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Bolde published a lifestyle article arguing that people it describes as having high IQs often stay quiet during conversations about gossip, weekend plans, reality TV and workplace speculation. The piece offers anecdotal explanations and cites research on thinking style and conversation, but the supplied material does not establish that these habits are typical of people with high IQs.
Bolde has published a lifestyle article claiming that people with high IQs often keep quiet about common social topics, including relationship gossip, weekend plans, reality television and colleagues’ promotions. The piece describes this as a preference for conversations that invite more thought, but its examples do not establish that these habits are common among people with high IQs.
The article presents the idea through everyday scenes: a group chat speculating about who is dating, coworkers discussing a reality-show episode, or friends trading opinions about another person’s problem. It suggests that someone it labels highly intelligent may listen without joining in because the subject feels repetitive, speculative or irrelevant to them. These are the article’s interpretations, not verified observations about a measured group.
Bolde also says such people may keep weekend plans private, focus on the practical consequences of a promotion rather than office gossip, and ask why someone made a purchase instead of discussing its price. The supplied text begins another example about people not talking up their own accomplishments, but ends mid-sentence and does not include the article’s complete list of nine topics. The remaining items cannot be confirmed from the material provided.
To support its broader argument, the article refers to Josephine Zerna of Dresden University of Technology and research on “need for cognition,” described as a tendency to seek and enjoy effortful thinking. It also cites psychologist Matthias Mehl of the University of Arizona and a study involving recorded conversation snippets. The source text does not provide full study references, methods or publication details, limiting what can be checked from the article alone.
What the IQ Label Can—and Cannot—Show
The article reflects a familiar online format: turning ordinary social habits into signs of a particular personality or intelligence level. Readers may recognize the situations, but not joining a conversation can have many explanations, including mood, interest, privacy, familiarity with the group or simply having little to add.
That distinction matters because attaching a behavior to IQ can make a broad personal preference sound like a scientific finding. The source offers no data showing how often people with different IQ scores discuss these topics, nor evidence that silence in a social setting reliably indicates intelligence. Its useful takeaway is narrower: people vary in what they find engaging, and not every conversation suits everyone.
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The Research Cited in the Article
Bolde links its description of interest in complex thinking to the concept of need for cognition. The article says the trait is associated with intelligence and can lead people to seek mentally demanding activities. That is presented as context for the author’s interpretation of why some people might prefer a documentary or complex problem to a reality-show recap.
The article also attributes a finding about conversation and happiness to Matthias Mehl, saying researchers recorded 20,000 conversation snippets and that the happiest participants had twice as many substantive conversations and one-third as much surface-level talk as the least happy participants. Those figures are claims as reported by Bolde; the supplied material does not identify the study’s date, participant count, definitions or full results. They should not be read as proof that high IQ causes a preference for deeper conversation.
“high-IQ people tend to go quiet during a lot of those conversations.”
— Bolde article
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How Broad Is the Claimed Pattern?
The article does not establish that people with high IQs generally avoid the topics it lists. The examples are illustrative, and the supplied text does not describe a survey or analysis comparing conversation habits with IQ scores. It is also unclear how the article defines “high-IQ people” or whether its claims are based on research, interviews or editorial observation.
The supplied source is incomplete: it cuts off during the discussion of accomplishments, so the full list of nine topics and the article’s ending are unavailable here. The study details behind the cited conversation statistics are also absent. Without those details, the figures and their relevance to the article’s main claim cannot be independently evaluated from this material.
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What Readers Can Verify
The immediate next step for readers who want to evaluate the claims is to consult the full Bolde article and the underlying research it cites. Full study references would clarify what was measured, who took part and whether the findings concern IQ, thinking style, happiness or another factor.
Until that information is available, the article is best understood as a lifestyle piece offering a set of interpretations, not as evidence-based guidance for identifying intelligence from someone’s conversation habits. No further research, response from the named researchers or update to the article is included in the supplied material.
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Key Questions
What does the Bolde article claim?
It claims that people described as having high IQs often stay quiet during familiar social conversations, such as gossip, reality-TV recaps and speculation about promotions. The article attributes this to a preference for topics that involve more thought, but does not establish the pattern with data in the supplied text.
Does the article provide evidence that high IQ causes these habits?
No causal evidence is provided in the material supplied. It refers to research on need for cognition and conversation, but does not show that IQ causes people to avoid the topics listed.
Which nine topics are included?
The supplied excerpt names relationship gossip, weekend plans, reality television, promotions, prices, unsolicited advice about other people’s problems, secondhand drama and personal accomplishments. It cuts off during the accomplishments example, so the complete nine-item list cannot be verified from the provided text.
What research does Bolde cite?
The article refers to Josephine Zerna’s work on need for cognition and attributes a comparison about substantive and surface-level conversations to psychologist Matthias Mehl. Full study citations and methods are not included in the source material provided.
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