**Highly intelligent people are more likely to ditch old habits for better ideas, study finds**
A study of social learning found that people with higher intelligence are more likely to switch to novel solutions when they become available, particularly if they are better than the existing ones. Higher openness to experience was also associated with switching to novel solutions, but specifically to those that were similar or worse in quality than the existing solutions. The research was published in [*Personality and Individual Differences*](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113639).
Brrdock on
I wonder if there’s a difference at the extreme end. Many of the most intelligent people in history seemed creatures of extreme habit. Though, many were also the opposite
MrYdobon on
Well this makes me feel dumb.
… As I scroll through Reddit first thing in the morning.
SnoozingBasset on
Not just. Try new things. Discard what doesn’t work.
Training_Form2243 on
I’m so glad this was posted because we, the Reddit community, are essentially the final remaining intellectuals on the internet
DumbleDinosaur on
I have found moving to the better solution is often not worth the effort. While it might be technically better, most plans have to be communicated to others. Constantly switching means communicating to dumb people the new plan and the headache with the pushback. So a well executed good enough plan is better than the best plan.
Arctovigil on
this can be because the brain’s context handling especially but others also is somewhat of a brittle system contributing to some of the heterogeneous abilities in cognition.
if you look at familiar everyday objects you don’t always get fixated or overly attached to them because your brain tells you things like „yeah that is my X“ „yeah that is just that thing no biggie“
this can vary a lot so you also have people whos brains are not telling them that so what you get is a thought process that is going to overly fixate on things and have a hard time processing context
Neethis on
You ditch habits because you’re highly intelligent. I ditch habits because I have ADHD. We are not the same.
Retro_Curry93 on
Says a lot then about people who are stuck in their ways or hold non-wavering beliefs.
17Girl4Life on
It makes sense that people who are open to new experiences would try a novel approach even if it didn’t offer a clear benefit. They just want to try it for themselves
sck178 on
My autistic ass: …. Yes… I do like changing my habits…. I definitely like it when a single thing about my routine changes…
Edit: joke aside, learning new techniques/being willing to change your way of thinking, I feel, has always been what separated people. Mental flexibility, especially during problem solving, is massively important. The parts of the study I have difficulty with is the social learning part.
Marchello_E on
Generally, when you’re able to handle conflicting ideas then you ave a choice, otherwise you only have problems.
calvinwho on
I’m not that smart and even I know to left-face if I walk into a wall
RespectableBloke69 on
This is going to make a lot of people on here think they are highly intelligent.
Weep4Thee on
Isn’t this normal behavior? The whole point is to improve and evolve, right?
Zealousideal-Emu5486 on
Only a dumb person would conduct this research
Ok-Middle8656 on
I really should be reading a book right now…
Vibingcarefully on
Folks –get screen time (excluding job) down to 30 minutes / day. Read a book, cut some celery, sip juice.
Brain will love you for that.
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**Highly intelligent people are more likely to ditch old habits for better ideas, study finds**
A study of social learning found that people with higher intelligence are more likely to switch to novel solutions when they become available, particularly if they are better than the existing ones. Higher openness to experience was also associated with switching to novel solutions, but specifically to those that were similar or worse in quality than the existing solutions. The research was published in [*Personality and Individual Differences*](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113639).
I wonder if there’s a difference at the extreme end. Many of the most intelligent people in history seemed creatures of extreme habit. Though, many were also the opposite
Well this makes me feel dumb.
… As I scroll through Reddit first thing in the morning.
Not just. Try new things. Discard what doesn’t work.
I’m so glad this was posted because we, the Reddit community, are essentially the final remaining intellectuals on the internet
I have found moving to the better solution is often not worth the effort. While it might be technically better, most plans have to be communicated to others. Constantly switching means communicating to dumb people the new plan and the headache with the pushback. So a well executed good enough plan is better than the best plan.
this can be because the brain’s context handling especially but others also is somewhat of a brittle system contributing to some of the heterogeneous abilities in cognition.
if you look at familiar everyday objects you don’t always get fixated or overly attached to them because your brain tells you things like „yeah that is my X“ „yeah that is just that thing no biggie“
this can vary a lot so you also have people whos brains are not telling them that so what you get is a thought process that is going to overly fixate on things and have a hard time processing context
You ditch habits because you’re highly intelligent. I ditch habits because I have ADHD. We are not the same.
Says a lot then about people who are stuck in their ways or hold non-wavering beliefs.
It makes sense that people who are open to new experiences would try a novel approach even if it didn’t offer a clear benefit. They just want to try it for themselves
My autistic ass: …. Yes… I do like changing my habits…. I definitely like it when a single thing about my routine changes…
Edit: joke aside, learning new techniques/being willing to change your way of thinking, I feel, has always been what separated people. Mental flexibility, especially during problem solving, is massively important. The parts of the study I have difficulty with is the social learning part.
Generally, when you’re able to handle conflicting ideas then you ave a choice, otherwise you only have problems.
I’m not that smart and even I know to left-face if I walk into a wall
This is going to make a lot of people on here think they are highly intelligent.
Isn’t this normal behavior? The whole point is to improve and evolve, right?
Only a dumb person would conduct this research
I really should be reading a book right now…
Folks –get screen time (excluding job) down to 30 minutes / day. Read a book, cut some celery, sip juice.
Brain will love you for that.