Gifted & Highly Intelligent People Usually Think 7 Things Are Normal That Are Quite Odd To Everyone Else
TetianaKtv | Shutterstock The most intelligent, gifted people have minds that work differently, but not just on an intellectual level. They also feel things much more deeply than average thinkers.
This can feel like both a blessing and a curse, especially if they struggle with comparison. They have habits that feel totally natural to them but confuse other people, so they aren’t always well received.
Things that seem normal to highly intelligent people, but are odd to everyone else:
1. Getting hung up on inconsistencies in the things people say
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Everyone naturally looks for patterns without even thinking about it, but super intelligent people have shockingly strong pattern-recognition skills. This means it’s also pretty easy for them to identify things that stand out because they don’t fit the pattern.
There are times when that’s really helpful and times when it’s not. If someone’s lying, being able to spot an inconsistency in their story is huge. But if they just misspoke, there’s no need to get stuck on that one minor detail.
2. Struggling to follow other people’s instructions
Pretty much everything we do requires following some kind of instructions, even if they’re so basic we don’t think about them. That means this is a really important skill. Everyone’s ability differs based on things like their attention span and memory, though.
Those aren’t things that gifted people lack, but it’s very possible that they would have a hard time following instructions that are much simpler than what their brain is used to. It takes extra effort for them to understand those things.
3. Rehearsing conversations in advance
Most people can relate to the feeling of rehearsing a conversation in their head before it actually happens to nail down what they want to say. But average thinkers only do that from time to time, while people with high intelligence do it almost constantly.
They want to be prepared for anything that could happen, so they try to figure out how they would respond to anything and everything ahead of time. Unfortunately, this increases the anxiety they feel about that conversation, so it doesn’t really help.
4. Researching random things just to know the answer
Unknowns bother people, but they’re particularly upsetting for anyone who’s gifted. They have such a vast store of information in their minds that not knowing the answer to something feels deeply unsettling.
They’ll spend time researching the most inconsequential topics just to satisfy their strong curiosity. It’s not like it’s a hardship for them since they enjoy learning, but it’s something that other people who are willing to let small mysteries go just can’t understand.
5. Not being able to explain how they came to a conclusion
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Sometimes, things make perfect sense to one person, but they can’t actually explain why so everyone else gets it, too. This is especially common when their brain is processing so much information that it basically freezes.
Intelligent people have a hard time explaining their thought processes, although it’s not usually because they’re stuck in information overload. Instead, they have a unique way of thinking that doesn’t make sense to others.
It’s almost like it makes even less sense when they try to put it into words. Other people can get easily frustrated and wonder why they won’t just spit it out, though.
6. Speaking more simply than they think
It will come as a surprise to some people, but speaking and thinking are two very different things. People don’t speak and think the same way in general, and even individual people don’t do both things identically.
There’s a good chance that gifted people have a lofty thought process that includes big words and complicated ideas. That doesn’t really work well when they’re talking to someone, so they have to go through the extra step of simplifying their thoughts in a way other people can understand.
7. Drawing a blank when someone asks about their hobbies
We live in a society that praises people who specialize in something. This is why a lot of people stick to one or two hobbies that they can get really good at. But that’s not enough for people with high levels of intelligence.
They’re always looking for something that interests them and can’t stand to be bored, so they end up trying out pretty much everything. There’s nothing wrong with that from a personal standpoint, but it confuses other people when they can’t really describe their hobbies because they have so many.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
