Perseverative vs Broad Thought Processes

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Those of you with narrowly focused, perseverative interests in one specific subject, do you like your ability to hyperfocus on that one subject to the exclusion of all else, or do you ever rather you could take a broader approach, learning "a little about a lot" for lack of a better term, the way neurotypicals seem to learn? I haven't really made up my mind which side of the fence I'm on yet; it is nice that I'm able to focus so intently on an area of interest and not give up on it until I've mined it for everything I can, but sometimes I wonder if I'm not missing out on a lot of interesting learning by focusing my time and attention so narrowly.

I have learned to widen my horizons a bit over the years, so I am a little of both now. I like learning a variety of things because it allows me to have more pieces to combine into new ideas in my mind. I still have my rather obsessive interest in cars, but now I am also knowledgeable about history and science as well. Likewise, because cars and vehicles are such a big topic, I have been able to use that interest as a jumping off point to learning new facts about engineering, as well as gaining more cultural literacy. I also tend to use aggregation websites that deal in a variety of subjects so that I have a variety of topics to choose from that I normally would not have known to research. This can lead me to new minor special interests that I will spend a few days to a few months learning about before going on to new topics.

I have found that an obesessive interest of mine is actually an interest in learning new things related to science and knowledge, which makes things interesting

A bit of a tough one for me, although I'll try to tackle it and sent it to my "tribal unit" on Twitter. I have ADHD co-morbid, so have the ability to multi-task while intensely focusing in one area (software testing, for example). I don't really like being a generalist, although I've had to jump between software testing, debugging, brainstorming design ideas, writing installers, writing online help, creating icons, testing network cross-platform communications, editing a software manual... but all was focused on one product. I became very good at this and and developed a very good reputation within the industry for having the ability to do handle many different aspects of a product. This does get stressful, though.

When I focus very exclusively (in perseverative way) on one interest only, which I have done in my life, I become more than very good. People think I am a genius, when I'm actually moved by love and an obsession to learn. This is how it was for me with learning to play a musical instrument, although I shut out pretty much everything else that wasn't essential. This is not stressful for me. If there are no obstacles presented by other people, I can go on this way forever.

In the first case, I have to take medication for ADHD in order to function. In the second case, I have no problem whatsoever staying focused, so no medication is necessary. However, when totally focused (as on music), I cannot do such things as drive a car and find menial tasks like grocery shopping to be overwhelming. I suppose if I could live in a protected realm where I had money falling from the sky and could hire someone to shop for groceries, do my laundry, drive me to meetings, appointments and concert dates. care for my cats, make sure I ate a balanced meal every once in awhile and cleaned up after me...sure, I could focus on doing only one thing. Then, I wouldn't be replying to your question..I'd hire someone else to convey my thoughts. Maybe I'm taking this to an extreme, although this really is how it has been and would have to be for me. I am either "in many places and coping with stress and taking medication" or "in my own world and not stressed and not taking medication". It's difficult for me to know if I'm more extreme in this than other people, because, well.. this is me speaking for myself and I tend not to do things halfway. I prefer being able to function independently, although it "costs me".

I like being able to drive a car (for the longest time, I didn't imagine I would ever do this). I enjoyed working with other people to create something new and bring it into the world and continue to learn to acquire new skills. I still do enjoy these opportunities when they arise. Being "the best musician" is a strange spot to be in. Even when you solo, you "hide" behind an instrument. You play a composer's music and you express it in a way that is subtly different from the way anyone else expresses it. You're surrounded by an orchestra. You're giving "something" of beauty to the world for a short time, within a narrow framework to a limited audience. On my own time, I could "cut loose" and play whatever came into my mind and venture into musical formats that were totally unrelated (and looked down upon), so I suppose at a certain point that while playing the instrument was something I could easily focus on and love doing, I felt constrained by remaining within Classical music and ignoring Blues, Jazz, Rock and a fusion of expressions.

I believe even NT people pay a price for being "great generalists". Stress is endemic, relationships fail, people become exhausted. I've known many NT people who were taking antidepressants, whose lives were lonely and miserable.

For me, it is more difficult to recover when I'm distracted and taking medications is often not pleasant, particularly when they quit working or "don't work as well"..and when relationships fail for me, sometimes I don't know how to pick up the pieces or don't especially want to.

The NT people I've known who've had relationships fall apart seem to want to jump into relationships again pretty quickly and are unhappy when this doesn't happen for them.

I'm not so resilient. I need to spend a lot of time alone. I can't just go to "any therapist" and talk my feelings out, because sometimes my feelings are inaccessible to me or are something I can't explain to anyone else. This is not a problem when I'm able to focus on one thing to the exclusion of all else..then, I'll not be involved in a relationship, except with that thing that I am doing. I feel as if I haven't quite made this clear..I've tried, though!

i can only take narrow stabs at narrow areas of interest. i am by no means a renaissance man nor a specialist.

Hyperfocusing and great attention to detail is a skill and comes in handy in many situations. I like the fact that I make myself become an expert on the things that interest me most. I know broad, general knowledge about a good many areas, but if something doesn't particularly intrigue me, I don't have the interest to learn more.