You know that phrase, "Ignorance is bliss"? There's a reason it's stuck around all these years. Because having the upper hand in intelligence might give you an advantage in some areas, like crossword puzzle solving and quantum physics-ing, but it also might just screw up your life forever.
Note: Stephen Hawking can talk about how dangerous AI will be in the future, but we're not worried. Because, as this Cracked Classic shows, the more dangerous dangerous robots gather, the more they'll sabotage their own well being, until all the Terminators work themselves to death while the ED-209s drown their inadequacy issues in robo-whiskey. So enjoy this article, and be less scared of robots. -Cracked
For instance, if you're smart ...
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You're Probably a Night Owl -- And That's a Bad Thing
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Recently, scientists discovered a quirky side effect to having a high IQ: You tend to stay up until later hours and get up later in the morning. That's right -- the more intelligent are also much more likely to be night owls. Which isn't such a surprise when you consider that intelligent people are infamous for burning the midnight oil to cram for tests, write papers, touch up those earnings reports, etc.
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And spending reports.
It appears to just be evolution -- the more intelligent members of a species are, in general, the first to change habits (their big brains are wired to seek out novelty). Since humans have been day-dwellers during most of their existence, it's primarily the smarties who prefer to habitually stay up until the wee hours and to do the types of tasks that are easier to accomplish when you don't have the day-dwellers hanging around and distracting you. Stuff that requires concentration, in other words.
So let the early birds keep their measly worms. The nights owls get to feast on the juicy field mice of accomplishment!
So What's the Problem?
Well, being a night owl does have some negative side effects. And by "some" we mean, "You're pretty much screwed."
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And we mean REALLY screwed.
For starters, studies have found that "eveningness" is associated with a high degree of emotional instability. That means you tend to be less agreeable and conscientious than the average Joe. Oh, and you don't just make others' lives miserable. Thanks to your late-night habits, likely brought on by high intelligence, you're also three times more likely to suffer symptoms of depression.
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