Weird aspie interests vs. hipster interests
One variable might be to consider the age of the person and how that relates to the interest. I've always had the impression that "hipsterism" was more related to young adults. This could relate to the socially motivated aspect that was brought up which I do see some truth in.
It could be that the hipster interest and aspie interest could both have similar beginnings that cross-over, but later on diverge as the aspie special interest becomes more serious and the more general light-hearted hipster interest, that was done with intensity during ones younger days, dissipates over time.
From personal experience with visual arts, this seems to be the case with people who kind of give up or move on from it once they get older versus ones who stay in it as a life-long passion. Even many of the older people I know with actual art degrees don't seem to be passionate artists (no offense to them; just an observation). Here I'm getting more hardcore about it and ironically seem to be feeling like I am more alone in it around these people.
So to answer your question, the line is drawn between Hipsters and Aspies because once the Hipster scene moves on from accordions, you won't find any more accordion-loving Hipsters. The social purpose will no longer be there. Aspies won't move on with the crowd, however. You like accordions because you like accordions.
So you’re saying NTs never have genuine interests and aspies never have socially motivated interests? I’ve had socially motivated interests such as makeup that later became full blown aspie interests.
NTs have genuine interests, they just don't tend to serve the same purposes as a special interest. Being socially-minded isn't a sin, after all. I do believe that Aspies place less emphasis on the social consequences of their interests, hence why our interests tend to be disjointed from the social norm. Have you ever met a NT with an interest like salt? I haven't. Some NTs do go against the grain, but it's rarer, while it's the hallmark of Aspie interests. It seems likely to me that the source of this disparity is found in our social differences. But social motivation is not the same as coincidentally liking something that's mainstream. If you had an intense obsession with makeup because of its social consequences, I would doubt that it was a special interest, but if it's a self-motivated interest that just happens to be the norm, that's quite different. The difference is in motivation, or purpose.
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I have not the kind affections of a pigeon. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
So to answer your question, the line is drawn between Hipsters and Aspies because once the Hipster scene moves on from accordions, you won't find any more accordion-loving Hipsters. The social purpose will no longer be there. Aspies won't move on with the crowd, however. You like accordions because you like accordions.
So you’re saying NTs never have genuine interests and aspies never have socially motivated interests? I’ve had socially motivated interests such as makeup that later became full blown aspie interests.
NTs have genuine interests, they just don't tend to serve the same purposes as a special interest. Being socially-minded isn't a sin, after all. I do believe that Aspies place less emphasis on the social consequences of their interests, hence why our interests tend to be disjointed from the social norm. Have you ever met a NT with an interest like salt? I haven't. Some NTs do go against the grain, but it's rarer, while it's the hallmark of Aspie interests. It seems likely to me that the source of this disparity is found in our social differences. But social motivation is not the same as coincidentally liking something that's mainstream. If you had an intense obsession with makeup because of its social consequences, I would doubt that it was a special interest, but if it's a self-motivated interest that just happens to be the norm, that's quite different. The difference is in motivation, or purpose.
Still doesn’t seem to be consistent with my experience. I know several NTs who hide interests they find embarrassing. A lot of NTs call themselves closet geeks when they hide certain interests. So clearly not all NT interests are socially motivated. I also find a lot of my interests embarrassing as well. I started getting interested in makeup because I was sick of people commenting on my lack of makeup. So that interest was pretty much 100% socially motivated at one point. No coincidence. But that interest did become more aspie-like and less socially motivated as I got into it more.
I used to be. Mainly because I was so shocked by the personal accounts of survivors and how it actually managed to happen - made me realise just how horrible humans can be. But I'm a history nerd so it's whatever.
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lostonearth35
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