Most people use intelligence quotient (IQ) or emotional intelligence (EQ) to judge just how intelligent other people are.
But it turns out there are other factors that can determine or even influence someone’s intellectual abilities. Various scientists have discovered that height, weight, finger length, and also eye color can give clues to your level of intelligence.
Here are 12 signs that you or someone you’re observing is a gifted person.
1 – You prefer your alone time.
Smart people don’t need to be around their friends to enjoy themselves. Norman Li and Satoshi Kanazawa conducted research called, “How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness” and found that intelligent people find that socializing is more tiring for them.
Smart people also have a tendency to talk aloud to themselves. So take note of this if you encounter it because it doesn’t necessarily mean the person is crazy!
2 – You started reading at an early age.
Learning how to read early doesn’t make people intelligent by default but British scientists Stuart J. Richie, Timothy C. Bates, and Robert Plomin, allege that reading itself may make these children more intelligent.
3 – You are one of the older siblings.
Researchers from Edinburgh University have proved that more often than not, older children have a small but statistically significant advantage in IQ, usually 3 points higher. It’s not because of biological or genetic factors but due to the psychological interaction between children and parents.
There are, of course, exceptions. Dmitri Mendeleev managed to create the periodic table of elements even if he was the youngest of 17 siblings.
4 – You have above average height.
Anne Case and Christina Paxson from Princeton showed in a study that taller children tend to score higher on IQ tests and are more well-off in adulthood.
This can also be seen in early childhood. Fast-growing 3-year-old tend to perform better on different tests compared to their shorter peers.
5 – You used to go to music school.
A study by Glenn Schellenberg showed that children who enrolled in two different types of music lessons (keyboard or voice) for 9 months displayed a higher IQ level compared to those who only had drama classes or no activities at all.
Schellenberg even suggested in 2013 that the kids decided to pick up music because they were already had a high IQ in the first place.
6 – You are not obese.
Research in 2006 indicated a strong correlation between cognitive function and body mass index. People with above average BMI showed lower IQ results compared to other groups. French scientists studied the data from 2,200 respondents over 5 years and concluded the waist circumference is directly connected with one’s IQ level.
7 – You don’t like working out.
American scientists Todd McElroy and David L.
Dickinson discovered through an experiment that people who prefer intellectual work are less active physically and the reverse also holds true. People with high levels of intelligence prefer intellectually stimulating and challenging activities such as chess.
8 – Your eyes are blue.
Blue-eyed people tend to have higher IQ levels compared to darker-eyed people according to Joanna Rowe, a professor at the University of Louisville. Stephen Hawking, for example, had blue eyes. But brown-eyed people have their own strengths as well.
People with light-colored eyes handle difficult situations by taking time to concentrate and make rational decisions while dark-eyed people did well where fast reaction time is needed.
9 – Sounds easily bother you.
Chips crunching, creaking floors, and even loud breathing are enough to get people with high IQ off their rails. A study by scientists from the University of Helsinki discovered a strong connection between a person’s inability to ignore ambient noise (misophony) with the ability to find unconventional solutions to problems.
10 – Your ring finger is longer than your index finger.
Karl Pinsk, a Norwegian physician, has a method of finding out the inclinations of a person using the ratio of the length of the person’s fingers. Based on this method, people with longer ring fingers deal with math problems better although verbal assignments can be a challenge.
John Coates, a researcher at Cambridge University, also found that people with longer ring fingers had a higher income.
11 – You easily panic and often have bouts of anxiety.
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Tsachi Ein-Dor and Organ-Tal, who are psychologists from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, did a study where they proved that smart people are more pessimistic as they easily imagine worst-case scenarios in their heads.
They add that intellectuals have a tendency to use past events to model possible events in the future.
The flip side is that this also makes intelligent people better prepared for potential difficulties though at the cost of increased stress.
12 – You swear like a pirate.
It’s strange but using abusive words is the mark of high intellect. It’s probably because intelligent people have a greater mastery of the vocabulary and can use a wide range of words to express their emotions.
A study conducted by psychologists from Marist College, overseen by Timothy and Christine Jay, proved that the more educated the person, the more likely he/she was to swear.
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