23 Sep 2010, 9:39 am
23 Sep 2010, 11:18 am
MONKEY
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Joined: 3 Jan 2009
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 9,896
Location: Stoke, England (sometimes :P)
23 Sep 2010, 4:16 pm
24 Sep 2010, 12:16 am
CockneyRebel wrote:
My special interest has always been one male rock band, or another.
Same. My special interest has been one band since 1994, with a few years in there when I wasn't paying as close attention to them.
But I have never had the kind of detailed interests described in this thread. Yes I know a lot about this one band, but I don't make it a point to know every possible detail about them (though I kind of do know most details about them anyway...
) To be honest it makes me feel kind of jealous that so many people here can devote such intense interest to getting to know a particular topic. I think I'm too distracted, not focused enough to be able to do that.
24 Sep 2010, 7:44 am
bee33 wrote:
But I have never had the kind of detailed interests described in this thread. Yes I know a lot about this one band, but I don't make it a point to know every possible detail about them (though I kind of do know most details about them anyway... ) To be honest it makes me feel kind of jealous that so many people here can devote such intense interest to getting to know a particular topic. I think I'm too distracted, not focused enough to be able to do that.
) To be honest it makes me feel kind of jealous that so many people here can devote such intense interest to getting to know a particular topic. I think I'm too distracted, not focused enough to be able to do that.I feel the same way. I'll say I have a special interest in something (music) but I don't know everything, and it makes me feel almost like I'm not interested enough. But I have other things to do, other things to obsess over. Currently I am doing a TON of research on ferret and cat foods because I need to change mine, but I don't have the time or patience to look at every single one. And I feel bad because of that.
24 Sep 2010, 8:01 am
24 Sep 2010, 8:36 am
24 Sep 2010, 8:54 am
ladyrain wrote:
MotownDangerPants wrote:
I'm just *generally* detail-oriented and hyper-aware of other things but I wouldn't call them special interests.
I think I agree with your description. What is 'special' is my approach - whatever I'm interested in becomes special. The level of intensity and obsessive drive for information and understanding is what is unusual and often considered odd by others, not necessarily the topics.
I don't really relate to 'trainspotter' thinking, because I would find it dull to be only interested in one thing, and see that almost as a need to catalogue information. But I can relate to it as part of my way of thinking.
For example, when I first had a garden I wanted to plant some winter bulbs. I didn't just go and buy some daffs and plant them, I made a spreadsheet about all the different types of garden bulbs, when they flowered, how tall they grew, what soil they needed etc etc. I wanted all the information I could get, so that I actually knew what I was doing, so I read extensively.
Then I went and bought some bulbs and planted them.
And then I drew a garden plan, so that I knew where they were. And so on.
I put a great deal of intensity into everything I do, but usually have a number of interests going on simultaneously, some of which are short-lived, and others which I have had all my life, such as music, science. Subjects wax and wane, but my approach stays the same. There are many things which I am completely oblivious to because I couldn't care less about them.
If I am asked what my hobbies are, I can't usually think of anything, since I don't think of the things I do as hobbies, they are an integral part of my life. If I am asked what I am interested in, I will say that I am interested in many things, and have the potential to be interested in anything that catches my attention - and something always does.
I don't have any mechanical or engineering aptitude at all, so probably the stereotypical obsession with door-knobs or deep-fat fryers* would never cross my mind - I am knowledge-oriented more than object-oriented, although I've always had little collections of things which others find strange and 'ungirly', and definitely know what the compulsion to have 'one of every type of something' feels like, and how hard it is to resist, even after I've lost interest in the something. I like objects for themselves, and get attached to them, I don't necessarily want to know any information about them.
( * If I were interested in buying a deep-fat fryer, I would research until I had sufficient information to make an informed choice - I do that kind of thing all the time, I want to pick the best thing for me - spontaneity can be tricky.
)This has always been my approach too (except I have never collected anything but books). I find it strange that everyone doesn't do things this way. I do however have times (could be weeks, months or years) where I am completely focused on one or two "specialist subjects" and learning as much as I can about them. The first one of these I remember was bees, followed by Victorian culture (triggered by the Anne of Green Gables series). For many years (since I became pregnant with my sons) my interest has been parenting, early childhood development and of course ASD. This is a very functional and socially acceptable interest for a mother to have, and I think very common, it was just the intensity that made it unusual (for about 5 years I read nothing but non-fiction books related to children and how to parent them, had binders of notes etc, and could think and talk of little else). I have also been completely obsessed with Harry Potter since 2003. It is funny that the obsession with parenting makes people think I am some kind of wonderful person and very intelligent, whereas the one with Harry Potter makes people think I am silly and infantile...meanwhile I am the exact same person.
Other adulthood passions of mine have been Tolkien, cooking and baking, and art journaling and mixed media art. Again it is amusing to me that people wholeheartedly support and appreciate the cooking interest which is typical and socially acceptable, admire the art interest and|or think it is a bit suspect and a waste of time, and look horrified when I start talking Tolkien.
24 Sep 2010, 11:46 am
24 Sep 2010, 5:32 pm
jojobean
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Joined: 12 Aug 2009
Age: 47
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Posts: 3,341
Location: In Georgia sipping a virgin pina' colada while the rest of the world is drunk
25 Sep 2010, 3:40 am
05 Oct 2010, 3:05 am
05 Oct 2010, 11:21 am
sfumato
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 13 Mar 2009
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 61
Location: Germany
05 Oct 2010, 12:34 pm
05 Oct 2010, 1:25 pm
07 Oct 2010, 10:41 am
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