Pursuing interests in a non-Aspie way?

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I'm always reading about Aspies becoming experts in their interests...knowing every statistic, technical detail, etc about it. I have interests that I pursue quite strongly, but I'm never interested in the scientific aspects. For example, my most recent interest is, of course, Asperger's. I have no idea how many out of how many people have it, am only vaguely familiar with possible causes, no clue as to how many boys it affects out of how many girls, what part of the brain it affects, etc, etc. How I do "research" it is going into the boards and reading books on people's personal experiences, how it manifests and affects people differently, etc. Same for when I was interested in the Titanic...for a couple years I would read everything about it that came out in terms of the story of what happened. But I didn't have the first idea how many people were on board (still don't), the exact timeline, how many survivors, etc. Does anybody else tend to ignore the "statistical" and more scientific aspects of their interests when researching? I feel like I'm the anti-Aspie in this regard!

I'm absolutely that way too! I get obsessed with things, but don't want to get bogged down with trivial details about them. It suits me fine, until there comes a time when someone says they have the same interest. They end up spouting all these statistics, and I'm left feeling like I know nothing about my, so called, favorite thing. Totally understand what you're saying!

Do you have any memory problems?I tend to retain general concepts but have problems remembering ...names and numbers.I am not sure why but I think I learned at a young age that I could not retain this info and so I stopped trying to focus on it.There is something "wrong" with my brain thats has nothing to do with AS(I believe),perhaps it is related to dyslexia,because I also read alot by cant spell well.(not that uncommon).I think my brain learned to read words by shape and not by letters...this is a bit difficult to explain and not a totally formed "theory"...I am excited for scientist to learn mre about how the brain functions.....I just wish I would be able to remember the statistics to better discuss it with others.

My interest in Roger Bannister goes beyond race times and track statistics. I like to read about the non-athletic aspects of his life too.

Oh yeah. I have tons of reading/research material around me all the time, and read constantly about things that are interesting to me. I'll read obsessively about one thing and be totally into it and then go research it and then...something else will come along and all the facts and figures go right out of my head.

It doesn't matter. The point is to do the reading/research, not to memorize factoids!

I tend to like detail more than the general stuff. Like I prefer to go to the bits I like get some depth. Then maybe work backward form breadth. But often there is a lot I'm not interested in. Thought is something I can come back to if it will be useful.

I used to be right into the facts n figures, but as I've matured, I find my interests have shifted focus somewhat. Right now it's The Goodies, and I can give you a potted summary of any episode (in fact, I could probably recite it for you!) but I couldn't tell you off the top of my head which season it was in, when it was first broadcast, or even who the guest star is most of the time. Rather than learn all the stats, I just enjoy watching them over and again, picking up jokes I missed on the previous 674 times I've watched it, finding references to things, and appreciating some of the obscure TV things, like deconstructing who an effects shot would have been done.

Depends with me. I do sometims read the data as well as the details...for example, with Titanic, I loved looking at the deck plans on I read about the number of lifeboats as compared to the number of people... I wanted to read what was on the menu for dinner on the ship too, and such things. But I also have always loved reading others' stories. I used to get through endless books about people with troubled childhoods and people who have overcome all the odds. I would say, in a way, how people function is a very major obsession with me. I learn to understand people through almost every obsessive interest I have had.

No, I'm not like that. I learn every concept and memorise every fact, although I have to read something 2-3 times to do it.

Although, I've read that some extremely obsessive Aspies tend to focus on their interests so much that they forget to eat, go to the toilet, etc. I'm not like that. My obsessions govern my mind, not my physical state.

I want to know every detail about Benny and Joon. Knowing when the movie was shot (found out it started shooting in June 92) I want to know more about their house and how long they used it, was the neighborhood closed, did the neighbors have to stay in their houses when the movie was being shot. What warehouse did they use as a set and where was it at. I’m already an expert on the locations I already know, I have collected movie info on the diner and learned some info on Vision Quest there.
I became an expert on London back when I was obsessed with it. I think the facts have floated out of my head unfortunately.