11 Things High IQ People Give Way Too Much Thought
Apparently, intelligent people overthink. Who would have thought it?
Luis Molinero / Shutterstock As a person who is pretty booksmart, it often takes me by surprise how much some people don’t overthink every little detail. I live in the nuances of things, and so do most of my friends. Nuances are what make things a lot easier to grasp and understand, but their existence also means there are some things people with a high IQ give way too much thought to, causing them higher rates of anxiety.
If you’re a high-IQ person, you might be called an “overthinker” by most. These situations tend to be when your overthinking goes into hyperdrive.
Here are 11 things high IQ people give way too much thought
1. Important emails
grinvalds from Getty Images via Canva
You know you have to make a good impression with this email. You have to! But, what do you say? If you’re high-IQ, you might agonize over every little detail, from the way you greet them to the way you phrase your plea.
Most people just assume an email is an email, perhaps something that can be jotted out by ChatGPT in a second. High-IQ people? Not so much. Thankfully, there are ways to avoid overthinking emails if you’re willing to learn.
2. What do other people think about them
KatarzynaBialasiewicz from Getty Images via Canva
Did you ever notice how many TV tropes tend to center around the idea of an anxious, socially awkward genius? This is actually a sign of truth in fiction. While you don’t have to have a high IQ to worry about what others think about you, there seems to be a correlation between intelligence and social anxiety.
People with high IQs are more likely to be anxious in social settings than those who have average intelligence. So if you worry about making the wrong impression, it might be your IQ showing.
3. Answers to multiple-choice tests
RDNE Stock project from Pexels via Canva
While many average people tend to cheer when they hear about tests being multiple choice, geniuses often panic. High-IQ, studious people tend to do poorly on multiple-choice tests for a wide range of reasons.
One of the most common reasons high-IQ people hate them is the lack of nuance. Most answers and pieces of knowledge are either subjective, have nuances to them that can’t be grasped in a typical question, or just shouldn’t be generalized. Overthinkers often end up choosing the wrong one because they focus on the exceptions.
4. Investments
Kampus Production from Pexels via Canva
Wanna see an overthinker panic? Ask them to create an investment portfolio in today’s stock market. Investing tends to make many overthinkers, particularly high-IQ investors, panic. The reason is that losing money is one of the most stressful things you can experience.
Ironically, brilliant people who are able to see all the little factors that make an investment good often end up underperforming because of their overthinking. It’s a logic issue called “choice paralysis.”
5. Arguments and past events
SolStock from Getty Images Signature via Canva
Remember when I said that highly intelligent people are more prone to anxiety? This tends to create a cascade of overthinking moments when they get into arguments or embarrass themselves. Even after the moment is over, high-IQ people might replay it over and over again in their heads.
In some cases, overthinkers might even feel embarrassed about losing an argument, to the point that they may spend hours or even days coming up with the perfect comeback.
6. Event planning/outings
AndreyPopov from Getty Images via Canva
When a highly intelligent person creates a schedule, they often go one of two ways. They either prefer to fly by the seat of their pants or they plan everything to the smallest detail. In the case of events, particularly those that involve impressing others, it often turns into an overplanned mess. This can make planning a date night, a special birthday party, or even something like a vacation, into a nightmare.
High-IQ individuals are more prone to perfectionism, which means their plans are often executed to the minute with few allowances left for tardiness or mishaps. This can lead to a slew of issues if they don’t have someone to ground them.
This trait tends to be particularly noticeable in the office. People affected by this can actually see their workflow go into a slump if they’re not careful.
7. Future issues
SBDIGIT from Getty Images Signature via Canva
Almost everyone is worried about the future these days, and high-IQ people are no exception. The problem with having a high IQ is that your mind has a tendency to race, which means intelligent people are more likely to see future problems that can be caused by the actions of today. In other words, their minds tend to ask, “What if [x] happens?” all the time.
Those “what if” scenarios tend to build up in a high-IQ mind. It can be downright never-ending. There’s not much you can do for future events aside from working to protect yourself now. Unfortunately, getting your brain to get that memo can be quite difficult.
8. Paperwork
Pekic from Getty Images Signature via Canva
When you’re a high-IQ individual, paperwork can be exhausting for a number of reasons. One of the bigger reasons deals with the issue of answering questions accurately. Nuance is important to high-IQ people, which can lead to some awkward issues.
For example, a high-IQ person trying to fill out a form that asks about their hair color can cause issues if they dyed their hair two separate colors. They may spend extra time trying to rack their brains to figure out the right answer, or even begin to debate whether they should write their natural hair color instead.
Most other people would just shrug and pick a color. High IQ brains just don’t work like that.
9. Social standing
poba from Getty Images Signature via Canva
High-IQ people tend to be very analytical of social interactions. One thing that tends to stand out with them is the way they perceive their role in society. They are likely to notice small gestures that average people can’t, which can make them more likely to read between the lines when talking to others.
Average people will often just trust a person when they’re told that they are liked. Intelligent people might overthink the unspoken side of communication to the point where they won’t always trust that they’re wanted or respected. Depending on what they notice, they may question where they stand with others rather than take things at face value.
10. Health concerns
ajr_images from Getty Images via Canva
Did you know that there’s a known phenomenon called “Medical Student’s Disease?” It’s a term coined by medical professors to acknowledge the tendency of medical students to self-diagnose with diseases they read about during class. Reading about those diseases makes students overthink the sniffles and aches they feel, often to the point that they convince themselves they’re sick. In reality, they’re simply overthinking themselves to the point that they think themselves ill.
Doctors are not dumb people. Most are remarkably high-IQ. Needless to say, overfocusing and overthinking surrounding health issues is quite common among highly intelligent, health-conscious people.
11. Daily decisions
creativecoopmedia from Getty Images via Canva
Believe it or not, overthinking is often just a side-effect of being an intelligent person. Having a high IQ literally means your brain just works fast at processing information, and sometimes, it just doesn’t want to stop working.
So, small things like figuring out how to do your morning commute, when to hit the gym, or what to buy for your meal planning can all end up making you overthink. The important thing to do is learn how to pace your mind, but that topic is best left for another article.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.
