You have probably noticed that intelligent people usually spend their time alone. This was a common trait of geniuses throughout history and many people wondered why. However, scientists have managed to explain this.
Exercise is a great way to reduce anxiety and you can improve your emotional wellbeing by staying away from social media. Being in nature makes you feel relaxed as well as being surrounded with friends. However, this is not the case with intelligent people.
Intelligent people usually don’t socialize the same way most people do. Normal Li and Satoshi Kanazawa are scientists that confirmed this fact. Their findings included research about evolutionary psychology according to which our minds evolved as a result of solving problems. Intelligent people were more successful at solving problems when they spent time alone rather than when getting help from others.
The relation between friendship, population density, intelligence and modern happiness
One study compared the results from 16,000 people aged 18-20. The examined factors included life satisfaction, health and intelligence. It was discovered that being surrounded dense groups of people causes unhappiness and being surrounded by close group of friends brings happiness. However, these results did not apply to intelligent people.
The Savanna Theory of happiness
Kanazawa and Li have explained their findings with the help of a theory called Savanna theory of happiness. It is based on life satisfaction not just because of current situations, but also due to ancestor’s reaction in the past. This theory comes from evolutionary psychology that explains how our brains have evolved because of environmental conditions. However, these changes were happening before humanity developed agriculture. This is the reason why our brains don’t respond that well to modern society.
Modern era factors included population density and the frequency of socializing. We live in very densely populated areas compared to our ancestors and we spend less time with people as well. This is why most people are happier with the things they find natural, spending more time with friends and less time with other people.
This is true except for intelligent people. Geniuses have unusual preferences compared to others. Kanazawa explains that for humans it is natural to seek out friends, but intelligent people don’t do that. Geniuses also don’t experience the benefits from friendship even though they don’t socialize that often.
This research has focused on the reason why we adapted to the quality of intelligence. Scientists claim that our intelligence comes from the evolution of problem solving. Our ancestors relied on friends in order to survive, but intelligent people were able to solve problems on their own. So, people who don’t need any help from friends are not weird, in fact they are very intelligent.
Not wanting to socialize does not always mean you are a genius
However, the need to stay alone is not always linked to high intelligence. Even though these people have adapted to living in densely populated area, it is probably because of their ability to adapt to every situation until they feel comfortable. Loners are not always lonely or depressed. So, instead of judging someone, think about it first, they actually may be a special person.