Aspie interests

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Do you think our "obsessions" are more about some aspect of something that appeals to us specifically like coordinates on a grid of interest or are they a natural result of being excluded and the need to invest your spirit in something not understandable to the people that exclude you? I ask this because I notice with myself I've been drifting more and more away from the "narrow and specific" genre and more into just plain ol' obscure. For something to be mainstream it has to be bland, a collection of tastes amalgamated to the point where taste doesn't exist, synthesized; without identity, charm, individuality, without a message other than what everybody is saying to everybody else every day all the freaking time. Just one big glob of there, like breathing air. So anything mainstream is pretty much out of my sphere, automatically, without me even checking it first. I have 455 albums in my iTunes and the only thing they all have in common is that they aren't very common. When I was a kid I was interested in the underground years before I found out what the underground was. In 6th grade, when kids were wearing Korn t-shirts I was wearing a Nirvana t-shirt. And looking back at it, I wonder, if Nirvana had been popular, would I have been a Korn fan? Or did I just really like Nirvana? Actually, I think I really did just like Nirvana, but the point is still the same.

I have always listened to random obscure music. In high school, my friends thought the music I listened to was bizarre. Well I'm into advant-garde music. My favorite CD I have is Mike Patton - Adult Themes of Voice, it's just him making odd noises.

NOPE,

I would NEVER have picked my interest to fill time not used elsewhere. The interests came first. I knew that my interests were pretentious and pedantic, so I didn't talk to other students about them. I just never hit it off. Ironically, most males, and even FEMALES, have an obsessive interest in sports, and talk to ME about it! I never had such interests, or pretended to. THAT may have hurt my "peer" relationships more than anything. Still, there are a lot of little reasons I could point to. My interests are not among them.

Steve

I think that the "special interests" are what exclude us, but I do agree with you on how Aspies are just naturally attracted to the obscure. I mean, I first became obsessed with Frank Sinatra's music when I was 14- I don't know many other 14-year-olds who even know who Frank IS, let alone be able to approximate the time a song was recorded based off of the sound of his voice... I like knowing of other people who are into the things I am, but that's only to a slight degree, really only with other Aspies. I actually get upset when some NT proclaims that they're a fan of something I am. They don't have the first idea of what fandom is! I'm very, very protective of my "special interests," and I think one reason why I reach for things that are outside of the norm is because I'll know that other people won't infringe on my territory. If it's not popular, they can't take it from me, they can't make me less unique. I feel challenged and defensive when I hear somebody say that they're a "fan" of something, which makes me feel morally obligated to show that my knowledge and level of "fandom" is far superior. I've often wondered if this is common with "special interests."
-OddDuckNash99-

I always felt the hallmark of an Aspie was to like X or Y independent of its popularity level.

I think my CD collection about sums it up. I own some very esoteric stuff, some mainstream stuff, and some stuff nobody "normal" would ever admit to owning. The Pokemon: 2B A Master CD sits next to Evanescence Fallen, which in turn is just in front of Best of Queen. I have Swimming with Dolphins and I have Cradle of Filth Bitter Suites to Succubi. I don't know anyone else who owns Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Street Fighter The Motion Picture soundtrack, let alone enjoys both equally.

My special interests sit together in the same uneasy sort of way. I like spiders of the British Isles, sharks, symphonic metal, palaeography, Fauvism, roguelikes and Dance Dance Revolution. I like them all equally.

My interests were chosen simply because I liked them. I have always had animals in my life and have loved cats since I could remember. I like Roger Bannister because his life is a source of inspiration to me. He was considered "odd" because he didn't conform to the rules of athletics in his day.

My interests are as they are, irrespective of how popular they are to anyone else. I'm not so interested in obscure music, simply because I'm not interested. I remember being very annoyed that somehow talking about sport and gardening and gossip and stuff that bores me silly is "acceptable", but somehow my interests -- many of which are comparitively non-esoteric -- are not. But my own interests come almost entirely from myself and what interests me. Not what society says should or shouldn't interest me. I'm no more likely to go for something because it is unpopular than to go for it because it is popular. To hell with that. Why bother?

if you listen to harry chapin, preferably his whole catalogue, you will instantly understand why his music resonates, I believe it would resonate with anyone outside of the typical streak of anything <be it neurotypical, athletotypical (I know it's prolly not a word) or what have you>

most of my interests are kinetic, travel, moving, I've been obsessed with jets, submarines, prop planes, lighter than air airships, heavier than air airships, school busses, mci busses, crown busses, gillig busses, shipping containers, barges, freighters <you totally get the picture>

those interests that aren't kinetic FEEL kinetic to me <cryptoraphy, statistics, comic books>

i've never cosen an obsession because I knew it wasn't popular, when I started school I was obsessed with star trek, and I thought everyone else would love it too, that was a terrible miscalculation

I tried to share my enthusiasm for cryptography with people, that crashed and burned, computers,up in flames, good music.... well, yeah, most of my "peers" don't want music to be well written, they just want it to agree with their limited outlook on the world and be loud enough to annoy their parents.... <I'm a misanthrope and accept it>

I can speak only for myself. In music/movies/etc. I'm not attracted to obscurity per se. For example "Stairway To Heaven" is the epitome of mainstream, but I'm absolutely fascinated with these 100 cover versions, none of which is rock & roll:

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/05/s ... to_he.html

Robert Plant says that "Stairway to Gilligan's Island" is his favorite.

The obscurity of each is nothing to me, but it's fascinating to see the song as a hologram, broken in a hundred pieces that each contain the whole song. How could just one song mean so much to so many people, in so many different ways?

I have always like things most other people I knew didn't. And then sometimes I'd get mad when they became popular, because I hated how other kids followed the latest trends and I didn't want anyone to think I was doing that. Take dinosaurs, for instance. My parents bought me a dinosaur playset when I was 8 or so because my favorite book was a dinosaur reference book. My relatives all knew to look for dinos for me since they were hard to find, at the time. The suddenly they were everywhere, and I lost interest in them, or at least my interest declined, because NT kids had them, and they were cool.

Sometimes however, I find myself attracted to things my friends like, especially if I hadn't previously noticed it, or I am highly attracted to the person who likes it. For instance, my last girlfriend was an artist, and she liked some of the stuff I did and had other interests (I am wondering now if she is an Aspie... the more I think about it she probably is) like gargoyles and puppets, and I would look for them for her and then they became one of my interests.

My specific interests have varied over time, maybe just because I needed to move on to something I knew less about or had exhausted my interest. For example, I got hooked on Doctor Who the first time I saw it and it became an obsession for me. I had to see every possible episode and read every book, and I even went to the Doctor Who conventions. After a while, I realised I had moved on to Star Trek: The Next Generation and didn't read Doctor Who as much. I will follow something for 3-5 years and then abruptly lose major interest in it and focus on something else.

My own specific interests include: movies (especially science fiction, foreign films, and B-movies), British science fiction (Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, Blake's 7), any science show (especially wildlife or robotics), the London Underground, world history, car racing (NASCAR and WRC mainly, but I like all kinds), music (movie soundtracks, eurotechno, 80s rock), LEGOs, architecture, wildlife, nature, caves, anything zombies and vampires (although those are becoming too popular for me) - I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
For things to do, I like writing, drawing, hiking, and camping, though I don't get to do much of the last bit.

the only popular thing I like when everyone else did was the song dani califoria because it was the theme for the movie death note not because it was popular

I just like what I like. It's not a conscious choice. My main interests are:

Work.
Italian cars, principally Alfa Romeos (I'm on my fourth) but also Lancia, Maserati and Iso.
Driving and firing steam locomotives, both full size and minature.
Narrowboats.
Real Ales.
Rock / grunge / indie / alternative music.
WP.
Buying really good presents for my friends (I put a LOT of time into this).
Managing my investments.

I know these might sound boring but I get a lot of enjoyment out of all these activities, and now I come to think about it I guess I'm very lucky.