If You Are So Smart, You Are Likely To Be Unhappy
Smart people cannot always find solutions to problems because they see, understand, and know too much.
What do Tolstoy, Hemingway, and Newton have in common? They were brilliant, depressed people. Questioning and understanding too much about how the world works made them unhappy.
You and I are likely not geniuses. But, if you are intelligent1, you are likely to become unfulfilled. You see the malice and evil in the world that others can’t process. And that has a price.
Part 1: what it means to be intelligent
There isn’t a consensus on what it means to be intelligent.
Catell about fluid intelligence
Salovey and Mayers talk about emotional intelligence
Your tank-top-wearing uncle about street intelligence.
Others link “intelligence” to habits that average intelligence people can have. For example, they will think someone who reads a lot and gets good grades is bright. But the person might simply enjoy reading and be disciplined.
I will establish a definition of intelligence, so we are all on the same page. Intelligent people grasp, know, and recall more information than average. They are better at judging situations and thinking of more effective solutions to problems.
The easiest way to measure your intelligence is to take a formal, in-person IQ test. But there aren’t such tests in every country.
A proxy for intelligence I use is to count the number of people who think you are intelligent. These people should have different nationalities, fields, and backgrounds. If your clubbing friend says you are smart, you might or might not be. But if he, a Ph.D. professor, and people you meet at international conferences say you are smart, you might be.
A proxy for intelligence is to count the number of people who think you are intelligent.
Intelligence differs from expertise because the latter doesn’t transfer between areas. Ask a sales veteran how to sell something, and he will always have an answer. This doesn’t mean he is brilliant, but that he has mastered his craft. But, if you asked about a different topic, they might not have the capacity to understand it, assuming he is not smart.
Part 2: Being intelligent makes you unhappy
Some studies show intelligent people are more likely to be unhappy. Psychologist Ruth Karpinski and her colleagues surveyed 3715 people who were more intelligent than 98% of the population based on IQ. They found these individuals were more likely to have many physical and mental disorders:
ADHD
Anxiety
Bipolar disorder
Long-lasting depression
Other studies deny this, which is plausible. Karpinski’s subjects could have developed these disorders because of other activities. A high IQ academic studying 12 hours a day can neglect exercise, a habit linked to depression. Despite this possibility, my experience as an intelligent person tells me Karpinski is right.
Primary cause: overthinking
Intelligent people analyze situations for longer than ordinary people. They ask themselves “why” many times before coming to a conclusion. Non-intelligent overthinkers and anxious people can also do this, but they don’t always come up with solutions, or the answers they devise are comparatively ineffective.
The habit of dissecting the world is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because they can experience adverse events and realize that nothing happened in the grand scheme of things. But it’s a curse because they can live that event and conclude the world has unacceptable flaws we can’t seem to fix.
Intelligent people can live adverse events and conclude the world has unacceptable flaws
At Auschwitz, guards made inmates carry a sack of wet salt from one side of a large compound to the other for the sake of it. Of course, everyone finds this atrocious. But the intelligent person is more likely to dwell on the potential causes of these acts and obsess over reaching a conclusion.
My body feels numb whenever I read about horrifying events at Auschwitz, the Gulag Archipielago, or any war. I cannot see it as, “oh, a few rotten apples.” Instead, I unconsciously process it as “human malevolence exists and might always exist.”
Secondary cause: Loneliness
Loneliness—intuitively and scientifically—makes you depressed. Being intelligent raises your chances of being alone because you can’t speak about any topic with everyone. Even if you use simple words, others will get your language, but not what it conveys.
You could publish intellectual content to “attract” smart people or join “intellectual” communities. But you will only feel a bit less lonely and very weird for talking to strangers on Zoom on a Friday night.
Many smart people join academia not to be lonely. Assuming the university is good, professors will probably have an above-average IQ. But not everyone wants to teach or research full-time. For many, a more viable option is to move to countries or visit places with a higher average IQ, which is what I did.
Part 3: “If you are so smart, why aren’t you happy”?
Investor and philosopher Naval Ravikant once said, “If you are so smart, why aren’t you happy?” arguing that intelligent people can find ways to be happy despite obstacles. He says intelligent people can find solutions to problems others can’t and see the good beyond the bad. However, smart people can also see the evil side of good. If you can assess a situation as better or worse than it is, life can be both heaven and hell.
For the sake of simplicity, I will use intelligent, smart, and brilliant interchangeably.