In a conversation, the other day, a friend of mine implied that he was single because he was too smart.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it probably had more to do with the fact that he looks like the secret love child of Rick Moranis and a woodland creature.

Alas, being single myself, I wondered to myself, “does being smart make it harder to find love?” In the end, I think it really does. I’m not saying that if you’re in love that you are stupid. I’m not saying that at all, so let’s be clear.

I’m saying that highly intelligent people have a harder time falling in love, and here is why:

Intelligent People are More Analytical when it Comes to Love

Intelligent people tend to have better foresight. Foresight, in and of itself, is basically just the ability to analyze a situation, recall relevant past experiences, and make an educated assessment of the future possibilities of the situation. Apply that mentality to a relationship and you get situations where smarter people are quicker to duck out of a relationship at the first sign of trouble. If experience is the best teacher, then the smartest people will rely on experience to guide them.

Relying on experience to navigate a relationship can be tricky, though. Every relationship has similar situations. What ruined one relationship doesn’t always have to ruin another, but for people who rely heavily on their experiences, they can often walk away at the first signs of trouble.

Intelligent People are Guarded

Another side-effect of relying on experience when it comes to love is that intelligent people tend to be way more guarded. They have a harder time opening up because that analytical brain never stops reflecting back on past situations where they opened up to someone, and ultimately got hurt in the process. For this reason, other people assume the person is cold or distant, two characteristics no one wants in a partner.

Highly intelligent people think analytically, even when it comes to things like relationships. Therefore, intelligent people realize that being alone is better than being with the wrong person. It’s a rational, thought-out decision. So, in essence, most really smart people are single because they want to be. It is a rational, thought out decision – not a circumstance of their situation.