Have you ever wondered what geniuses have in common? A number of experiments have been conducted to find that out and some peculiar behaviors have been observed among people with high IQ.

Have you ever wondered what geniuses have in common? A number of experiments have been conducted to find that out and some peculiar behaviors have been observed among people with high IQ. How anyone turns out to be genius is due to their genetics. So genetics of geniuses definitely differ from “not so genius” ordinary people, but these brainy people do have similarities in their genetics that lead most of them to possess similar qualities. How would you recognize or identify a genius if you come across one?

Well, science answers to that. Read the list below and you will know if you or someone you know, have got more brains than average, because geniuses commonly have more than one of the following signs.

1. They Don’t Lose Their Virginity To Just Anybody!

A study conducted among students of top universities has found out that the number of sexual partners per students were lower as compared to the average control group – a group with which the results of an experiment are compared. Same results have been found in both U.K. and the U.S. It is especially true for men. So you question how is having less sexual partners related to higher IQ?

One quality geniuses have is they do not follow the rules, they tend to deviate from the path designed by evolution. Men tend to be polygamous, so they can pass on their genes to maximum offspring, but that is an evolutionary norm. Men who go against that are more intelligent.

Another reason that links monogamy and high intelligence in men is that the male hormone testosterone tends to inhibit intelligence and increases the libido, so when there is less testosterone, it will not only result in monogamy or even asexuality, but also a higher IQ.

By the way, do you know Newton never got married? And, neither did Nikola Tesla and Leonardo da Vinci. Darwin had an amazingly close relationship with his wife, Emma, which is thought of as more like a ‘son-mother’ than ‘wife-husband’ closeness!

Proof: Why More Intelligent Men (But Not Women) Value Sexual Exclusivity

2. High Sex Drive

A sex toy retailer in U.K , Lovehoney, after analyzing their sales data found that the students from top universities buy more of their products than students from other universities. Cambridge and Oxford came first with students spending $14,600 on sex toys, compared to students of Surrey and Loughborough, who spent less than $4900.

The conclusion of this study is somewhat contradictory to the first one, but it can also explain why monogamy is preferred over polygamy by more intelligent men, compared to their intellectual and professional life, they don’t want to spend more time, resources or energy having kids (Another divergence from evolutionary trend, our ancestors spent less time on unnecessary activities like learning, investigating and discovering and more time reproducing), they satisfy their libido using personal pleasure products.

When such individuals who refrain from sexual interactions even with a high libido enter a relationship with someone who meets their both emotional and physical requirements, tend to form a strong bond with that person, thus leading to a monogamous relationship.

Another correlation that shows relation between a high IQ and less sex is the difference in the number of offspring they have, both men and women with high IQ tend to have lesser number of kids than their less intelligent counterparts. It can also be seen in birth rates of different countries, poor countries with less health and education facilities (thus on average low IQ) have higher birth rate than the developed countries with on average higher IQ.

Proof: Does a high IQ equal a high sex drive? Cambridge University tops sales at Lovehoney

3. Sorry, We’re Not Social Type

More intelligent people don’t do well socially. Geniuses just don’t feel understood by people, so they withdraw themselves from society. Their interests and priorities are usually different from those of their peers, colleagues and even family members that makes them act distant.

Sometimes, you will see a person talking absolute non-sense with confidence, on the other hand, you might meet a person, who talks once in a month, but when talks s/he talks you will be surprised at what an amazing thing s/he said. That’s the difference between a genius and an average person, genius thinks before speaking and most people don’t, but what does that have to do with being socially poor?

Geniuses probably think too much, s/he will consider all the effects and consequences of a thing s/he wants to say, like what will this person think if I say this? Will this make sound stupid? This person might think I am trying to act too smart and on and on and on. Besides, social interaction might just be too boring for them, as compared to their own activities.

Some geniuses might even become arrogant, not interacting with people they think can’t reach their mental level and may even develop anti-social personality. Darwin probably suffered from social anxiety disorder and there were times when the famous physicist Galileo offended people.

4. Yay, This Is My Thing!

As geniuses like to experience new stuffs, they are more likely to plunge in an ocean of drugs and become addicts than less intelligent people. A study revealed that they are more likely to take illegal drugs like marijuana, ecstasy, amphetamines and heroin.

Proof: Intelligence across childhood in relation to illegal drug use in adulthood: 1970 British Cohort Study

5. Sleep Is Too Boring

If you like to stay up all night because you cannot sleep without completing a Nicolas Spark’s novel, welcome to the genius club. Evolution has shaped us to work during the day and rest at night, but apparently it doesn’t matter to brainiac.

People with bipolar disorder that is associated with heightened creativity sleep less when in their manic phase. A research says that insomnia is associated with a higher IQ, the need to sleep per hour in night decreases as intelligent increases. Also, there is a possibility that for genius, their calcium channel, Cav3.1, for deep sleep is slightly unstable.

So having a tough time trying to sleep? It is a sign you’re a genius. No wonder why Nikola Tesla never slept more than 2 hours a night!

Proof: Bipolar disorder and creativity are linked (but not by some mad genius)

6. Even the Eye Color Matters!

Blue eyed people on average excel better at self-pacing activities like academics and are better strategic thinkers, but that doesn’t mean people with other eye colors are always less intelligent. Brown eyed people on average tend to do better at quick response based activities like sports. But don’t worry brown-eyed people, as research states you are perceived more trustworthy than your blue-eyed counterparts.

Proofs/References: Correlation of eye color on self-paced and reactive motor performance / Intelligence and Pigmentation of Hair and Eyes in Elementary School Children

7. Alcoholism – Just Feels Good

Just like drugs, drinking alcohol is a novel task as our ancestors weren’t too fond of alcohol. An experiment done in U.K. shows that brilliant students have more tendency to become alcoholic.

Proof: Smarter People Tend To Drink More Alcohol

8. Artistic Abilities and Boundless Imagination

Whether it’s the magic world of Harry Potter that captured minds of thousands or Johnny Depp making you think Jack Sparrow really exists or incredible talent of Mozart or Da Vinci’s Eternal Mona Lisa, geniuses express themselves in way world can understand them.

The ability of projecting your thoughts or expression into the world, requires a mind more developed than average. People with high IQs tend to share their thoughts in a way everyone finds understandable and pleasing like poetry, writing, music etc.

9. Atheism – We don’t confess

Researchers say that on average atheists are on average 6/7 points higher than non-atheists. Belief in God has been advantageous throughout evolution, so geniuses often break this trend too. The poorest countries with less education, less IQ (most of which follow rules our ancestors laid foundation of), tend to more religious. Among 137 countries in a study, only 23 had more than 20% atheists, which are all higher IQ countries.

Proof: Intelligent People Have “Unnatural” Preferences and Values That Are Novel in Human Evolutionary History / University Quiz Implies Atheists Are Smarter Than Christians

10. Liberalism – Don’t Poke Your Nose in My Business

A research concludes that people who are very liberal in early adolescence have a mean IQ of 106.4 while those with very conservative views have a mean IQ of 94.8. This, as everything else in geniuses, is because they like to challenge evolution, our ancestors valued their own families or individual with more genetic, cultural and geographic similarities as them, while did not share their resources to genetically distinct individuals, interbreeding was not common, thus leading to a conservative approach to protect one’s norms, genes, resources etc. Liberalism is evolutionary novel, thus practiced more by more intelligent people.

Proof : Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent

11. Weird Hobbies

Geniuses are inclined to ‘weirdness’ or they just don’t follow what averages consider ‘normal’. A genius’ idea of fun is equally weird. Can you guess what Albert Einstein’s hobby was? It was not reading about what researchers have said about electromagnetic rays, neither was it spending hours to derive a mathematical relation between physical quantities, Einstein loved to sail.

12. They Do Things Which Make Other People Ridicule Them

Everyone laughed at Wright brothers, did not they? Because no one had a goal quite like theirs. Darwin was criticized by the scientific community after he presented his Theory of Evolution. Socrates had to take poison because Greeks believed he had corrupted youth by his radical concepts.

13. Mental Illness – There is not much difference between geniuses and mad, is there?

High IQ and mental disorders go hand in hand. OCD has been associated with above average IQ, bipolar with creativity, autism with music skills, there has not been a genius without ‘crazy’ in history.

14. Being the Oldest Child

Parents interact more emotionally and psychologically to their first child, thus causing the child to develop better intellectually. The oldest children on average have 3 points higher IQ than the closest sibling.

Proof: Older Siblings Are Smarter

15. Breastfeeding and IQ

Breastfeeding increases IQ by 7-10 points if the child has a variant of FADS2 gene. Another study concluded that children breastfed for first 6 months had a verbal IQ of 10.48 points more.

Proof: Moderation of breastfeeding effects on the IQ by genetic variation in fatty acid metabolism

16. Lefty

It’s the right side of brain that controls the left side of the body and vice versa. In left-handed people, they can use both side of brain equally, thus being able to process more incoming information.

Researchers have observed that these people have more vocabulary and problem solving capacity, making them somewhat smarter than right-handed people, usually with an IQ of 140 and above. But bad news lefties, research also says you tend to forget things easily because of rapid neurons formation in the hippocampus.

This is the reason why childhood memories are hard to recall and it is same for genius.

Proof: Handedness / Why Are Left-Handed People So Brilliant?

17. Have you always been the tallest in class?

A study found that even before children start going to school taller kids perform better on cognitive tests.

Proof: Common Genetic Variants Explain the Majority of the Correlation Between Height and Intelligence

18. Being Sarcastic

Has making cynical jokes and snarky remarks always been your favorite means of showing affection to your friends?

According to study at Harvard University, sarcasm can actually promote creative thinking processes. And, being actively able to make intelligent, sarcastic comments is an indication of higher intelligence.

Also delivering or receiving sarcastic jokes requires a great deal of effort for both the commenter and the recipient in order to be understood and appreciated as humour. This boosts the creativity and cognitive functioning of both the parties.

Proof: The highest form of intelligence: Sarcasm increases creativity for both expressers and recipients

19. Being Skinny

Obesity has been shown to decrease IQ over time. A research led by French scientists found that people with Body Mass Index of 20 or below do better in vocabulary test than people with BMI of 30 or more.

Proof: High BMI Tied to Poor Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged Adults

20. Being Smart Never Means You Have To Be Truthful

Because more intelligent people are aware of their ability, they lie more than average people when they think it can get them out of a tough situation.

Lying requires the brain to reason and process, more efficiently, scientists have shown that parts of the brain involved in working memory with tend to be more developed in smart people are activated when they lie.

However, a research at the University of Oxford claimed that intelligent people are better at trusting people, so it is likely that trusting people readily is a sign of intelligence.

21. Love To Wear The Same Outfit Every Day

Most successful and powerful people choose to wear the same thing every day, and it has nothing to do with laziness or lack of fashion sense. Instead it’s a trait commonly associated with most geniuses, according to study.

Of course, successful and powerful people undoubtedly are geniuses. And as you know, their life is filled with incredibly tough decisions. So in order to pare down or minimize the amount of decisions that they have to make on stupid things and have their mind focused on the more important issues, they basically adopt some standards and one of the most common being – wearing the same outfit every day.

For example, Steve Jobs was known for wearing his black signature turtleneck jeans and sneakers. And Mark Zuckerberg can be seen wearing same grey T-shirt and jeans every day. Albert Einstein too owned several variations of the same suit.

So that’s it. Wearing the same clothes every day is a sign of genius. Do you own multiple versions of the same T-shirt, too?

22. Smart as your Mom!

Genes decide how our brain will develop, so smartness determined genes are more likely to run in families, smart parents have more chance than average parents to produce smart kids, it has been proved by studies of IQ in identical and fraternal twins. Also, a study has proven that on average, 20 to 40 percent of child’s intelligence is inherited from their parents.

Proof: Childhood smarts partly in the genes

23. Can’t Hear What I’m Thinking!

Once considered a sign of insanity, talking to yourself has shown to improve memory. When there is a storm of thoughts in your mind and you talk to yourself loudly, it will be easy to remember next time, because your mind will know it’s familiar.

24. Gift Me A Guitar Next Time

Part of brain that process the information received are more developed in musician than in an average person. Experiments have shown that learning an instrument can change your brain’s neurophysiology.

Proof: Early Musical Training and White-Matter Plasticity in the Corpus Callosum: Evidence for a Sensitive Period

25. Don’t Underestimate a Listening Ear!

Geniuses listen more and that’s how they learn, complex auditory processes are involved in listening attentively and storing it in your mind, so obviously smart people are better at it.

So these are the signs of genius, have you found any resemblance in your character? If you do so, then probably you are a genius.