Signs Someone’s IQ Is Below Average

They Don't Get Curious

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One common trait of a person with a lower intelligence than the average person is that they are never curious about anything, their surroundings or things that are going on. Instead, they might be happier not knowing about things that don't come easily to them. They're happier in their own world.

They Can Be Quite Arrogant

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It's not fun, nor does it make you feel great when you have to admit that you aren't clued up on something. Low IQ people, although some intelligent people do this too, will often believe they are always right despite it being obvious they're wrong. They're unlikely to admit to their mistakes or learn following them.

They Can't Open Their Mind

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One particularly obvious sign of someone with a lower IQ is that they are unable to adapt their behaviours as a result of some of their pre-existing beliefs. This close-minded nature means new ideas won't compute within their heads and they're unlikely to want to change their  beliefs.

Innovation Isn't For Them

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People with a low sense of intelligence often don't understand the idea of innovation; they will tend to try and avoid exploring new ideas in all varieties whether that be entertainment or science. It's the fact they have to change from what makes them happy to what could make them happy that they avoid.

They Don't Want To Learn

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It's no surprise that people with a lower IQ don't want to learn, there's a reason they aren't known for being smart. The main reason is typically that the time and money they'd have to put in to it would be a waste of time. They probably feel they'll do just fine without additional skills.

Their Common Sense Is Lacking

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People with a low intelligence might be able to do things once they've been shown how, especially if the task isn't a particularly difficult one to complete. However, when it comes to them having to work things out for themselves on the spot, then they might begin to evidently struggle.

They Struggle To Reflect

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Reflection on our lives can be one of the most important skills for a person to learn, it helps us to understand where we've gone wrong, and what we should have done better. This can cause them to keep going through the same cycle over and over again, and therefore repeating their mistakes.

They Struggle To Communicate

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Certain people with a low intelligence often struggle to communicate without sounding rude to the people their trying to talk to. This means that they can struggle to make a real connection and therefore create relationships. This can cause them to be isolated from the rest of their groups.

They Feel Lazy

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Just as people with low intelligence struggle to adapt to new lessons, they might struggle with the part where they actually try! Instead of putting effort in to developing their skills they might instead take everything they have for granted. They could get too lazy, to the point where they lose much of what they had.

Critical Thinking Is A Weak Point

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Most of the time, when we're told something, we can be inclined to believe it. However, sometimes we have to think critically about what we've been told in order to consider all the different perspectives. This can give us a wider understanding of problems; lower IQ people might become stuck in a lowered mindset.

Everything is One Or The Other

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In simpler terms, someone with a lower IQ tend to be more inclined to believe that something is either black or white. They don't understand that their can be some things between the two sides that might sway their opinions. It can be hard to differ between the two but its more than possible.

They Can't Be Creative

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Creativity is something that definitely comes hand in hand with a high IQ; so its only right to assume that the lower the IQ, the lower the creativity. Instead, these kinds of people tend to copy the ideas of other people and attempt to benefit from other peoples work, probably due to a lack of confidence in themselves.

Emotionally Immature

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It's actually common for a large percentage of the world's population to struggle with understanding their own, or other people's emotions. This mean's when they're struggling with their own emotions they might not realise, or they can't recognize other people's emotions.

They Need Short Term Success

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Although long-term success is the goal for most people, in terms of their own personal life or work life, low intelligence people might be more inclined to aim for instant success instead. This might have something to do with struggling to stick something out to make it to the long term.

They Miss The Big Picture

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Instead of seeing the bigger picture, someone with a lower IQ might instead focus on the smaller, less important details. This, in turn would begin to affect their ability to understand how to complete certain tasks; all the small detail would cloud their understanding of the main goal.

They Can't Understand Themselves

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Often, a person with lower intelligence might struggle to identify their own personality traits; and often find their won by using other peoples. They might need other people to dictate what kind of person they are, as without some direction they can struggle to understand themselves.

They Can't Empathize

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Low levels of empathy are synonymous with a low IQ, and this comes down, again, to the person being unable to understand their own or other peoples emotions properly. This means they struggle when it comes to trying to help other people with the way they're feeling and can be distasteful towards them.

Their Imagination Is Weak

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Just as a low intelligence citizen can lack creativeness, with that, comes a slower less beneficial imagination. In the same way that they might steal other people's ideas, they might be able to slightly adapt them to make money for themselves. They are unlikely to come up with a brand new world-changing device.

They Make Bad Decisions

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Poor decisions can be the difference between someone making a positive or negative impact on the world. The big picture comes back in to play here, they might make decisions that benefit their short term goal, and then impact their life in the long run; this could be socially or economically.

Change Is Hard

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There's not a lot of us who enjoy change in our lives, and that is even more prevalent in people with lower intelligence. Instead of trying to adapt their lives for the better, they might be so scared of change they don't even try to adapt. This can go for foods, friends, employment or a whole other range of things.

They Might Feel Life Is Perfect

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Instead of looking at the bigger picture, and realising that the world isn't this perfect place, a low intelligence citizen might feel that they don't need to worry about things that aren't such a big deal at the time. They continue with what works for them now, not thinking realistically about the future.

A Lack Of Motivation

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Motivation is a key aspect in a person's life; without motivation people would struggle to advance the world and we'd be stuck in the past. Motivation can be important to a person's way of life and without it they could even struggle to get themselves dressed and out the house on a regular basis.

Poor Time Management Skills

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Time management is an essential skill that you need to have as you grow older, it can be a great way to set yourself on the right track for your own personal day. It can also be of great benefit to you financially also. Being prepared and having a daily schedule will only do good things.

Poor Humour

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I don't mean that they make poor jokes (although they might) but people with lower intelligence often allow jokes to go straight over their head when they don't understand them. This might cause them to not enjoy films or shows that tend to be popular and sarcasm might throw them off.

More Risk Taking

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A person with lower intelligence might struggle to understand when someone is attempting to explain things they shouldn't be doing. Obviously, everyone understands that you shouldn't take dangerous risks, especially when its something as superficial as driving after you've had a few drinks.

Reading Isn't Their Strong Point

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Reading books has become somewhat of a dying art for many people, although it is still popular around the world. People with lower intelligence however are unlikely to enjoy reading as they might find it difficult to comprehend what it is they're reading and retain the information going in.

They Can Also Be Cautious

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Just as they might take to many risks, they might also remain too cautious and lead quite a dull, uninteresting life. As we've discussed already they don't like to go through a lot of change so they can be very sceptical when it comes to taking risks, unless they know something positive can come from it.

They Don't Get Politics

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In the current world, politics is becoming more and more significant, as people begin to take a greater notice as to what the government can do to affect us. Unintelligent people may instead be unaware of these things, only being interested in things they think directly affect them.

They're Gullible

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We can all get tricked by things we read online, although most of us take what we read with a pinch of salt. Lower IQ citizens, however, may have difficulty separating the fake news from reality. In fact, this might mean they are separated from the rest of the population with misguided views.

Unable To Take Criticism

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No one likes to take criticism, it means that the way we are doing something is either wrong, or not the most efficient way to it. However, even if we don't like to admit it, criticism can be a great way to improve ourselves; this is something a low intelligence person might struggle to deal with.

Poor Test Results

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And probably one of the most obvious ways to tell if someone is unintelligent is by checking out their test results at schools. If someone is regularly struggling to achieve high grades then it probably means that they'll struggle with many things. Be aware that some people struggle in test conditions however.

They don't 'see the point'

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A phrase that you'll often hear somebody with low intelligence say is 'I don't see the point', and this may be because it's genuinely the case, rather than just laziness. For example, if there's an issue related to the bigger picture such as the environment someone with low intelligence may not 'see the point' as they cannot fathom the concept, whereas somebody with high intelligence can!

They dismiss important topics

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When somebody wants to talk about an important issue, somebody with a low IQ may totally dismiss it and not want to talk about it. Often if somebody with a low IQ isn't directly affected by something and they cannot physically see the effects of a problem, they would rather dismiss it as something that either doesn't exist, or something that doesn't concern them because they feel it's unrelated to their life.

Social cues are not picked up on

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Social cues are how we all go about day to day life not doing anything inappropriate, rude, or just totally embarrassing ourselves. And so unfortunately for somebody with low intelligence, they may not be able to pick up on social cues because these are often very subtle and non verbal. And so, if you are having a conversation with someone and expecting them to ick up on your social cues and they are not doing so, it could be a sign they have a low IQ.

They're sometimes embarrassing

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Sometimes embarrassing behaviour is from a lack of social intelligence, as we have previously mentioned. It doesn't mean that this person has no respect for the people around them or they are trying to be embarrassing. However, if they have misread or misunderstood the setting it could lead to embarrassing behaviour. Such as shouting in a  public place or laughing and joking super loud in an intimate restaurant.

They can't hold a conversation

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Have you ever been talking to somebody and found the conversation very difficult to hold or to continue without coming to awkward stops. There's a few possible reasons. One they may be super shy or socially awkward. And two, they may have low intelligence and not be able to hold a conversation because they cannot talk about the topic of choice beyond their simple understanding.

They love gossip

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Gossip can be fun and light hearted. It can also be very damaging and cruel. But either way, there's not much thinking or depth to gossip. It's mere speculation about things that may or may not be true, and so there's really very little intelligent conversation involved with gossip. But, people with a low IQ may find this kind of chat the most interesting and engaging for this reason!

They don't see the need to develop as a person

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Somebody with intelligence reflects inwards and knows where their flaws and strength lie and they may want to grow and develop as a person. For example, they may want to read more to expand their mind and use their brain in positive ways. Somebody with low intelligence may not be very self aware and may not feel the need to grow or develop as they may think they are quite perfect already.

Philosophical questions go straight over their head

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Philosophy is a very complex, deep and difficult subject. It is a subject which is delved into by great and brilliant minds. But anybody of intelligence can enjoy philosophy and enjoy discussing the big questions. Somebody with low intelligence however may find this very difficult and may even say they 'hate' talking about these kinds of things, such as the age old 'why are we here?'.

Processing information takes a while

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Some people do just take longer to process things than other people. But it can of course also be a sign of a low IQ, when somebody takes a long time to be ablet to process information, even seemingly simple information. they may not understand or they may forget it very quickly as they have not fully managed to process and understand the information they've been given.

Thinking ahead is hard

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Thinking ahead requires thinking outside of what you know, preparing for possibilities that haven't yet occurred. It's something we all have to do all of the time without even thinking about it;. Unless, you have a low IQ and you find this very difficult, in which case this person may act without ever planning or thinking about the future and hoe it may affect them down the line.

Meaning is grasped as surface level

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To somebody with a low IQ, all meaning may be very superficial and surface level. For example, when reading a book this person may take away the literal meaning from the book. Whereas somebody with high intelligence may finish reading the book and think about the deeper, hidden meanings and make connections with it. This person would sturggle to do this!

They may be derogatory about intellectuals

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One of the biggest signs of low intelligence is when somebody cannot understand why someone likes or is the way they are and instead of appreciating it, they are derogatory about them only because they themselves cannot grasp it. So someone with a low intelligence may be derogatory about somebody intellectual and interested in complex matters and subjects.

They're easily bored

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Some things take work and often the most satisfying or rewarding things aren't those that come easy, but those that are earned. For example, a hobby that you have worked at to get good enough to enjoy it. But for someone with a low IQ they nay get bored easily and always seek and crave change to fix this: needing instant gratification rather than things that take time and effort.

They take things very literally

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If you're cracking a joke or using hypothetical situations or metaphorical comparisons, somebody with a low IQ may not be ablet to grasp it. Instead, they may take you at face value and not get the meanings that were actually intended. This is a huge sign of low intelligence, when somebody cannot grasp that words have multiple intended meanings rather than the literal words.

Lots of cussing

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Often somebody with low intelligence may have a more limited range of vocabulary. This can lead to not being able to communicate as effectively as they want or need and struggling to find the right words. And so, in some situations it may mean someone with a lower IQ uses cuss words to express their emotions as they don't have the language ability to fully express their emotions.

Lack of impulse control

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Another sign to be able to tell if somebody ahs a low IQ is whether they struggle with impulse control. It takes a certain level of intelligence to apply impulse control, and they may do so by weighting up the pros and cons of the situation and looking forward to the future to assess the decision. Somebody with a low IQ may not be capable of doing this and so their impulses may take over!

Non verbal communication isn't understood

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People give off non verbal cues continuously, they may not realize they are doing it but often, body language is the most accurate way to read somebody because often what we say is altered according to what we think we should be saying. Most people take int his body language and process it to asses the situation but a person with a low IQ may not be able to do so.

A lack of social awareness

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One of the main causes of a lack of social awareness is having a low IQ. It can mean that the person is unaware of what is happening in the social setting and they may not be able to act accordingly. For example, somebody with a low IQ may be joining around and they may not notice that it was inappropriate or may actually be hurting somebody's feelings because they haven't got the social awareness.

They struggle to connect the dots

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Life is all about connections. Things are rarely isolated topics, they all have connections. Most people use their intelligence to connect these dots and form the connections in their mind. Yet some people with lower IQs may not have the ability to do this and they'll struggle to actually connect different subjects or topics together without somebody having to have told them.

Mental maths is a struggle

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People have different areas of their brain which are strongest. For some people they may be super creative, but they may struggle with math! But a clear sign of a low IQ is when somebody can't perform simple math in their head. We're not talking algebra, we're talking adding up the price in a grocery store and not having to count on your fingers or on the calculator.