When do the brightest humans tend to go to bed?

Tuesday, December 26, 2023.

When do the ‘very brightest’ humans tend to go to bed?

Humans with higher IQs tend to prefer going to bed later at night and getting up later in the morning.

These conclusions resulted from a research project of studying adolescent bedtimes and then correlating the data with their adult IQ.

Researchers found that on a weekday the ‘very bright’ adolescents went to bed at 12:29 am and got up at 7:52 am, on average.

In contrast, the ‘very dull’ went to bed at an average of 11:41 pm and woke up at 7:20 am, on average.

At the weekend, when people have more latitude to follow their own rhythms, the differences were even more obvious.

The study’s authors explain the average times:

‘‘Very dull” individuals on average go to bed at 00:35; ‘‘dull” individuals go to bed at 01:03; ‘‘normal” individuals  go to bed at 01:13; ‘‘bright” individuals go to bed at 01:25; and ‘‘very bright” individuals go to bed at 01:44.”

Keep in mind that all these times are for teenage humans, who tend to sleep for longer than adults…

For adults, the equivalent times would probably be somewhat earlier, as adults tend to have less freedom, and tend to sleep for shorter periods.

Adults who naturally go to bed after 11pm, and rise after 8am, would be considered night owls in contemporary American culture.

The study’s authors explain the link by referencing our evolutionary past. Yeah, this is where the kinds of questions that come up in Evolutionary Psychology are helpful.

Consider this. 20 thousand years ago, it would have been the norm to go to bed earlier, and get up earlier.

Going to bed late, though, would have been a ‘novel’.departure from the norm, from an evolutionary perspective something to notice, and ponder.

In other words, as humans have evolved and become more intelligent, they have also tended to stay up later. While many of Dutton’s other ideas are being challenged, this singular fact of high IQ and a specific sleep pattern is well-established.

Because you see, night time activities are a relatively modern behavior in terms of Evolutionary Psychology.

Be well, stay kind, and Godspeed.

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RESEARCH:

Edward Dutton, The Savanna-IQ interaction hypothesis: A critical examination of the comprehensive case presented in Kanazawa's The Intelligence Paradox, Intelligence Volume 41, Issue 5, 2013, Pages 607-614, ISSN 0160-2896, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2013.07.024. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289613001177)