Special Interests

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At the moment I have a bit of an obsession with the movie Fight Club, so I've gone online to find a Tyler Turden tshirt and ordered it. NT's are unlikely to do this. We often think deeper about things, that doesn't mean we're more intelligent just that NT's just don't get hooked on things. It's partly down to our visual thinking as well I think.

To me though a life without special interests seems incredibly humdrum and dull.

I had to get a job based on my special interests.

What is your job out of interest (No pun intended)?

It's a special interest if it's not only an obsession but is also too disconnected from society?

The best way I saw this put: "lack of social referencing, whereby interests are otherwise directed by those of others". (From http://community.autism.org.uk/discussi ... l-interest)

Also, it's a way to shelter yourself from the world, apparently.

It's a restrictive repetitive behavior, a neurological need or inclination for familiarity and sameness.
Your brain zooms in to the same familiar thinking pattern, the special interest.
It's similar to watching the same TV show over and over or repetitive movements.

I indulge in my special interests because they give me LiFE. They make me feel lively.

I can't relate to holding an interest just due to its familiarity. Need a goal beyond that.

I don't need a goal. the familiar special interests are intensely interesting and life giving.

Yes, I see. I do strongly live in familiarity in a sense but it's more the background than what I actively focus on. I would never see it as "life giving". I do love the interest itself (and the goal with it is very important) that I actively focus on, though.

I never have goals. I kind of live in the moment. Goals aren't interesting.

It seems just like most things spectrum related that special interests affect everyone differently.

I would say all my current obsessions/interest disconnect me from society apart from when I join a related forum about it.
I am currently a little obsessed with autism and get a very good feeling ( addiction rush ) everytime I get an email notification regarding posts here and keep refreshing the page hoping for more input.

Anyone used to stim whilst thinking of their special interests? Stimming whilst thinking obsessively about my special interests used to make them feel more "alive" to me, I found it very mentally stimulating. I don't really stim anymore, just fidget and go the gym everyday.

Yes and I still do. I always have a rhythm going on. Otherwise I can't think.

I also live in the moment but also have the goals too.

I'd prefer a more definite approach than linking every random little thing to AS.

Anyway I'm pretty sure by now that I'm not AS and have no AS special interests in the way it's commonly defined.

I feel like I'm on the OCD part of things. My special interests are either extremely laser focused on exactly one topic, or one group of things, or a concept of something, and how it can be applied in various ways.

Another words I either ALWAYS like to read books about the history of China, or I ALWAYS want to read books, not particularly about China, but just about anything else, that have to do with history.