Anyone feels "greedy" about learning/knowledge?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm not sure if this is normal but I think I'm obsessed about learning/reading stuff, to the point that I feel greedy and wanting to drown in it, kind like some people would feel when they find a huge chest of gold. It's not all learning just certain science/philosophy of sciene stuff. Even at work, I constantly search the net for articles and underline everything and then pile up the articles in separate files. My bookcase is about to tip over. And the stuff has little to do with my actual occupation, to a large extent. If anything the stuff I read prevents me from reading material I should be reading.

Sometimes when I am well, my uptake of information is truly massive

Sad to think many of us will just die with all this stuff we have learned. Seems a waste sometimes

Not greedy exactly but I have a real need sometimes for things that are mentally engaging. Not just facts but ideologies and give me something to contemplate.

I used to be a commercial driver and it wasn't the solitude that got me down, it was the mental desolation from extreme boredom. I had to find podcasts of information and get satellite talk radio to hearing engaging discussion of ideas.

I can relate to this. It's kind of odd actually. I am very into knowledge, and knowing things, but i'm afraid of learning and knowing things because I'm afraid I will change or people will judge me. It's sort of subconscious I think. Deep down, I want to know everything about everything. Not people so much, unless they are very attractive in their personality and know how to love and relate. I feel very judged sometimes. the more I put myself out there, the more my beliefs and intelligence sets people off either with jealousy or hatred.

Greedy? Naah. I just have a data addiction. My mind needs information like most people need their next breath.

"don´t know how to make the arrows"

It is just my normal mental state. My mind will disolwe into jelly if I do not get challenged all the time (except during depressions).

I don't feel greedy because I see obtaining information as a positive attribute, I will do anything to learn. It's pretty much my sole purpose in life and I am a hoarder of information. It's the one thing I allow myself in excess and I don't feel bad about.

Same here
If something is interesting for me - I want to know everything about it, and gather all possible data.

Greedy, no. Well, sometimes. I like to learn stuff, all sort. Important, unimportant (and lots of it), things that I'm good at, things that I'm NOT good at, facts, ideas, etc.etc. My work does not satisfy me, either.

The same. I don't particularly need to memorize things, but I absolutely need to process data on a daily basis (or at least on a several-day basis) in one way or another. It feeds my brain. It can be anything that seems interesting to me. It can become a problem, because 1/ it's partly one of the reasons I go to sleep late or very late and can't manage to sleep (if only there were a button on/off) since it can be hard to stop reading books, Internet, etc. 2/ it's kind of exceptional when I can manage to really turn this to my advantage by using this data need to fulfill my needs (for example, to use them in my areas of study at university). That's the main problem. Recently I kind of managed to success when I researched for my mémoire (dissertation) - I was able to compose and read a massive bibliography, unusually important for a mémoire (that was itself twice the usual length). But I'm usually maddened by the fact that I seem unable to use that easily in several areas - for example the study of Latin and Greek...
It's kind of an useless superpower... Oh, it is not so useless, actually, or was not so, when I contributed more to Wikipedia, where you can write articles about everything, provided you've good references and you're more than just a novice in the subject you tackle. But elsewhere... In past centuries, there was not really this problem : you could work in several fields and knowledge and science... The time of the polymaths...

Knowledge is power, and I love acquiring more all day every day.
Facts and data are just AWESOME, as they provide structure and relief from bad thoughts your subconscious would otherwise conjure up..

About your description; maybe you're focusing a bit too much on a special interest (which is 100% okay for ASD), if you say "prevents me from reading material I should be reading."...

Time pretty much stopped on the last day of my formal education, some time in the summer of 1995. Without the structure and rhythm of classes, it has just felt like one long, boring day.

I have always had an intense desire to acquire knowledge. I don't feel greedy about it though. You never know when someone will walk up to you and ask an off-beat question that you may know the answer to. It happens to me all the time...

It's the same for me. I want to know everything, like the OP, about science. I read at least two science books a week. Not because I want to, but because I feel like I have to. If anyone here has seen/read Naruto, it's a bit like Orochimaru's obsession with learning all the ninjutsu in the world.

Oh, absolutely. As a kid nothing made sense. I was adrift and I couldn't make sense of the world at all. Everyone else seemed to be in on some big secret that I didn't get. Facts ground me. Learning how human systems work, studying pure sciences, exploring history and literature and ideas... it makes the world seem like it makes sense, or like it's about to, just around the next bend, just as I turn the next page. It's something to hold on to, but it's never quite enough, and I'm always ravenous for more.

Sometimes it gets so bad that I feel like other people/social stuff/work/family are a total and unwanted distraction. And when I get disturbed I get very annoyed. The only thing is I need is breaks for food, washroom, sex and observe or walk in natural landscapes. The weird thing is that when I was studying some of this stuff at university I didn't enjoy it near as much. Furthermore, I find all other stuff outside my own interests a total waste and can't believe that people pay attention to that other stuff. And I feel like they're getting ripped off for not partaking in my interests.