Balbituate wrote:
AceofPens wrote:
I think the difference between Aspie interests and "quirky" NT interests is most easily drawn by comparing the purpose of the two. Indulging in special interests is a very personal thing for most Aspies. In my own experience, it's the best way to occupy a mind that is too detail and pattern-oriented. The accumulation of knowledge in one area or another is a way of using the dominant part of the Aspie brain that struggles with the chaotic "real world." Aspie interests are often unusual because of that fact: they fill a purely personal need. NT interests, on the other hand, fill social needs. "Will this help me make friends?" "Will this contribute towards a good career?" "Will this impress girls?" "Will this make people respect me?" That's the reason you don't find NTs with interests like the Confederacy and why Aspie interests are seen as "random" - because they're not socially significant. It's the most common protest I hear from NTs when I bring up my special interests: "Why do you care? No one else cares. It doesn't matter."
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
01 Mar 2018, 1:14 am
