8 Everyday Behaviors That Are Pretty Common Signs That Someone Has Low Intelligence
Şemsi Belli | PexelsAs humans, curiosity is built into our brains. In fact, it's often tied to the rewards of learning new information.
While curiosity is often attributed to an inherent trait in intelligent people, the truth is that we all have the capacity to practice it. Unfortunately, not everyone does. Many everyday behaviors are pretty common in someone with low intelligence, and it stems from this lack of intentionality.
Common everyday behaviors that are signs of low intelligence
1. Avoiding things they don't understand
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People with a low IQ rarely ask questions or challenge themselves by learning things they don't understand. Openness tends to predict some level of academic achievement because it protects curiosity. But for people with low intelligence, they're more interested in social image and their comfort.
Even their normal conversations feel less productive. Instead of asking questions that improve their trust and likability, they usually display much more overconfident, sometimes blindly arrogant traits.
2. Thinking in black and white
Rigid thinking is common in people with low intelligence, where they fight to be right and view the world through a fixed lens. They don't create space for nuance and rarely challenge structures or rules.
They always find a way to say "you're wrong," instead of trying to understand someone else's perspective. This is part of the reason why they often stay stuck. They're too busy chasing correctness to understand complicated topics on a deeper level and use critical-thinking skills.
3. Using emotional logic
Yes, it's important to be empathetic and to bring your emotional experiences into certain conversations. But when someone believes their emotions are facts, they not only become more dysregulated, they shut down thoughtful conversations in favor of their own emotional comfort.
Suddenly, opposing differing opinions feels like an attack on their character. Whatever their feeling is, it's tied to their reasoning and identity. That's why strong emotions can sometimes hinder logical reasoning, and for people with low IQs, it happens nearly every day.
4. Fighting against feedback
Constructive criticism can be difficult for anyone to hear, regardless of their intelligence. But the smartest people use these uncomfortable conversations as opportunities to grow.
Someone with low intelligence is reliant on overconfidence to feel more secure, so they often take feedback as something bad. They're passionate about protecting their image and comfort, even if it comes at the expense of learning and evolving.
5. Accepting conspiracy theories
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Intelligent people are less likely to immediately trust a conspiracy theory because they have the curiosity and critical-thinking skills to dive deeper and ask thoughtful questions. But as a study from the Journal of Intelligence explains, people who immediately trust unsubstantiated claims have worse critical-thinking skills and tend to be more cynical.
It's easier for them to be impulsive with claims and assumptions because it protects them from having to do any real mental labor or questioning how valid they really are.
6. Making the same mistakes
We often learn by seeking out discomfort, and sometimes, that also means challenging ourselves willingly and listening to an opposing opinion that might make us feel a little bit insecure. It's not easy to grow, but that's why not everyone is their most evolved self. They're too afraid to admit they don't know something, even if that means making the same mistakes.
Smart people lean into what they don't know, constantly learning and building their knowledge by challenging their minds. Someone with low intelligence, however, pretends to know everything. They sweep their mistakes under the rug and continue making them until they're impossible to ignore.
7. Using distractions when alone
Instead of leaning into the alone time and silence an intelligent person loves to indulge in, low-IQ people tend to rely on distractions to avoid their own company.
They're not the curious, deep thinkers that their more intelligent counterparts are, which also means they're not easily entertained in solitude without something to keep them company. They need external sources of comfort and entertainment to feel secure.
8. Refusing to change their minds
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Curiosity means asking questions and seeking out information, but it also often predicts a shift in someone's beliefs. Smart people aren't afraid to change their minds because they're open to new evidence coming in. Being right and having the most correct opinions isn't on their radar, which means changing their minds doesn't make them insecure.
But for someone with low intelligence, their overconfidence usually goes back to needing to be right. They cling to opinions that they don't necessarily believe, because it feels like they're admitting to failure by reconsidering something.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
