Does anyone else not have "favorites"?

Post Reply New Topic

I've had a problem my entire life, that I just don't typically have favorites. When you're really little, people ask you "what's your favorite color?" or "what's your favorite animal?" or similar stuff, and as you get older, the object in question changes, but you never get away from the concept. Favorite movie, favorite book, favorite TV show, favorite food, etc. I just never really had favorites. When someone would ask me, I'd just pick one that I liked randomly, and that ended up making people question me, because I'd tell one person that this movie was my favorite, and someone else that it was this other, and eventually contradictions were noticed. I'm wondering if that's an aspie thing (related to not having broad interests, because I did have favorites in areas that I was interested in), or if it's just part of me, specifically.

I cannot tell you if it is an Aspie thing, but I have definite problems with the concept of "favorites." I like different things for different reasons when others insist that one must be my favorite. I find calling something a favorite is an oversimplification.

I'm exactly the same way, flowerncsu. I just don't think in those terms.

+1

although i do have a favorite brand of potato chips.
But that's one of the few exceptions

Yup. Same here.

I have a favorite band, but not a favorite song, novel, book, movie, etc.

People always ask, what's your favorite X? I can never pick just one.

I am not sure how you mean that is a problem for you. I can see it being a problem for others to accept that you see no need to pick one thing and stick to it as your favourite. That is, if it is like me and my thing around favourite or the words 'best (insert fitting word here)'
I have no favourites, of any sort and I actually find the whole concept 'limiting' and impossible. If that makes sense to others, I do not know.
But when people say things like, this is my 'best friend' or that is the best film or this is the best book ever written.
I cannot help but think (and yes, sometimes more then I should say it in my outside voice) something like
'How do you know that is the best (thing)? There is no way you have seen or read all (word)'

Generally I end up being called pedantic

I also own and wear a lot of black ( I own 2 things that are not black)
Because of this, people assume it is my favourite colour. When I tell them that it is not and that I do not have one,
most, generally do something really odd. They try to argue with me that it is.
If I had a favourite colour, I would tell them if they asked, why would they argue?

So, OP, I don't think your the only one, I may fit that as well.

I am the same way, most of the time I can't narrow things down to a single favourite. I usually have stock answers to various "what's your favourite..." questions, but my true favourites change all the time, and it largely depends on the situation.

An example is with Doctor Who. I currently think that Matt Smith is my favourite Doctor, but when I watch an older episode with a different Doctor, they become my favourite Doctor. They are all my favourites, it just depends on when you ask me the question. I have very few absolute favourites, like maybe one or two.

I can narrow things down to groups of favorites, maybe, but choosing just one of anything seems so limiting. Besides, I can never make up my mind about anything. I have habitual choices, but they're not necessarily favorites, just defaults to keep from holding up the line for everybody else.

Just so it's not a runaway yes-fest - I do have favorites, in numbers (17), colors (clear), star trek characters (that's a whole list) and Doctors (David Tenant, Tom Baker a close second, new guy is OK)

Pretty much this.

No. I feel very strongly about the things I like, so I have favourites.

Why is this a problem?

It's no longer a problem, I guess, since I've learned to just answer that I don't have a favorite. But I still get odd looks when I say that. It used to be a problem, because people would think I was lying to them, since I was inconsistent. It certainly isn't a *big* problem; I mostly was just wondering how common it is in aspies, since it isn't very common in the general population; at least not among the people I know. It seems, from the responses, to be a lot more common among aspies than NTs, although, like everything else, not universal. Nothing is universal except death and taxes... (apologies to Mr. Twain for twisting the quote)

I've never had favourites. No favourite food (I can think of several that might qualify, but certainly can't narrow it down to one). No favourite colour (but colours I dislike). No favourite number, or television show (again, several), or movie, or anything. It just depends on the situation in which I'm asked. If I feel like Thai food, then I'm going to pick something Thai as my favourite. If I feel like Italian, I'll probably say pizza.

Doctors, though.

Well, Tom Baker is good.
And David Tennant is good.

But Christopher Eccleston. That's my Doctor.

Edited to add: And I don't see it as a "problem" that I don't have single favourites for anything (except Doctors). I was just responding to the question in the thread's subject line. Simple answer. No, I don't have favourites.

The only favorite I actively have is a baseball team (Dodgers). Other than that, I'm totally on the same page as you, and don't really see the point in picking favorites. I think it might be more of a social thing for people to somehow connect because they share the same favorites.