5 signs you’re a high-level thinker whose mind works differently

1) You’re naturally curious

If you’re the kind of person who’s naturally curious about things, there’s a good chance that you’re a high-level thinker.That’s because your natural curiosity will lead to you making new discoveries and thinking in new ways about new subjects. Heck, a ton of scientific discoveries – including penicillin – came about accidentally as the result of a curious mind.

The interesting thing here is that curiosity doesn’t automatically lead to high-level thinking; in fact, it’s the other way round. If you’re a high-level thinker, you’ll be curious. Those high-level thoughts of yours leave you with no choice.

2) You like learning for learning’s sake

Loving learning for the sake of learning is a natural result of being curious.Now, I’m not quite big-headed enough to call myself a high-level thinker, but I can give you an example from my own life. I love learning, and I don’t care what it’s about.Part of that is because I’m a writer, and so I’ll go from learning about Stoic philosophy to understanding how lithium-ion batteries work so that I can write about them. I also know more than anyone should ever admit to about how to dispose of a body.

3) You love puzzles

If you’re the kind of person who can’t get enough of crosswords, Sudoku, and logic problems, there’s a good chance that you’re a high-level thinker.In fact, a lot of high-level thinkers are cruciverbalists, which is the technical term for someone who creates crosswords.There’s a reason why fictional detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are so good at what they do. They’re high-level thinkers whose minds work differently, and they’re also people who love a good puzzle.

4) You don’t always follow conventional wisdom

The first thing to say here is that there’s a big difference between challenging conventional wisdom and believing in conspiracy theories.Most of the high-level thinkers that I know have no interest in conspiracy theories because they see them as a waste of time. Instead, the conventional wisdom that they challenge comes down to asking questions like, “Why can’t spacecraft be reused?”Questions like that are why we end up with companies like SpaceX.But you don’t have to be Elon Musk to be a high-level thinker. You just have to challenge conventional wisdom and to know when to follow it and when not to

5) You have a sense of purpose

High-level thinkers virtually came out of the womb with a sense of purpose.Take Mozart, who was composing tunes at the age of five. From the very beginning, it was clear that his purpose in life was to write music. The tragedy for this high-level thinker is that he didn’t live longer.

The thing about having purpose is that no one else can tell you what your purpose is. It’s something that you have to discover for yourself, and it’s often dictated by the unique ways in which your mind works.And if you haven’t found your purpose yet, don’t worry. It’s not unusual for people to find success later in life.