18 Problems Only Extremely Intelligent People Have
Envato Elements Sometimes being super smart isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Sure, you might have earned top honours in your degree or be killing it in your career, but with great brainpower comes great challenges. If you happen to be one of those rare highly intelligent humans, chances are you’ve come across these problems in your daily life. It’s hard to be a modern day Einstein, eh?
1. You’re always the one people come to for help.
Do you have a tricky maths problem no one can solve? A complex project at work that’s hit a snag? When you’re the smartest one in the room, everyone inevitably looks to you for guidance. It can be flattering at first, but constantly being expected to have all the answers gets exhausting. Sometimes you just want to say, “Figure it out yourself, mate!”
2. You struggle to find intellectual equals.
When your intelligence is off the charts, finding people who can keep up with you mentally can be challenging, to say the least (as big-headed as that sounds). Conversations that are stimulating for other people often seem kinda boring and basic to you. Dating is especially difficult because it’s hard to click with someone when there’s a massive gap in where your heads are at. The alienation of feeling like you’re on a different wavelength than most people is very real. It’s not like you’re looking for a Mensa member, but you do need some intellectual depth.
3. Over-analysing is your default mode.
Source: Unsplash That crazy brain of yours never switches off. Whether you’re thinking of buying something small or a make a major life decision, you feel like you have to thoroughly analyse every aspect and potential outcome. People tell you that you overthink things, but you can’t help exhaustively assessing situations from all angles. By the time you’ve finished your mental calculations, the opportunity has often passed.
4. You tend to get bored a lot.
Because your mind moves at a breakneck pace, you get bored more easily than the average person. That’s because your brain craves constant stimulation. Conversation that people find interesting, you find mind-numbingly dull. Even activities you enjoy can start to feel tedious a lot sooner for you than for everyone else. It’s a non-stop battle to find new ways to keep your mind occupied.
5. People assume you’re arrogant.
Source: Unsplash When you’re extremely intelligent, people often mistake your confidence for arrogance. You express your well-informed opinions in a matter-of-fact way and aren’t afraid to correct misinformation. However, this can make you come across as condescending or a know-it-all, even when that’s not what you intended. No matter how diplomatically you try to share your knowledge, some people inevitably take it the wrong way.
6. You’re indecisive.
Source: Unsplash With a mind that sees countless possibilities and contingencies, you struggle to be decisive. Every choice becomes an exhausting mental exercise in weighing pros and cons. What if you don’t pick the right option? Choosing something as simple as what to have for dinner can turn into an intense intellectual dilemma. As a result, you often get stuck in “analysis paralysis.”
7. You set impossibly high standards for yourself.
No one is harder on you than yourself. Because you know what you’re mentally capable of, you set extremely lofty goals and have unrealistic expectations for how you’ll do. When you inevitably fall short, you’re excessively hard on yourself. The pressure you put on yourself to excel can become crushing and paralysing.
8. You’re impatient with people.
Source: Unsplash It’s hard to be patient when your mind moves so much faster than everyone else’s. You’ve often figured out the solution before your colleague has finished explaining the problem. Your quick mental processing makes you prone to frustration when other people can’t or simply don’t keep up. You don’t suffer fools gladly, but you have to remind yourself that not everyone can match your mental speed.
9. You hate small talk with the fire of a thousand suns.
Source: Unsplash Mundane chitchat is torture for your busy brain. You crave deep, stimulating discourse, but instead you’re often stuck in superficial conversations about the weather or weekend plans. At parties and networking events, you dread getting cornered by someone who wants to make inane small talk. It takes significant energy for you to feign interest while mentally planning your escape.
10. Your thoughts keep you awake at night.
Source: Unsplash That non-stop mind of yours doesn’t have an off-switch, even when you’re desperately trying to sleep. Your brain is stuck in overdrive, relentlessly analysing the day’s events or concocting inventive ideas. Insomnia is a constant battle when your head hits the pillow, but your thoughts are still going a million miles a minute. Sometimes you wish you could shut off your mind as easily as you shut off the bedside lamp.
11. You’re unnecessarily hard on yourself.
Source: Unsplash It’s easy to hold yourself to higher standards than you expect from anyone else, leading to unproductive self-flagellation when you fall short. An exam score in the 98th percentile still feels like a disappointment. A minor error at work spoils your entire day. Your intelligence can perversely make you more vulnerable to harmful rumination and self-recrimination.
12. You sometimes feel alienated.
Source: Unsplash It’s lonely at the top of the IQ spectrum. When you try to discuss your niche interests or complex ideas, people’s eyes tend to glaze over. Connecting meaningfully with people who operate at a different intellectual level is challenging. You often feel alone even in a crowd, isolated by your relentlessly probing mind. The gulf between you and the rest of the world can feel vast and insurmountable.
13. You find it hard to enjoy entertainment made for the masses.
While everyone else is raving about the latest blockbuster film, you’re often left feeling underwhelmed. Your quick mind rapidly processes plot points, leading to frustration when characters make decisions you deem illogical. You pick up on inconsistencies and plot holes that most people never even pay attention to. Most pop culture entertainment feels overly simplistic to you. Finding fiction that truly transports your busy brain is a constant struggle.
14. Your brain needs constant fuel.
That high-powered mind of yours is like a finely tuned sports car — impressive, but high-maintenance. Mentally taxing activities drain your cognitive fuel rapidly. Intense intellectual discourse leaves you feeling physically depleted. Taking regular “brain breaks” is essential for you to recharge. Sometimes you fantasise about being able to switch off your overactive mind and just relax into mental idleness for once.
15. People treat your talents like party tricks.
Source: Unsplash When you get together with friends or even colleagues, people often expect you to be a one-person trivia machine, as if your brainpower solely exists for their entertainment. “You’re so smart, I bet you know the answer to this!” they proclaim before peppering you with random questions. It’s tiring to be treated like a circus monkey, expected to perform fancy tricks on command.
16. You get lost in your own head.
Your inner world is so rich and engrossing that you often lose touch with your surroundings. Deep in thought, you neglect to hear your name being called or miss your stop on the train. You may walk into a room and forget what you went in there for, or struggle to locate your keys when your mind is preoccupied with mulling over loftier ideas. Staying mentally present is a continual challenge.
17. You overthink social interactions.
Source: Unsplash For you, a casual conversation is rarely just a casual conversation. That big brain is always whirring, analysing subtext, concocting retorts, and searching for hidden meanings. You expend significant mental energy trying to decipher the other person’s tone and motivations. Consequently, you often get in your own head and fumble interactions. You’re so busy overthinking that being socially at ease can feel unattainable.
18. You’re prone to existential crises.
When you have a mind that never stops questioning and probing life’s deepest questions, existential dread is never far away. You see the world’s problems with intense clarity, and to be honest, they weigh heavily on you. At times, the awareness of your own mortality and the vastness of the universe can feel acutely distressing. Sometimes you envy those who aren’t burdened with such intense rumination. Ignorance may indeed be bliss.
