10 Reasons Why Being Intelligent Is Problematic (And Even A Curse)

Being intelligent has a lot of pluses. Not only can you do your homework in a hurry, but you are able to hold your own in abstract conversations. Although there are a lot of bonuses, there are some serious challenges.

When you are carrying a big brain, you have got to learn at least a few ways to navigate these very real problems:

1. People fail to understand your awesome jokes

Your brain moves fast and you are chock full of obscure knowledge. As you crack a truly hilarious joke, you realize halfway through that your beloved friends are not going to know what the heck you are talking about. By the time you have explained all the background they need to get the joke, its probably not funny to anyone anymore.

Ah, such wasted effort.

2. Your work is NEVER finished

You’ve always got a ton of brain power milling about. As a result, you are constantly noting things to fix, things to learn about and ways to constantly utilize every moment you have.

Unfortunately, this often leads to massive piles of stress and a failure to ever actually rest.

3. Happiness becomes elusive

Related to number two, you struggle to feel okay about the massive piles of things to do. Since work is never finished, you can never feel content. Similarly, when you are so involved in something positive that happiness may naturally arise, your brain returns to the multitude of other things you really should be worried about.

And thus, happiness escapes before it was even present.

4. Social awkwardness is commonplace

Brain power doesn’t necessarily make every day small talk any easier. Between obscure references, a lack of ability to relate to normal stuff like sports and fashion, and a tendency to say smart things which few people understand, you are rocking the awkward turtle moments.

5. Being wrong is NOT an option

Should the horrible event occur where you happen to get something wrong, every single person that witnessed it will clearly remember the event. They are also likely to remind you of it. You will do everything you can to rationalize the mistake and downplay it. But when you are right most of the time, it’s always memorable to get it wrong once.

6. You struggle to cut yourself some slack

Intelligent people hold themselves to high standards, whether they want to or not. After all, you’ve got all these brain cells ready and able to solve any and every problem you might have. How could it possibly be that you don’t perform to your highest capacity every time?

Of course, this isn’t reasonable, but its really hard to keep some perspective as a highly intelligent person.

7. You expect greatness, and experience depression with failure to deliver

Not only do you expect yourself to be great all the time, but when that doesn’t work out, you get super bummed. You’ve got all these great resources, its clearly just laziness or lack of effort that leads to sub-par performance. What a horrible person you must be.

At the end of the day, no one can be great all the time, but those with high intelligence struggle to appreciate this fact.

8. You have authority problems

Although you are clearly more intelligent than many, you find yourself in the same position as others of superior intelligence: At some time, you are in a subordinate position to individuals with less mental prowess. As a result, respect for authority becomes quite a challenge.

Its hard to respect your boss when you feel that you have the brain power to do a vastly superior job.

9.You struggle with your idenitity

If you describe yourself as intelligent, you are clearly an arrogant jerk. If you downplay your intelligence, you will find yourself hanging out with people who are terribly boring. You need to find some way to get both your sense of self and your fear of arrogance in check.

All without turning people off before you even try to be friends.

10. Boredom is overwhelming

Intelligent people like to stay mentally active. Inevitably, he or she will be asked to work on something which is just tedious. This can really drain an intelligent person. To keep an intelligent person motivated, boredom can’t be part of the equation.