Many people with high level of intelligence lean towards over-thinking and keep analyzing everything that occurs in their life, their surroundings and beyond. Too much thinking can be exhausting at times, especially when your thoughts lead you to conclusions which vex and frustrate you.
Overthinking is common but can be difficult and exhausting. Emotionally intelligent people are self-aware. They reflect and engage in self-analysis regularly. Situations that ding an emotionally intelligent person's sense of self may kick overthinking into hyperdrive.
Another sign of high intelligence is good thinking ability. Smart people process information better because they use different types of memory effectively. Memory types include working memory, access and flexibility of remembering things, and accuracy and reliability of declarative memory.
A study reported in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has confirmed that women overthink more than men do, due to their brains having more activity.
The good news is that you weren't born an overthinker. Overthinking is the result of one fact of human existence: we all have patterns to our behavior. These patterns, good and bad, develop over time based on life experiences. And just as patterns are learned, they can also be unlearned.
The roots of overthinking can be traced back to stress and worry. Aside from these primary causes, low self-esteem and insecurity are also common contributors to excessive thinking.
While there are many signs to indicate someone may be highly intelligent, the most common are a pleasant attitude and hardworking nature, excellent memory and recall capacity, good decision-making and problem-solving skills, high curiosity, good language proficiency, and high emotional intelligence.
Some of these signs include a strong desire for learning, excellent problem-solving skills, and the ability to think outside the box. Highly intelligent individuals are often curious and have a great capacity for absorbing and processing information quickly and effectively.
Also, as psychiatrist and doctor of neuroscience Dean Burnett explains, people with high intelligence tend to constantly undervalue themselves. It's what we now call “impostor syndrome.” It's a disorder where the person minimizes their personal achievements and abilities.
They have a strong sense of self-awareness
When you're emotionally intelligent, you understand yourself at a deeper level. That means recognizing both your strengths and your weaknesses. You're confident about what you contribute and where you need help from others. You're also in tune with your emotions.
People with higher IQs often have an increased sense of awareness, deeper levels of empathy, or a fear of failure — all may result in more worry and stress. But anxiety isn't always an obstacle, and it can offer many benefits.
The reason that smart people with a high IQ are sometimes more anxious may have an evolutionary explanation. Intelligence and anxiety may have evolved together as mutually beneficial traits, research finds. This may help to explain why people with a high IQ also tend to have higher levels of anxiety.
While they might have high standards and big picture concerns, research shows that people with high IQs are actually more likely to be happy; data from the research showed that people with the highest IQs were much happier than those with the lowest IQs.
Signs of Genius in Adults
They include quick learning, interest in unique topics, and the ability to process information fast, among others. Some other habits or behaviors that may indicate a high level of intelligence or genius in an adult are: Tendency to have slightly cluttered living areas and workspaces.
Because they spend their time developing their curiosity, intelligent individuals stand out from the crowd. They geek out, ponder, research, and read. Whether the subject is the most recent catastrophic disaster, proper flossing technique, or how words have evolved, they will take the time to go further.
Lack of Sleep Won't Make You Smarter
A study published in the journal Sleep found that sleep is important for cognitive performance and that individuals who have better sleep quality tend to have higher intelligence scores.
Most independent people enjoy independence. It is a source of strength for them. However, this trait can make it difficult for intelligent people to fall in love. Since they are incredibly independent, they see a partner not as someone who “completes” them but rather as a person to share moments with.
Intelligent women are curious and always learning.
They're never content to just accept things as they are. They want to understand why things are the way they are and how they can be improved. Rather than being afraid of change, they embrace it and use their intelligence to create new ideas and solutions.
Yes, smarter people look more intelligent. But not all people – just men. Kleisner discovered that “both men and women were able to accurately evaluate the intelligence of men by viewing facial photographs.” But strangely, “no relationship between perceived intelligence and IQ was found for women.”
"Studies show that ruminating on stressful events can, over time, lead to anxiety and depression," warns Dr. Fowler. "From a mental health standpoint, anxiety can affect your ability to cope with everyday stressors, and depression results in sadness, loneliness and feelings of emptiness."
Genetic Factors – It is possible to inherit the tendency of overthinking just like other habits. Genetic factors can also predispose a person to excessive thinking, which may show up when the person is faced with difficult situations.
Hyper-Rationality is a trauma response and coping strategy. Overthinking, over-analyzing, and over-rationalizing are coping strategies that we learned early on to help us make sense of an unpredictable environment that at some point made us feel unsafe.