoulder?

Be it out of resentment or sheer supposition, people just take it for granted that you can do everything by yourself and never need any help, guidance, or support. (And if you can really manage with no help, you are arrogant.)

6. Jealousy surrounds you.

Smartness, as I take it, is a multifaceted virtue. It’s not just IQ, or just wit, or just rote knowledge. It’s a combination of bits of intelligence, wisdom, good soft skills, and a pleasing personality. Smartness is also problematic. People known for one, distinct forte are different from smart people, who are known for a number of things.

Except immediate ‘competitors’, people who are known distinctly for their beauty, or IQ, or athletic abilities, or art, or anything is largely appreciated and welcomed. But come up against someone who has a bit of intelligence AND knows a thing or two about art AND speaks well AND has a good degree AND has a decent dressing sense… and you start squirming. Smart, multifaceted people face more jealousy in the common society than experts do.

Looking to know more about the various struggles highly intelligent people face? Read Why Highly Intelligent People Tend To Be Unhappy

7. You understand how much you don’t know.

“Intelligence is a curse when … the more you know, the more you feel the less you know.” – Mike Farkas.

Being super-intelligent often means appreciating the limits of your own cognition. Try as you might, you’ll never be able to learn or understand everything.

8. Inability to relate to average people.

These people do not enjoy every conversation they go through. For this reason, they experience a serious feeling of loneliness. If they can’t manage to devote their lives to something, life is meaningless for them.

When they realize that they don’t carry the same worries as their peers, they choose to stay on their own. For this reason, these people have a tendency to go through suicidal phases.

9. Ultimately, you are alone.

Aren’t all of us? Well, not exactly in the narrow sense of it. Many smart people turn introverts. Those who do not, still have only a few friends they can count on. It is tough for you to find friends who are not with you for your smart solutions, who are not pressurized by your smartness, and who do not detest it.

It is tough to find friends who can push past the dominating presence of your smartness and discover the person inside you. It is tough to find friends who do not assume and suppose anything about you just because you are smart. Barring those few special people, you are alone.

Want to know more about why highly intelligent people lack happiness in their lives? Read Why Intelligent People Can’t Find Happiness

Being a very intelligent person has its perks, but just like everything in this world, it has it’s negatives too. If you are someone who falls under this category, then don’t be like everyone else; be different and pave your own path.

If you want to know more about the downsides of being highly intelligent, then check out this video below: