Thanks to their high intelligence, most intelligent people seem to have their lives set to run in a smooth and seemingly satisfactory pace. The truth, though, is that because of their intelligence, these people can’t find happiness easily.

While many people would be satisfied with the life of an intelligent person, and would be happy to possess even a fraction of their fascinating minds, the old saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ is what helps less intelligent people to be much happier than the most intelligent ones.

Perhaps you’re wondering why?

Here are six reasons why highly intelligent people have a hard time finding happiness.

1. Their over-analysis eventually brings them down in the dumps

High intelligence comes with the gift of analysis – and not just any kind of analysis, but that deep one, which can connect everything to everything else. Intelligent people are used to this kind of analysis to such an extent that they tend to over-analyze everything.

While possessing this ability is indeed a gift, it is also a curse at the same time. Being able to see right through people, understand their motives and next moves, and sniff out their true nature usually leads intelligent people to great disappointment.

It is true that we live in a muddy world full of wrong people, not to mention the global affairs which show just how evil this world can be. Having the advantage of perceiving all this is more of a curse than a gift when regarding happiness.

Perhaps taking a lighter approach and understanding that knowing won’t change anything is the key to happiness?

2. Almost everything seems to fall below their high standards

Intelligent people know exactly what they want and anything which falls short of their standards fails to satisfy them. This refers to pretty much everything – from their private relationships, to work and career.

The truth is, in practice, not all expectations are to be met. Creating idealistic views of the world around them is what keeps them dissatisfied with the practical outcomes. This can be easily overcome, though.

Instead of expecting for something to turn out the way you anticipated it should, you could try and work on that same thing and bring it up to the levels of your expectations. If some things are far out of reach, be aware that you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself about things you don’t have control over.

3. They judge themselves too hard

Their high standards also include themselves. This is one of the biggest reasons for their unhappiness. Their ability to analyze everything with a single thought pattern involves them into analyzing themselves too – and they compare the results against the highest of standards.

This is not only about their successes and failures, but pretty much everything about themselves. A simple flashback of a past mistake can haunt them for days. Once their standards are not met, they beat themselves over it and they start seeing themselves as inefficient and as being below what they should be.

The thing is, nobody is perfect and nobody should be perfect – that’s what makes us genuinely US. Instead of going all gloomy about your imperfections, bear in mind that even those ‘imperfections’ are beyond reach for many others. If they pose a problem in your head, work on correcting and improving them.

4. They aim for bigger and bigger things

Highly intelligent people have so much to offer from their minds. This has them always aiming for things greater than the simple feats of life. They always try to aim for a bigger purpose, meaning and patterns. The intellectual power they possess doesn’t allow them to be satisfied with ordinary things.

Their search for exceptionalism in life and in everything they undertake is what can make them feel stressed out and dissatisfied. Not being able to accept the world and their lives as they are, because they can be so much more, is what thrusts them down in the dumps.

The world needs this kind of thinking and this kind of people, but you should know that feeling down because of the place where you are at won’t change anything.

Turn your aims into action and be happy with every new achievement. Your view on a better world is what keeps the world growing, so don’t get disappointed with what is, but be happy with what you know it can be.

5. Very few who can appreciate them or have meaningful conversations with them

Having who you can relate to and who can understand you is a very important thing that can affect your happiness. Unfortunately for highly intelligent people, there are so few who can understand their complex minds.

It’s frustrating to know that you can understand and communicate with anyone about anything, but there are so few who can do the same when your topics of interest are out for discussion. This makes intelligent people feel lonely in a world full of people.

Science has proved that people with high IQ don’t need as much socialization as people with average IQ to be happy. Nonetheless, even people with high IQ want to interact with people and have enjoyable conversations.

It’s true that these people don’t want to engage in small-talk conversations that lead to meaningless or no conclusions at all. That’s why finding likeminded people is their primary focus… which doesn’t always come to satisfactory results. Keep on searching!

6. Intelligent people can often develop psychological issues

Many studies have found a connection between psychological disorders, such as bipolar disorders and social anxiety, and people with high IQ. It’s not that all intelligent people suffer from disorders by default, but even those who don’t are susceptible to depression and isolation because of their over-thinking.

The truth is that their dissatisfaction with almost everything about life, as it can be much better than it is, can lead them to feeling lonely, unsocialized, and eventually depressed. Many of the conclusions they come to are the key to developing different psychological issues that can turn their lives around. 

If you think that this planet is not good enough for you, think again. You are the best thing that can happen to this planet. Even if not many are aware of the things you are aware of, everybody equally needs the same change you crave for.

Use your brilliance to help this world grow and be happy with the gift you possess. There are always those who will appreciate your perfectionism and scrutiny.

And don’t forget that even if you are destined for great things (and you are) happiness lies in the simplest of things, while success in the greatest ones. Combine the two and work on fulfilling your part in the world, as it’s a great one.

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Are you afraid of spiders? Can you think of a solid reason, or experience that made you afraid in the first place? If not, it could mean that you have genetically inherited that phobia from your ancestors, who could have had a traumatic experience with arachnids.

Common knowledge is that memories and learned experiences through one’s lifetime are passed down by teaching future generations or through personal experience. However, new research suggests that certain information may be transferred through the genes.

According to researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, the genetic transfer of memories occurs as a result in change of the chemical makeup of the genes which happens during certain experience. In particular, the results from the study show that traumatic experiences can be genetically passed down to future generations.

In this study, researchers trained mice to fear the smell of cherry blossoms. Before allowing them to reproduce, they conditioned the mice to be traumatized by the smell of cherry blossoms by using electric shocks.

After the mice reproduced, their offspring were exposed to the smell of cherry blossoms, and surprisingly, they showed fearful responses to the smell, although no such experience was actually present in their lifetime. Which is even more curious, the same response could be seen in the following generation too.

During the conditioning process, the brains of the group exposed to the shock showed structural and chemical change in the area that detected the odor, which the offspring and the third generation exhibited as well. Not only did their brain change, but the DNA of the mice had changed too.

To make sure that this phobia was not a social transmission, the scientists inseminated some of the females through IVF. When they saw that the change in the brain structure persisted, they concluded that the brain anatomy was not socially conditioned, but rather inherited.

The resulting phobia in the future generations was inherited through the DNA, which shows how the reactions of these generations were already programmed, perhaps to protect them from the experience which proved to put their ancestors in danger.

The results of the study gave “compelling evidence” that biological transmission of memory is possible, said Professor Marcus Pembrey, a pediatric geneticist at University College London. He added that this addressed constitutional fearfulness that was highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and PTSD, plus the controversial subject of transmission of the ‘memory’ of ancestral experience down the generations.

The implications of the finds can be huge when it comes to human behavior, especially in understanding the rise of neuropsychiatric disorders or obesity, diabetes and metabolic disruptions among humans by taking a multigenerational approach, notes Marcus.

Research like this may prove to be crucial in understanding certain things about the human mind, and what makes us who we are. It could prove beneficial in enhancing treatments for certain illnesses and provide better treatment altogether.

The notion that our DNA could be carrying lessons learned from our ancestors is quite interesting in itself. Perhaps we relive the history of our ancestors without knowing it?

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Sources:
Telegraph.co.uk
IReleaseEndorphins.com

Back in the day, when children did not obey the rules, they were “spanked”, if you will. Children are now being awarded for “standing up for themselves” when questioned by authority, even when they are not necessarily doing the right thing. However, times have changed drastically.

Present day parenting seems to be all about showing off whose child is the most independent, smart-mouthed, perfectly dressed whiz kid. How times have shifted.  

In today’s tech-induced environment, parents act as if they are running a marathon to the “Perfect Parent” finish line.

Of course, all parents want the best for their children, but when it comes to actually doing the best thing, it seems to be backfiring. Parents seem to think they have it all figured out with their day care apps, infant formulas and Do-It-Yourself Guide Books.

When we observe the issue from an objective point of view, it is clear that today’s toddlers are much more spoiled than they ought to be and all fault fingers point to methods of parenting.Have you ever asked yourself why that is? Well, for one thing, there were no guidebooks to assist parents on how to do their job.

Correspondingly, the roles of males and females have also shifted since our parents were children themselves. Just a few decades back, men were the major breadwinners in the families and a woman’s role was quite clear.

However, today when women have shifted from stay at home moms to equal breadwinners, it can be quite difficult to manage who does what.

There seems to be a fuzzy line between who handles the finances and who takes care of the kids, which is evidently causing collisions in parenting techniques.

Jennifer Senior, a contributing editor at New York Magazine explains the parenting phenomenon in her Ted Talks about the “Crisis of Parenting.” She states that, “the goal of raising happy children is so elusive it has put modern, middle-class parents into a panic.”

Long before the shelves of bookstores were stacked with teachings of the countless ways on how to properly raise children, Dr. Benjamin Spock, who wrote “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care”.

In today’s world, Senior states that when you walk into a Barnes and Noble, you see “a candy colored monument to our collective panic.”

This goes back to the original thought on how parents are raising children differently than our parents and grandparents were brought up. Being raised strict may have frustrated us as children, but we reap these rewards as adults, when we are able to function independently, without the help of our parents.

In today’s world, we see children being raised gluten-free, sugar-free and homes that are built “child proof”. Parenting that goes along these lines would inflict the idea that centuries of parenting have been proven wrong and buying your child an iPad is a lot better than buying them a puzzle for Christmas.

However, fairly recently, children were viewed as economic assets, as they worked on farms and even in factories.

This went on until the progressive era, where this was seen as unjust and child labor was banned. Moreover, to quote the sociologist William Doherty, “kids have become economically worthless, but emotionally priceless.” More work is being put into the education and well-being of children than ever before.

By all means, this is not to say that those parents did not care about their children or that parents are not doing the best they can. On the contrary, they are trying excessively hard and it is going in the wrong direction.

Children are born into a world where they feel entitled to do anything they please and feel the world should simply accept this approach. Automatically, this sets them up for disaster once they enter the real world, where you are supposed to earn everything you want to achieve.

Although the bar is set higher for children, paradox ally, they are expected to do less.

If we take a closer look at how today parents treat their children, the picture will become clear as day.

Nowadays, everything children do is rewarded, from potty training to making their own breakfast. Where this phenomenon has stemmed from is beyond most of our knowledge. However, most of it has to do with the way the world has shifted from self-reliance to technology-based activities.

We live in a world where food and apparel can be delivered to our door with the touch of a button, a process that does not involve much work. Everything seems to be “automatic” and nothing is done with much thought or effort.

In turn, this plays a domino effect on children, making them spoiled and entitled. They do not feel the sense of authority from any other adult apart from their parent or guardian and they do not sense the need to follow certain rules.

All of these changes going on have wreaked havoc on the ways in which parents are raising their children, making them breathe and force panic in their day-to-day activities.

What they fail to realize is that there is no one way or right way to raise a child. Parenting is a trial and error process that is perfected in every individual’s own way. No manual can teach you the right way to bring up your children and loosing up now and then might be the only way to stay sane.

Instead of trying to raise a perfect child, maybe we should try to raise more empathic, ethically correct and loving offspring.

Who says we have live by some standards, anyway? The more mistakes we make, the more we learn. If we are always trying to avoid making an error, we will be forever living in misery, and our biggest failure will be trying to raise a perfect child.

Relax breath and let them be, for all we know, they will turn out to be a lot better than we anticipated.