Are you interested in other people?

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I was talking to my therapist today about my social interactions. I made the comment that I really don?t like talking about myself, because I don?t consider myself very interesting.

She then asked: Well, are you interested in other people?

It kind of threw me for a loop. I wasn?t quite certain how to answer that question. Generally, not really. Though, I imagine I am sometimes. Perhaps.

Anyhow, I was interested in getting perspective from others to this question.

No. People are too random, unpredictable, and varying; half the time, they don't even know why they are the way they are or why they are doing what they are doing.

I like logical systems. I see some result I want to achieve; I figure out where/how to learn the rules of the system; I learn the rules, then I manipulate the rules to reach my goal. Easy.

In a typical social situation, no I'm not interested in the other person. Most people are just not that interesting to me. But if I do become interested in a person, I become very fascinated with them. I just feel like it's something I want to reserve for certain people, people that I'm close to or people who really mean something to me.

I am more interested in people when I'm not involved in the situation, when I'm just watching or observing, or reading. When I used to read a lot I loved reading biographies. And I love biographical or historical movies or documentaries. I'm very interested in people in that sense.

I am but have no courage to approach them, the feeling of being an inferior being stops me from doing so.

ditto to this entire post--i am the same, especially with biographical/historical movies and documentaries. lately it's been the history of scientific discovery (mostly physics) and the big names there, as i've also been learning about cosmology and i like to establish a background/historical context when i'm learning about something new.

My interest in other people is very general. While I enjoy just "shooting the breeze", that can get boring very quickly. I also find it very frustrating that so many don't bring up topics important to them, for fear of arbitrarily "offending" someone. One of the most infuriating statements I often hear in public is, "Don't discuss religion or politics", to which I've often asked "Why not?", only to be met with a blank or contemptuous stare.

I am not interested in people for many factors but the main one is the concept on how they are and how they stance themselves in reality. The way they are is so corrupted and out of wack, it makes me want to put them out like dogs and that's what they are, dogs.

All they do is bark and never have any words behind it. All of it is fake and set up to hunt others down to get their way and there way only. They manipulate the world because they can and have the conscience to choose that way for very slick and very selfish reasons. They have the choice to think otherwise but choose that path. Dogs just f*****g dogs.

Interesting. About two years ago, I began reading biographies about the Founding Fathers (Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison). Then, I began reading about other presidents (Lincoln, Truman, Eisenhower, Roosevelt). However, I wasn't interested in learning about them as people. Rather, I was interested in learning what they did and how they impacted history.

As a note, originally I intended to read a biography about every US president. However, I got distracted once I learned about Autism/Aspergers. And this (learning about Autism/Aspergers) has occupied all of my reading time since.

Not in general.

If anything I feel superior to most.

In general, no. I'm more interested in ideas.

i am interested in people. i like my social work job because i am able to help people. 80% of people are decent and kind. perfect? no. neither am i.

some, but not always i hate hearing what people do and the drama in theyre life, its very boring.

I tend to be more interested in people from afar than in "real life," though interest in people is not totally absent in me.

I'm very fascinated when I read people's memoirs--however, when they delve too much into household details, and material things, I tend to get bored. I like it when the discuss ideas, and when they discuss other people.

This is why we aren't NTs. We just blow it off as not being interested... or they just aren't interesting, or none of us (except dead Presidents) are interesting. NTs recognize this instantly. They find each other interesting. They BOND with many... and become intimate. They share their lives... their days, and hours. It is very interesting to them... and they aren't faking it.

Speaking of your experience today with your therapist (and I hope she is sticking with your program!), Margaret Drabble (I think it was) wrote, "Who among us would rejoice at hearing our own footsteps running up the stairs to our own door?"

This is the same as me. I don't really care for discussion of things that I even enjoy by myself (like movies/games) unless they evoke stimulating ideas. Socializing feels painful for me for that very reason, in that it strains me to 'say things that are interesting'.

When I have friends over to my house, I don't play video games with them, or anything like that. It's just not fun, and talking about it all is even worse. Socializing is predominantly repetitive, predictable, and boring if you're talking about everyday materials etc.

So yeah, ideas and/or intimate discussions are all I care for, and by intimate discussions, that usually means my interrogation of another person's wellbeing, to obtain ideas.

One exception though is that I really like hearing from people that are older or more experienced than I am. Well.. I guess it isn't really an exception, as they provide me with new ideas, and are generally comforting and understanding.

I'm rambling now and typing sloppy. I haven't slept in over a day.

I hope this is legible.

I can really relate to this. I have a very narrow amount of interests. When I'm online I'm usually only looking at a couple topics. Learning about asd has become all encompassing to the point where it's getting a little overwhelming.

I'm generally not interested in people...until I am, but it takes so much effort to reach out. On top of that, I'm very apprehensive due to a lifetime of rejection. I'm very guilty of confusing friendliness for friendship. At this point, I'm not sure what friendship even looks like. I've come to the realization that any friend I've ever had was because someone reached out in interest of being friends with me.