Are your quirks secret signs of genius?

Attention, all you delightful oddballs who’ve started to side-eye your own quirky habits! You might actually be one of the smart ones—if you check off any of these four wonderfully bizarre traits often linked to genius… or madness (but let’s be honest, aren’t they basically the same thing?).

That’s right. Aristotle and Seneca both said: `There is no genius without a touch of madness,’ and this would seem to have firm grounding as psychology experts and different scientific studies have revealed that engaging in certain behaviours could actually be a very telling sign of being a real bright spark.

‘IQ and academic grades are overrated’ and don’t always mean genius

Craig Wright, Doctor of Musical History, couldn’t be clearer in his reflections on what intelligence is. He has squashed ideas on the IQ test as the mirror of genius and claims that “IQ and academic grades are overrated.” His book takes care to steer far from those typical genius traits and focuses on what really makes a mastermind: the common quirks that the most intelligent people tend to share.

First up: being obsessive. We’re not necessarily talking about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) necessarily, but more over-thinkers, ruminators and perfectionists. Wright explains in his book that genius is not sudden. “That “eureka moment” could be “the culmination of a long period of brain gestation.” Intelligent people are driven by a stubborn obsession – a passion: “a driving force that manifests itself as hard work and that can range from love for something to obsession.” So, what about those parents pushing their kids down one straight path? BIG mistake says Wright. In fact it’s the people with lateral thinking and with twenty things brimming over the edge of their wired minds that keeps their intelligence focused.

Obsessive people or nail biters emerge as being the real masterminds

Next up: those pesky nail biters! The technical name for this frowned upon habit is onychophagia. In pathological terms, it would be classed as an oral habit and grooming disorder. Anxiety is probably the top ranking word when it comes to nail biters no doubt. Yet studies suggest that it is linked to perfectionism, concentration and to highly intelligent people – although not always.

Do you like to work solo rather than surrounded by colleagues or just….well, people? A study from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found a correlation between high sensory sensitivity and higher intelligence. Deeper processing means that bothersome lights, sound or simply incessant talking can block these processes and ultimately block that genius chain of thought.

Are you a person who talks out loud? One step closer to being a genius!

What about talking out loud? If you’re one of those that speaks out loud or even speaks to yourself, don’t be put off by those who might tell you you’ve lost the plot. It should serve as consolation to know that Albert Einstein used to repeat his phrases out loud continuously and it turns out that geniuses do it often. It often reflects nore advanced thinkingh, memory and perceotion skills according to a study from the universities of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Turns out that doing this is a pretty smart way of solving problems, organising thoughts, memorising and even of generating more intelligent responses.

So, the next time your hyper-intelligent friend corrects your grammar mid-sentence, forgets where their keys are while inventing a whole new system of organization, or insists on explaining quantum mechanics at a dinner party, just smile. Sure, it might seem annoying—or downright bizarre—but remember: those quirks are the telltale signs of a mind racing lightyears ahead. Genius is messy, obsessive, and sometimes, well, kind of socially awkward. But hey, isn’t that what makes them—and their quirks—so brilliant? After all, who wants boring when you can have brilliance with a side of eccentricity?

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