Does life not mean as much to NTs?

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Stupid ignorant-sounding question I know. But people are constantly getting on me for obsessing about stuff that's inconsequential in their eyes or joking good-humoredly about my excitement over stuff they see as mundane.

Hard to even quantify I know if the best anyone's ever experienced = The Best to them. But. I don't get it. Input from anyone, NT or w. autism spectrum conditions, would be much appreciated.

the capacity for wonder is something that should be cherished.

i think a lot of NTs are conditioned to respond this way only to "greatness" & enormities that are presented to them as such. that's why the news is skewed the way it is. it's not that they couldn't respond authentically to a real catastrophe, or a personal tragedy. but it generally takes an unusual intensity to break through their insulation.

i've always felt like i lacked this insulation. it's caused me suffering, but in the long run i realize i have lived more deeply because of it.

i think we aspies are more emotional than NTs and react to things strongly. i walk down the street and see the trees, feral cats jumping out of garbage cans, and i think this is a real wonder. walking on a deserted beach and watching the waves takes me close to euphoric, while nts would probably just walk on the beach and talk to each other instead of looking at the sea like it's the eight wonder of the world.

I've been in beautiful places that have left me awestruck and a group of NT's will walk by, yakking away like they're at the mall. They seem to be oblivious to their surroundings. Sometimes it puts a pin in it for me. I also don't understand why people talk through movies and performances.

If they stop talking, will they cease to exist?

A few years ago (when we had to take recyclables to the recycling depot, before they started collecting them from our street), I was speaking to one of my colleagues about it. She said, 'You don't bother about that sort of thing do you?'. She obviously thought I was weird for caring about the environment. I was really taken aback. I thought, 'Of course I bother. I care about the planet and it's future and the legacy I'll leave to my future child or children and so on.' I couldn't even get any words together to respond to her as it seemed like a totally ridiculous question and I wasn't in the mood to preach or attempt to convert her.

I see that too! Sometimes I get really excited about squishy things or brightly colored things or things that are cool to play with that people don't usually play with. The NTs never do.

I thought life meant a lot to NTs more than me. Everybody gets onto me because I don't go out shopping and buy clothes, and I don't go out to parties, and I don't really have any hobbies or interests. People are always saying, ''you have all that money in your bank - you should go out and spend it'', or, ''you should smile more, have more fun,'' or, ''you get the chance to go out with a relative and you say no all the time'', or, ''you ought to take up a hobby and meet new people'', or, ''you should try to brighten up your life a bit instead of worrying and complaining all the time.'' I feel very dull and boring compared to a lot of NT people I know.

One Entie mentioned on another website that it seems (to her) that Aspies get so hung up on details that they lose sight of the big picture, such as when an Aspie gets so fixated on a speaker's crooked teeth that the Aspie never hears the speaker saying, "I love you".

It wouldn't surprise me, because they don't experience as much.

NT here. I feel like I'm different than other NTs in this way, but life means a lot to me. I'm not religious but I think there is such great beauty in life - I am a huge optimist. I'm also highly sensitive - I've cried many times from something (a song, a movie, the world) being so beautiful. It sounds silly when you put it like that I guess

Not all NTs are like this. And actually, not all Aspies are either. I was with my boyfriend (who has AS) yesterday and I wanted to show him the beautiful sunset, but he didn't see it as anything that great, though I could've been content watching the sun set and doing nothing else.

I believe it depends on the person, not whether they have AS or not.

Good point orchidee. I guess any generalization about people ends up being wrong. It is at an individual level.

Your perspective is very informative.

I feel like that all the time: that life is amazing, with so much potential. It's why I get depressed - there is such a gulf between what we could have and what we have. This planet is so close to being paradise, but instead it's full of misery and cruelty. When I saw the mental health specialist last week he said my main problem (or symptom) is that I have unrealistic dreams., But that's not the problem. The problem is that they are realistic, but just very hard work and nobody else shares them. - if they were unrealistic I could give up with a clear conscience, and my life would be much easier.

On a smaller level I am so aware of animals and people all the time. It's cold and wet right now and I'm thinking of all the mice in the fields (I live in the country). And next week it's the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and I'll be remembering the thirty thousand people who died of starvation that day, and everybody else forgets them.

Like others here I am just a optimist. Right now I'm discussing comics on another forum. Everyone else there collects comics but thinks they just for empty fun. But I see so much potential as a communication medium, and so much reality and inspiration in some of the stories. They all think I'm mad.

I'm neurotypical and I think life is precious, and I'm making the most of life while I'm young and healthy.

I've not long come back from a week holiday in Turkey with 3 of my mates. We stayed in a hotel and went partying every day and got chatting to some hunky men .

My dad loves travelling and exploring the world. He goes on coach holidays with his brother, which they both enjoy.

Life is worth a lot to neurotypicals too. What makes you say it isn't? My severely autistic brother isn't interested in the world or life at all, as long as he is happy with his only special interest - which is lining up his collection of colouring pens. That's all he likes doing. He doesn't even like going outside.

trappedinhell I get told ALL THE TIME, ALL THE TIME that my expectations aren't realistic. Then I have to acknowledge that I probably sound delusional to them for them to at least take me as a somewhat sane person. But they are realistic. Like you say though they take effort that is a non-traditional amount (large) and most people write this off as something they're not willing to and therefore "can't" do and they don't want to see anybody else doing what they "can't" do maybe. I have no idea. There is such a sense of being pushed down and cut down to size whenever someone tells me I have unrealistic expectations. No I don't. I don't cause I can see how they can happen and I'm working toward them. I'm not trying to turn into a unicorn, I'm aiming for possible things that will get done by God.

Monstermunch I guess what holds me up is that people just seem so "eh, whatever, it's fine" about so many things. If they get it, good. If they don't, no big deal. I've seen all kinds of people acting quite happy but it doesn't seem that many NTs getthe kind of happy where if you took away the source of their joy their lives would be shattered because it meant so much to them. I wasn't saying NTs don't feel as much, I just was asking cause it seemed that way. As for your brother when I was young I spent hours in absolute seventh heaven lining up objects on my shelf. I guess his sources of joy are just restricted compared to yours.

Neurotypicals do more in our lives than just socialise. We all have interests and desires too.