nature of your special interests

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Hey, great ... an excuse to talk about my obsession. I've never been a collector of "things" but I've been "collecting" mountain summits for about the last 18 years. Specifically, I will hike/climb to the summits of mountain peaks meeting certain elevation requirements within a specific geographic region. For example, the Adirondack 46Rs ... 46 mountain peaks over 4,000 feet in the Adirondack mountains. Usually takes me a couple of years to finish a list of peaks reasonably close to home and then I'll move onto the next list. It's called peakbagging and many NTs participate in this type of activity as well. The one big difference with me is that I spend almost all my time in the mountains alone while it seems to be a major social activity for NT peakbaggers. For the last 10 years, I've been trying to complete a list that's a little more difficult ... US State Highpoints. So far, I've been to the tops of 45 states with Oregon, Washington, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska left. Don't know if I'll get them all but I love the process of planning obsessively for months leading up to a trip. My wife is cool in giving me a long leash because she knows it's good for me. One of the last things I say before heading out for an extended trip is usually something along the lines of "... and the best part is that I don't have to talk to anybody for a week."

I am very focused on matters of mathematics and physics.

ruveyn

Yes I agree with you........the "more rote than meaning" doesn't seem to apply to many of us and I think it would be harder to evaluate how meaningfully someone understands a topic than how much time they spend engaged in it....it's much more subjective. Yes a teacher can check someone’s level of knowledge or understanding in a way.........but I think most of us do make connections and think deeply about our interests. I think maybe some interests look "more rote than meaning due to the fact that some of us are interested in narrow aspects of a topic i.e. sports statistic but not sports players, not actually playing sports, not how the games is played. It doesn't mean that person wouldn't be able to meaningfully analyze sports statistics and make connections....come up with methodological problems etc. Although I'm sure some people do have interests that are more rote than meaning............It seems like most of us on this site have interests that are more meaning than rote.

Well, I keep saying I don't know if I have AS, but this is a trait I have that even doctors recognize. I use all methods listed above basically. Depends however how far I am into the special interest. When I first get excited about something, I might not even sleep well because I feverishly collect info and stuff. Then is a stage where I can actually think about other things. Then finally, I might drop the subject (actually very rare for me) or I continue at a lower level. I haven't had an extreme amount of interests in my life, but here they are: Science, Birds and nature, Pokemon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Religion/Atheism. Probably I have had more, but that's about it.


As a kid, I have problems talking about other things, but now I have learned not to bring up my interests very much. When I do however, people general are curious and ask about more info. I have had interests where I didn't think or do anything else but the interest, especially when I was younger. But once I think about it, I've spent the entire day today with mental health related activities.



Hmmm, I tend to share them with some people, but not everyone. Though around this apartment complex, I'm the weird bird lady, lol.

I like to collect info on a topic, fantisizing almost constantly, and visiting certain websites. Often I will day dream about it almost all day and draw pictures about it. And occasionally write about it too.



It's not to the total exclusion of all other things, and I can talk of other stuff, but I do like to think about it intensely.

They are both, but usually more personal. i will talk about it if given the opportunity, though my primary interest is imagining I am actually there in that 'world.'

My major special interests (ones that are intense and have lasted for several years are:

Doom- I was intensely fascinated by the zombies in that game, and would ponder about them. I wondered what it would've been like to have been turned into a zombie, and what they felt now. I would wonder what happened to cause their bloody uniforms, if it was from killing people or from the process of becoming zombiefied. They seemed to still be alive as they made breathing sounds, though they sported green hair and red eyes. Also if they were angry that they were trapped on a moon and were never going to go home.

Duke Nukem- Not so much the man himself, but mainly of one of his enemies the Pigcops. I have extremely little interest in any other part of this game, but I could spend hours daydreaming about these. There is so much to say about them, but my above answers to the OP's questions explains a lot of what I like to think about them. I badly want to go into a big lengthy post about them, but I don't think many people will find them as interesting as I do


Star Wars- I would daydream about being a Force-user. But I would also mainly daydream about Darth Maul, and what it would be like to fight him. I would also daydream about what it would be like to date him, and what a Sith wedding would be like. I liked thinking about us having kids, and having to hide from the Jedi Coucil. He would be under a new master, and he would be striving to become the next Dark Lord. Darth Maul is the main interest in Star Wars, I don't have much interest in the Skywalker or Solo family, though I do have a milder interest in another character, Cad Bane.

Transformers- My main interest lies almost entirely in G1, though there is a bit of movies chacters too (mostly just Blackout and Barricade.) But what I am interested in G1 is the Seekers- Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker. And to a lesser extent Sunstorm, the Rainmakers, and the anoymous others (these are all Seekers also.) But that is too lengthy to explain also, so I won't bore you.

1. Do you pursue them by accumulating info on a topic; collecting items related to topic; talking to people re: topic; reading the same books/watching the same movies again and again but not collecting more info about book movie; thinking or fantasizing constantly about topic or what combination of these methods? Do they involve routines of going to a particular website, watching a particular show etc?

I've somewhat whimsically planned out my special interests to synchronize with the progression of the seasons: In Fall I focus on ethics and politics; in Spring, language and social interaction; in Summer, human action and behavior; and in Winter, human cognition and emotion. All of my interests revolve around human nature and the individual's relationship to society. I prefer concentrating on topic-domains (e.g., learning or emotion) rather than on specific disciplines (e.g., cognitive science or philosophy) or sub-disciplines, as is usually the case, multiple sources of information are mapped out according to my goal.

I tend to think of my process as a chaotic system, in the sense that multiple, dynamic, and competing goals serve to bring relevant information to bear on a given topic-area, which is then broken down and assimilated into an ever-evolving model. Once the model has incubated for a sufficient period it reaches maturity and becomes an autonomous or free-floating project that can then be plugged in to other projects; some of which remain theoretical, while others are more concrete and applied. I also internalize the knowledge in a systematic way through spaced repetition, imagined rehearsal, behavioral experimentation, and structured practice. I'm not going to detail my entire process here; I'm simply describing a modeling procedure for human action. At any rate, this works for me

2. How intense is your interest? Is it to the exclusion of all other things? Do you find it difficult to have conversations about other things?

As you can probably tell by my response to the first question, my interests are obsessively intense (but extremely satisfying ), and so tend to take up most of my free time. I don't watch television or waste time doing things most other people think is fun. However, I do love science fiction, political satire, art, and strategy games. As for conversation, I try my best not to alienate others with my interests. If I can't create an interest in others I typically give in, listen, and try to have a constructive conversation.

3, Are your special interests personal or impersonal?

All of the above, and more.

Yay...........another fantasizer!

1. Do you pursue them by accumulating info on a topic; collecting items related to topic; talking to people re: topic; reading the same books/watching the same movies again and again but not collecting more info about book movie; thinking or fantasizing constantly about topic or what combination of these methods? Do they involve routines of going to a particular website, watching a particular show etc?

My one constant special interest has been the human condition. Everything I've researched in depth (I accumulate knowledge, not trinkets) has had something to do with the pursuit of knowledge on the human condition.

Religion
Psychology
Insects/arachnids
Politics etc...

So, to answer the question, I pick a facet and research it to the fullest extent of my ability and move on to the next.

2. How intense is your interest? Is it to the exclusion of all other things? Do you find it difficult to have conversations about other things?

It doesn't exclude other things, because everything is related to the human condition. In fact, I think this special interest has helped me learn to pass as NT for the most part.

3, Are your special interests personal or impersonal?

Both. Depends on what it is I'm researching at the time.

1. Do you pursue them by accumulating info on a topic; collecting items related to topic; talking to people re: topic; reading the same books/watching the same movies again and again but not collecting more info about book movie; thinking or fantasizing constantly about topic or what combination of these methods? Do they involve routines of going to a particular website, watching a particular show etc?

Very much yes, to all of these! This is probably my only aspie trait that has not diminished in its intensity throughout my life.

The funny and ironic thing is, it is these very tendencies that have made me one of the most well-rounded people I've ever known. As the intense, obsessive interests wax and wane throughout my life (but they never diminish enough to become unrevivable), and I become exhaustively knowledgeable about each one, I become so knowledgeable about so many things that it comes full circle and I am rendered one of those people who knows a lot about everything.

2. How intense is your interest? Is it to the exclusion of all other things? Do you find it difficult to have conversations about other things?

They are typically intense enough to make it hard to talk about anything else, but as I've gotten older I've gotten very good at hiding this. But the tendency is there as much as it always has been. As a kid I would often have tremendous difficulty focusing in school or on school work because of this, and I would assume this is almost universal among people with AS.

3, Are your special interests personal or impersonal?

Like many others here, I'm not sure what this means.

They're not so intense that I do them to the exclusion of all other things.
I do neglect schoolwork for them, always neglected social stuff for them, but I can function perfectly well (if not happily!) if forced to pay attention to something else for a long time.
I'm somewhat like you in that I did take comfort from reading the same books again and again, that were on my special interest, so I didn't branch out as much as I could have.
Also mine could last 3 to 4 years. Or as little as a month. But the intensity level was about the same, in terms of thought and preoccupation.

Mine are also variable in terms of length............I've had a few very intense ones that only lasted a few weeks or a few months like my Harry Potter obsession. Of course I've had others that have lasted years............