Study Finds People Who Struggle to Get Out of Bed Are Smarter Than Everyone Else

Good news, sleepyheads.

Are you one of those people who needs a bulldozer to scrape them out of bed in the morning? Do you abuse your snooze button with a thousand hits? If you could, would you sleep until noon every day?

If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, I have good news: Science says you’re probably smarter and happier than people who get up and at ‘em at the first alarm. Or you’re just super lazy. One of the two. Maybe both. 

According to the study, titled “Why Night Owls Are More Intelligent,” people who sleep in and control when they go to sleep and when they wake up are more intelligent, more creative, and overall happier than those who do otherwise.

The study, led by researchers Satoshi Kanazawa and Kaja Perina, suggests that the snooze button is a new technological invention and is something that humans didn’t have until very recently, meaning we’re not evolutionarily equipped for the luxury of sleeping in and ignoring the duties of life.

That said, the researchers theorize that being able to hit the snooze button and adapt to this new lifestyle of ignoring outside stimuli that normally presses you to wake up and get your lazy ass out of bed is a sign of intelligence, because it demonstrates a stronger sense of self-agency.

To elaborate, ignoring the rule of getting up as soon as you hear your alarm means you act on what your body needs instead of following the rules, which the authors believe means you’re more creative and independent, as well as more likely to follow your ambitions and solve problems more efficiently.

Furthermore, a 1998 study conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton found that people who went to sleep after 11 p.m. and woke up after 8 a.m. had happier, more blissful lifestyles, and they earned more money…so maybe we should all just stop setting alarms, sleep for 12 hours, and wake up whenever the hell we want to. It might be worth trying it out to see what happens. Who knows, maybe the world will be a better place that way. 

H/T: Esquire