Why are smart people often less friends?

Specifically, if smart people spend a lot of time with friends, they will not feel very happy.

Last month, a very interesting new study was published in the British Journal of Psychology. Evolutionary psychologists Satoshi Kanazawa of London School of Economics and Norman Li of Singapore Management University delve into the question: What makes life better? It is a field issue of priests, philosophers and writers, but in recent years, researchers, economists, and scientists have participated in answering that question. .

The higher the population density, the less happy.

Kanazawa and Li hypothesize that the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of human ancestors has formed the foundation for our present happiness. The two scientists used what they called "savanna theory of happiness" to explain two major findings in a large national survey analysis (15,000 participants) between the ages of 18 and 28.

First , they found that people living in densely populated areas tend to be dissatisfied with their common life. "The higher the population density, the less happiness," the survey said. Secondly , they realize that the more social interactions with close friends become, the happier they will be.

People with more social interaction with close friends will be happier.

But, there is a big exception. For smarter people, the findings don't seem right, even the opposite."For people with low IQ, the effect of population density on the happiness index is twice that of those with high IQ. In addition, smarter people are actually less happy. if they communicate with friends more often ".

Specifically, if smart people spend a lot of time with friends, they will not feel very happy.

Both of these findings are highly controversial. Previously, a large research agency also had a report called "elements of urban happiness". Kanazawa and Li explained: " People who live in rural areas and small towns are happier than those who live in suburbs, and those who live on the outskirts are happier than those who live in cities. small centers, and then those who live in small central cities are happier than those who live in big central cities. "

Why does high population density make people less happy? There have been sociological studies mentioning this, but to be clear, simply try cycling for 45 minutes through crowded streets at rush hour, you will know how you feel. .

Why do smart people often have fewer friends?

The second discovery of Kanazawa and Li was less interesting. Because it is not surprising that family and friends relationships are considered fundamental elements that bring happiness. But why is this not true for really smart people?

Smart people often limit their intellectual waste to unnecessary relationships.

Carol Graham, a researcher at the Brookings Institute, specializes in studying the principle of happiness, saying that smarter people don't want to spend a lot of time interacting with friends, because they're attracted to the items. spend longer.

Think about really smart people you know. They may be a doctor trying to find a cure for cancer, or a writer writing a great novel, or a human rights lawyer who is trying to protect the weak, The most hurt in society. For these people, interacting with friends and relatives can make them neglect their goals, and make them unhappy.

But Kanazawa and Li's "savanna theory of happiness" has another explanation. This explanation is by the premise that the human brain is always evolving to meet the environmental needs of our ancestors on the prairies of Africa (where only the population density is less than 1 person / 1 sq. Km). ; and today our brains must live in areas such as Manhattan (population density is 27,685 people per square kilometer).

Similar to friendship, our ancestors lived in small groups of about 150 people to hunt and gather, in that context, regular communication with long-time friends was necessary to survive and reproduction Human life has fundamentally changed rapidly since that day - when we never had a car or an iPhone - and it is possible that our biological body cannot evolve fast enough. with life. Therefore, there may be some "rhythm" between how our brain and body are designed, with the world in which we live.

Living in a densely populated area may only have a small impact on you.

Meanwhile, really smart people can better adapt to the new, they have higher intelligence, thus being able to handle better problems. If you are smarter and more adaptable, you can easily integrate with the modern world. Therefore, living in a densely populated area may only have a small impact on you. Similarly, smart people also easily throw away communication habits, interact with friends as much as in the old gathering society - especially if they are pursuing some big ambitions.

However, it should be remembered that these are still the hypotheses and arguments that Kanazawa and Li put forward, not science. Moreover, these findings are controversial. The Brookings Institute's Carol Graham says there is a potential error in their research, that is, they define happiness in the way that the respondents themselves comment on the level of satisfaction in life (you are satisfied with life. How is it, not considering the experience, like how many times a day you laugh, how many times are you angry? Researchers understand that these two types of questions can lead to very different outcomes of happiness.