Why aren't smart people happier? (2022)

Why aren't smart people happier? A new way to think about brainpower. Adam Mastroianni Aug 09, 2022 Photo cred: my dad Here’s a definition of intelligence that lots of psychologists can get behind : Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings-“catching on,” “making sense” of things, or “figuring out” what to do […] Intelligence, so defined, can be measured, and intelligence tests measure it well. Intelligence sounds pretty great. Who doesn’t want to “catch on” and “make sense”? Hell, “figuring out” what to do is pretty much all of life! Naturally, people with more of this mental horsepower must live happier lives. When they encounter a problem, they should use their superior problem-solving ability to solve it. Smarter people should do a better job making plans and getting what they want, and they should learn more from their mistakes and subsequently make fewer of them. All of this should add up to a life that makes smart people go “this life rules!" So smarter people are happier, right? Well, this meta-analysis says no . Another says maybe a teeny tiny bit . This large, nationally-representative study from the UK finds that people who sco…