Why is it so hard for NT's to comprehend special intrests?

Post Reply New Topic

I have gradually concluded, it is not so much the Mob don't HAVE any interests [which I thought for a long time, and I can still go there] as HOW they have them. I have one sibling out of four who has ever shown any sign of having what I could see as an interest. For the Mob, eating a hamburger seems to be as important as what passes for interests; for me, I have gone without a meal or jumped out of bed to pursue an exciting new thread.

Of course, they do also not like some of the outward signs. I have always maintained a set of "different" interests, pretty near all of them coming down to collecting and sorting and classifying. If I had kept it in my head, fine - knowing the differences between the 1951 and 1952 Studebaker or Mickey Mantle's batting average is respectable hobby material until you start telling people about it thinking they must be interested. But my Dead End significant other was always perturbedthat I was always sitting with her watching TV and "making my lists".

Why is it okay for NT's to talk non stop about celebrities, sports, fashion and sex but if someone to go on and on about meerkats they are told they are being annoying. If I told an NT I found their constant jabbering on about sports and such annyoing they would tell me I was being rude. My parents tried to limit me talking about Lion King and meerkats and I felt as if they didn't love me that much. If they truely loved me they would love my special intrests too because it is part of me. My brother LOVES to hear about my special intrests, or at least pretends too. He understand and is perfectly okay with the fact that meerkats come before anything in life for me. He dosen't really have a clue about stims and sensory issues but since he is so fine with my special intrest I don't really care. When my parents told me they needed a break from hearing about meerkats for the umteenth time, I fould as if they needed a break from me. I felt so small and unappriated when they said that. I was so sad and frustrated when I couldn't talk about my favorite thing. I felt unloved. I don't enjoy talking if I can't talk about my special intrests. My parents out of all people should be the last ones to make me feel rejected because of my special intrests.

Theory of Aspie Mind would be a better phrase.

Just as long as you talk about sports, celebrities and fashion, you're fine. Once you start talking about something different, there's something terribly wrong with you. That's the way that the petty world is.

Oh...yeah. I go on about the Olympics, The Kinks and vintage fashion. Pointing the finger at myself, am I?

At least I don't talk about sex.

There was a time, when people couldn't talk about sex.

I would get tired of hearing about someone elses interest after awhile so I someone told me to stop talking about my special interests I would try to understand. Also when has anime become mainstream. I dont ever remember that day.

I think this is the key. I am an artist and when I'm not painting, I'm often thinking about painting...I'll get so into my work that I'll forget to eat, go to the bathroom, or sleep...I'm like that with web development as well. I get *totally* lost in it. Sometimes I'll get SO excited about something I'll just have to share it with someone. Doing that once in awhile doesn't seem to bother anyone, but if I get going on a long streak (essentially when I get manic) where I talk too much I will notice people's eyes glaze over..you know, go out of focus and they start looking at the time, then I think...they don't want to hear about this anymore. Sometimes I can make myself stop and sometimes not.

And I'm considered NT! Oh, but even though painting is one of the most important things in my life, I find other things to talk with people about. I'm not interested in celebrities, sports or fashion at all and when other people talk about them I get bored but I'll at least pretend to be interested a little so I won't seem rude. I like to talk about what's going on in the world, new discoveries in science and technology, political happenings, books I've read, or about things happening at work. Most of my real friends (some NT, some not) like to talk about the same kinds of things as I do. That's one thing that draws people together...shared interests. Also, conversational "give and take". Sometimes they get to talk, sometimes I do.

Oh the olympics!

I wonder how many other people have nicely timed, planned interests with fixed start and end times.

I don't organise anything while the olympics are on, i don't let anyone book me in for anything, i get even less sleep than usual and plan it around when the olympic village is asleep. I love the olympics

Just before it i start to research the more obscure events so i know more about the athletes and teams and watch all kinds of events i wouldn't usually. Strangely enough the winter olympics doesn't hold the same appeal, it's like a copy of the original.

I've been making my plans for 2012 for a while, an olympics in my very own country!

So will you be attending, or watching from afar?

And yet often they still don't. Where are all these people who supposedly talk about sex so much?

I recognize that often the difference between a normal interest and an obsession is that a normal interest has mainstream appeal, but an obsession doesn't for a given intensity of interest. Another difference is lies in the ability to track another person's interest and turn off that interest if required. One of the things that has frustrated me about people in general is that if what you say doesn't have comfort or entertainment value, others don't want to hear it even if it is about interesting facts. Energy-related research doesn't have much to do with football, teddy bears or the Virgin Mary, hence the lack of popular appeal despite the real significance. I feel that many researchers in energy-related fields don't have the nerve to say the word "nuclear" because it lacks the "teddy bear" appeal of wind or solar, and hence their girlfriends wouldn't like them for it, so they're guided away from looking into it by emotion and not numbers.

I didn't get to live in that time. Even in my 8th Grade year, most of the talk in the class consisted of about five virgins standing around talking about something they've never done and giggling. Made it hard to find any intelligent conversation.

LOL. The normals have issues with the Otaku and Weeaboos just as much. And sell out self-hating weeaboos who complain about the "really bad" Otaku. Closeted anime fans suck.

In japan, Otaku as well as Hikkimori are IIRC one of the more stigmatized people. Though they are a distinct population.

tl;dr the normals b***h about anime, and they'd probably complain if I told them I watched Strike Witches or Kodomo No Jikan. Only problem is the 'popular' animu is too popular for the normals to b***h about. Sheer numbers is why Anime is more popular. Though the 'casual' anime fans probably only watch stuff like Miyazaki and popular and slice-of-life stuff. Or they get more into it and watch moe/slice-of-life......things like K-ON or Lucky Star of Haruhi

I have no idea what you just said.

Both, depending on what accomodation i can organise. I can stay at my parents , which is 20 mins from a train station that is direct to one of the main London ones. I may be able to stay at friends in london.

I'd really love to go to a couple of days of the athletics, or more if possible. Then i'd just like to go to some swimming just for the crowd and atmosphere which is one of the best, other than that i'd love to go to some chill out random events like the archery or shooting, some martial arts/wrestling etc. I'm not big on team sports, i don't really seem them as Olympic, same with football tennis golf etc.

No interest in the closing ceremony but the opening would be cool just for the anticipation, but they're kinda over the top long and too much demand, so i might save my money/time/wife credits.

When i'm not there, i'll be watching

I think they see the people and the eyes first, not the surrounding details and paraphernalia.

I think that the social eye tracking must be different or calibrated in a different way.

Perhaps the process of scanning and focussing on elements in the environment is different for them.

I think it's because many of them don't focus on details in the environment or look at an object for long enough to become engrossed in it. I believe that someone who focusses their vision intensely on an object will develop a special interest about that object or ideas connected with that object. This is how I think special interests come about.

Someone who doesn't focus intense on objects and details will be less interested in those things because they don't "see" these objects as much.