I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but highly intelligent people can be a bit… well, nerdy.
Just for the record, I don’t mean that as an insult. I’m extremely nerdy myself.
I simply find it interesting that a person’s hobby can often tell you a lot about who they are and how intelligent or intellectual they are deep down.
So, what are the 8 challenging hobbies of people who have a higher-than-average IQ?
Let’s find out.
1) They’re into linguistics
I’ve never met a linguist who wasn’t extraordinarily smart.
From my university friends to random YouTubers I’ve watched who speak ten languages, linguistics – especially when it’s studied as a hobby rather than a career choice – seems to have a grip on intelligent people all around the world.
It’s not really all that surprising when you think about it.
Learning a foreign language is extremely hard, after all. It usually takes many years to reach an intermediate level and many more to accomplish proficiency.
Every time you feel like you’ve turned a corner and are ready to take on the world, you’re met with the sudden realization that there’s still so much you don’t know about the language and its culture that it takes a lot of drive and passion to keep venturing forth.
And perhaps that’s why the study of language is so appealing to intelligent people.
Because it continues to present you with intellectually stimulating challenges.
In other words, it never gets boring.
2) They’re big fans of chess
Shocker, I know.
You and I both know that it takes a high level of intelligence to master chess, so this article definitely wouldn’t be complete without it.
But why is chess so very compelling? Is it just about strategy or is there more to it?
According to psychiatrist Neel Burton, M.D., chess actually provides us with many psychological insights, challenging us on both an emotional and mental level.
For example, he says that a major lesson chess teaches us is that “the best attack is the one that looks like a retreat. If your opponent is amid a frenzied attack, and thinks you’re on the back foot, they will not suspect or see that you are, in fact, manoeuvring for an attack of your own.”
This strategic lesson doesn’t only apply to chess but to many different situations in life, which only goes to show that chess is about much more than meets the eye.
And that’s probably also why intelligent people flock to it like moths to a flame.
3) They like to collect stuff
Collecting is a bit of an odd hobby, I admit.
But have you ever noticed that it is mostly smart people who like to collect stuff, from stamps to coins or rare superhero figures?
This may be because intelligent people get easily hyperfixated on certain topics and fall into a rabbit hole, compelling them to invest time, energy, and financial resources into it.
What’s more, certain collections – such as coins or rocks – are motivated by intellectual pursuit, of course.
A person who’s obsessed with the history of the Roman Empire will simply want to get their hands on a real coin from that time just to connect with the past on an emotional level.
A geologist will go to great lengths to get a glimpse of a rare mineral because they want to see their intellectual interests in the real world, not just in pictures.
Really, it makes perfect sense why smart people like to collect the most random items imaginable.
4) They build fantasy worlds from scratch
There are many authors I admire, but I have a special place in my heart for those who have managed to build entire fantasy worlds from nothing but their own imagination.
It takes a special kind of genius (not to mention time, energy, and devotion) to create a world with its own religion, magic systems, lore, culture, and politics.
Especially if it’s a good one.
Most fantasy authors are super clever. Coincidentally, every person I’ve ever spoken with who had their own fantasy world created from scratch has turned out to be exceptionally smart as well.
“Normal” people don’t go around daydreaming about fantastical beasts or how a certain magical stone may impact the made-up politics of their imaginary kingdom.
If they do, chances are they’re quite intelligent.
5) They play obscure video games
I once dated a super smart guy. He was an engineer who excelled in physics and maths, which was also why it struck me as strange that he liked to play video games in his free time.
I imagined him shooting zombies or driving cars for three hours straight and thought it was a bit out of character.
But then I saw what kinds of games he played. And it all clicked.
There were no violent multiplayer games on his computer. Instead, he liked to disassemble rocket ships in space, make negotiations with neighboring kingdoms, and play Warhammer on a digital board with his best friend.
That was when I realized that he didn’t play video games just to relax. He played them because they were intellectually engaging and mentally stimulating.
He played because he liked the challenge.
6) They enjoy reading philosophy
Philosophy is a hobby that sounds like you’re just staring at the wall and thinking about the most ridiculous stuff that comes to mind.
And while this is true to a certain extent, philosophy is, of course, about much more than that.
It’s a way to answer the universe’s biggest questions through reason and critical thinking. And it’s hard. Incredibly so.
Therefore, it probably comes as no surprise that everyone who reads philosophy in their free time is pretty damn clever. Instead of watching TV, they’re pondering the very existence of everything that is.
As the German-American philosopher Walter Kaufmann once said, “Philosophy means liberation from the two dimensions of routine, soaring above the well known, seeing it in new perspectives, arousing wonder and the wish to fly. Philosophy subverts man’s satisfaction with himself, exposes custom as a questionable dream, and offers not so much solutions as a different life.”
7) They’re all about DIY
If you can turn an abstract idea into a real-life object that works, you’re intelligent by default.
Why?
Because it means you can not only use the vastness of your imagination to come up with novel concepts but also think things through so well that you’re able to make reality match your expectations.
It’s a bit like magic.
One day, an interestingly shaped bookcase just sits in your head. The next day, it stands in your living room as if you used some strange spell to make it real.
Except you’re no magician. You’re just smart and handy.
(Which is almost the same thing.)
8) They have the most random interests imaginable
The funniest thing about highly intelligent people’s hobbies is just how random they can get.
Since clever people are so endlessly fascinated by the universe, their interests range from rocket ships or dinosaurs to obscure comic book lore or the way canned tomatoes are made in a factory.
You never know.
What is quite certain, however, is that the person in question will probably be extremely passionate about the topic at hand – no matter how bizarre or uninteresting it may seem – because their curiosity knows no limits.
After all, that is the very core of what makes someone smart.
They are so deeply curious about the world that they can’t help but seek more knowledge. The more they know, the more they want to know, so the smarter they are, the smarter they get.
Curiosity is key.
