Intelligent People Tend to Curse More, be Messier and be Night Owls


Gilbert Hodges
Core Spirit member since Dec 24, 2020
2m read
·Mar 29, 2018

Were you annoyed as a kid, when your parents told you to clean your room, sent you to bed early and scolded you for cursing? There might be a reason for your behaviour. Studies suggest, that it can be linked to an increase of your IQ.

Intelligent people use more curse words

You always hear, that people who swear have a “limited vocabulary”. But if you think about it, those who don’t use any swear words are the ones who limit their own vocabulary, because they intentionally use fewer words than others.

In fact, there is a study deconstructing that myth about curse words. The result showed that people who could name the most swear words within a minute also tend to score higher on an IQ test. The study concludes that a rich vocabulary of swear words is a sign of rhetorical strength rather than the attempt to hide verbal deficits.

Intelligent people are night owls

Like to stay up late? This also could be a sign for intelligence. Scientific research has linked night owls with higher IQ scores for quite some time now. President Obama, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley are all famous for nocturnal activities. If you tend to go to sleep rather late, you’re definitely in good company.

A messy desk and intelligence go hand in hand

You swear a lot and stay awake late? Look, if you also tend to leave a bit of a mess behind, there’s good news for you.

A study by the University of Minnesota suggests, that the messy desk of geniuses is actually linked to their intelligence. If you don’t spend much time cleaning and organizing everything around you, your mind is obviously occupied with more important stuff.

The study went on to show that a messy enviroment led to a more creative workflow.

Psychological scientist Kathleen Vohs says: “Disorderly environments seem to inspire breaking free of tradition, which can produce fresh insights. Orderly environments, in contrast, encourage convention and playing it safe.”

This is a good day for all the swearing, messy night owls among you. Does any of this sound familiar?

John Stanley Hunter/Busines Insider

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