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Do you like fiction?

When I first met my husband many years ago, who's also an Aspie, he said the same thing. "I only read non-fiction" which I found pompous. Some of the greatest minds who ever lived and wrote about the human condition wrote fiction. So many of the ideas that science has pioneered came from ideas first postulated in fiction.

Pure fact often comes about as the result of an idea postulated in fiction that is investigated and studied. Without those billions of ideas generated by our dreams and desires, our imaginations, the world would be one gigantic Orwellian nightmare. A place I could never live in.
 
This is amazing! I just finished saying in your other topic that we're opposites, and now this! I've always said non-fiction is a waste and only fiction is useful! Not joking! I love you! I'll be less nonsensical later here, too, hopefully. :)
 
SUM1 said:
b) to understand why those on the autism spectrum who do like fiction like it.

I found any consumption of fiction as a waste of time, because it would be a lot of investment into something I couldn't apply in my life or help me understand the world around me. .
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First of all, your inability to understand people liking fiction is, in my opinion, the same as your inability to understand drug use. Drugs fictionalize the world, just like fiction books do. When reality is awful, people want to escape and reading non-fiction can seem ridiculous.

All through grade-school, I rejected almost all facts as irrelevant. Science, math, everything, I constantly failed everything, except English! I didn't think anything else applied to my life. And I was right! If you read my post on your other thread first it makes sense.

You see a man drowning, and you yell, "What's 2 + 2!?" and he yells, "What!?" and you yell, "What's a nucleus!?" and he yells, "What!?" and you yell, "What year was Lincoln assassinated!?" and he doesn't answer. You yell it again, but he still doesn't answer. Because he's dead. He drowned.

I'm hilarious!

Anyway, fiction, the fiction I read, consists of stories of people surviving. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was my favorite book as a teenager, the story of a horribly abused girl and it ends with her feeling hopeful and happy. How could that not be useful for me and others in similar situations? That's education. "You're not going to die. You can get through this."

I do enjoy non-fiction now that I'm not drowning, and I find that enjoyable, as well, but I still read fiction. I now find them equally useful.

A side-note that just came to me that I feel is interesting: during times of abuse, especially in children, your mind protects you from what's happening by dissociating. Your consciousness takes a break from reality. It's not by choice, and it's essential. Escapement from reality is natural.
 
I love fiction,I grew up reading stuff like lord of the rings and love watching either fantasy or some science fiction movies aswell,I also like to draw fantasy themed drawings and find fiction to be inspiration for me and also reading or watching fiction help me to cope with hard times too.
 
I like some genres of fiction, but not others. I like science fiction or fantasy or adventure - with plenty of action - or possibly comedy, but not drama, classic literature, poetry or romance - I find those boring. I also like non-fiction. I liked those as a child, because they were a way of relaxing and escaping, or a way of learning new and interesting things. I always liked novel ideas and facts, things that are different, strange or weird, a different way of looking at things or perspective on what would otherwise be mundane, and science fiction has plenty of those.

I've never been into TV or movies - I don't like the excessive hype and commercialisation associated with most mainstream Disney or Hollywood productions. Most of them are too cliched, and just boring - I want something different or unusual, not another boring romantic comedy. I don't like the way they need all these emotional feelgood tropes, life is not like that. My escapism involves entering a new reality where things are just different, I don't fantasise about having a stereotypically perfect life with a perfect husband, two kids, a car, salary, loads of friends, happy family and all this American dream-like stuff that according to Hollywood people should aspire to.

@SUM1 do you play video games? I kind of feel this way about video games - I don't consider them to be bad in any way, I just never got into them - I grew up in the 70s and 80s and my family weren't very well-off financially, so we never had a computer or video games. Only more affluent families could afford those. Then as an adult, I was never interested, and I didn't have kids either, so I never had exposure to them. Now, it seems like the world except for me plays video games, I'm definitely in a minority here.
 
While I have dearly loved(and still do love) good fiction, my preference seems to have shifted over the years.

In my youth, I was indiscriminate in my voracious love of reading, both fiction and non-fiction.
Fiction dominated, however, as what I could get my hands on was primarily fiction.

Somewhere in my early/mid 20's my inclination began to resolve, and by age 27, I had all but abandoned fiction.
If pressed, I will say that it was due to a desire to learn, factually and applicably, how the world was put together.
I want to know how and why crap works and acts the way it does, and muse effectively(if I am able,) on the information that we don't have, as yet. To test whether I can make contributions to the real life problems facing us as a civilization, and/or those facing me as an individual. Further, I realized a desire to put together all that I knew, especially of the various "sciences", in a sort of "unified field theory" of the sciences. (Reading fiction does not preclude one from learning, it's just that more often than not, the application of what is learned tends to be narrower, is usually of an "emotional intelligence/human nature" variety, and also tends to be largely anecdotal.)

Of interest to me, is that in the interstitial period, I had an indeliberate fondness for non-fiction, but of the "fictionalized history/nonfiction" type. Stories that used historical and scientific fact, but that fictional accounts were created around. Michener was prevalent, as well as Mowat, Clavell, others.
My thirst for works in philosophy also became more prevalent, at this time.

By age 27 or so, I had mostly(again, indeliberately) abandoned fiction, but it was several years later before I was consciously aware of the transition.

I now read mostly nonfiction, usually scholarly and scientific in nature.
I will read fiction, still, but somewhat rarely.

Interestingly, I am still a videophile.
I. Love. Movies.
Go figure.
 
SUM1 said:
Hello.

I'm expecting a lot of people on this forum to like fiction, just as people do in general, but I feel very alone in having never liked fiction. Throughout my childhood, my main attention was on computers, and I never watched fictional films or TV shows unless I was forced or there was nothing else on. I never went out of my way to read fictional books either, again unless I was forced, such as part of school, and I never enjoyed them when I was forced. To this day (I'm 19), the number of films I've watched and fictional novels I've read from start to finish is probably under 10 for each. (The number I've consumed parts of though is much, much high

On the other hand, I did go out of my way to read non-fictional fact books. In all my schools, those were the books I'd select out of the library, and I've always gone out of my way to read or watch non-fictional material on the internet since I started using it: YouTube videos, documentaries, Wikipedia.

The purpose of this post is to a) find out how many people on this forum have also never liked fiction and b) to understand why those on the autism spectrum who do like fiction like it.

I found any consumption of fiction as a waste of time, because it would be a lot of investment into something I couldn't apply in my life or help me understand the world around me. What is annoying though is that when I see how so many autists do like fiction intensely, and that even though I am diagnosed with Asperger's, I see the meaning and value of the autism diagnosis go down and down every time I see how fundamentally different I am to other autists. Even when fundamental things like the liking of non-fiction and the inability to feel empathy are in all the literature around Asperger's, so many autists, both self-professed and diagnosed, are so intensely opposite to those things. Yes, I get it that autism is diverse, but that's not the point. The point is it makes me wonder who on earth I can relate to and where I fall into. At this point, it's really no one. I see people like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, anime, and I see it even more so among autists, but I don't like anything about these things. I've never gained an Aspergic obsession into something fictional, it has always been something factual, like aviation, politics, history, biology.

Anyway, please respond if you can relate at all or if you have any experience or explanation you think is helpful. Thank you.
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So your value of your diagnosis goes down when you discover that not everyone on the spectrum is like you? What does that actually mean?


I was diagnosed at sixteen with AS. I’ve never felt isolated in regards to what I read. And I don’t put much into what other people read. Because as long as people read, that’s good.

For the record I read non fiction suitable to my long term interests of animal biology, prehistoric animals, Lions, and specific historical periods. In fact, it’s helped me get a parttime and volunteering job. I also, albeit I’m quite picky, read fiction. Why? Because I like to be able to escape into a world where I can turn my mind off on other issues. It’s also a good expansion if I read classical literature into understanding the viewpoints of people living during a particular time period. Jane Austen is a perfect example of this in her descriptions of what life was like for women in England during the 1700’s. History is also influenced by “fiction”. Alexander (the great) was heavily influenced by the Illiad (the guy slept with his book) and what would eventually grow to become the foundations of the Roman Empire was apparently founded by a line of the fallen kingdom of Troy through Aeneas (in fact Virgil was commissioned to write the Aeneid to create this type of propaganda for the empire’s legitimacy and power).

You say that you read history but there’s more to history than dates and events. A lot of history building by historians comes from reading manuscripts and other primary sources to interpret something that makes more sense. This also includes reading primary sources written during that time period when archaeological evidence isn’t fully formed or non existent. One of my favorite plays was a satirical play about the judicial system. Called the Wasps, written by Aristophanes. Not only does it give glimmers of feelings regarding actual events (like Marathon), it also gives insight to how the judicial system functioned (which is not too dissimilar to modern western justice systems) and how plays were produced (which heavily influenced modern productions, in fact some productions still use the same formula).

Link if you’re interested:

The Wasps - Wikipedia

To claim that fiction is inferior to non fiction, is extremely closed minded.
 
Fiction is used as a devastating metaphor to elaborate on some of the most profound facts, apart from exploring the very frontiers of the human mind. Yeah- what @Mia said. :cool:

After all, you didn't think George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "1984" were about societies that never existed, did you? ;)

Apart from metaphors reflecting facts, I also enjoy fiction as a means of expressing the most illogical and disturbing of thoughts.

Expressed through authors like Daphne DuMaurier, Shirley Jackson and H.P. Lovecraft.
 
I've tried it out of peer pressure - everyone I know does it, so I should also be doing it. I just couldn't get myself into it. I'd try so I could fit in. I'd get to the last couple chapters, just to put it down and never pick it up again.
 
I used to be an avid fiction reader of all kinds and types but mostly lost my love for it. Perhaps it is because the fiction I've mostly read is what my English professor would scoff at. He considered most stuff out there to be, "Fiction for entertaining the masses and keeping them distracted." Now, I enjoy fiction that has real and sometimes subtle political commentary. I am currently reading The Watchmen and really like it.

Mostly, I like reading non-fiction of the historical, investigative, or expository variety. I enjoy a well thought out and researched analysis of current sociological and psychological trends. This kind of reading is more interesting for me. Surprisingly, really good coverage of a prescient issue can also be page turning. I am currently reading White Trash by Nancy Isenberg. She is an incredibly astute author and points out that the real problem in western society is not racism but class discrimination. By providing a historical context for class discrimination, she really gets to the heart of why things are the way they are presently. She basically debunks the myths surrounding most of the figures that we were taught to revere in grade school.
 
The statement that fiction is a waste of time really is very naïve. There's plenty of things I don't relate to, that to me seem pointless, but the fact that so many people see value in them demonstrates to me their importance.

I dislike sport, for example. I don't enjoy being competitive myself, I don't get caught up in the crowd hysteria and to me it seems strange that logical, rational people devote so much time and energy to it. It doesn't make me feel any less Aspie when someone on this forum talks of their intense interest in a particular sport or team. It's not my thing but it's their thing.

I don't drink wine - it all tastes like watered down vinegar to me, but I don't disrespect people that spend a small fortune on a special bottle that they regard as a gourmet treat.

I do like fiction though - particularly speculative fiction and historical fiction. You can learn a surprising amount from make believe. History is about people, not dates, not kings and queens or wars. Yes they have their place in history but the interesting stuff is how people lived, the politics, the religious intrigue, the everyday nuts and bolts of life. A well researched and written historical novel can teach you as much about how people once lived as any fusty old textbook.

Sci-Fi is wonderful for examining possibilities and for putting a mirror up to the world we live in. Something which changes just one detail of the world can be as thought provoking and philosophically enlightening as attending a week of lectures. Science Fiction changes the world by both warning us of the disasters we could create and inspiring people to create the technologies written about.

Mainstream fiction can teach you more about human nature and interaction than any number of self-help books or psychology papers. In a well written story you can see into the hearts and minds of the characters and understand their motivations, their inner conflicts, not just witness their actions.
I read a lot of non fiction too because... Well you have to! I have to do a great deal of research for my creative endeavours which sadly takes away from the time I can spend lost in a fictional world whilst absorbing fascinating information. Learning new skills means reading manuals and using reference books.
If I were unable to enjoy fiction, to immerse myself in a strange new world, to expand my mind pondering the philosophical implications of change, to learn about the signals I don't always spot people giving and to build my understanding of human nature, my world would be an empty, arid desert of dry, unemotional torpor.
The message in this post?
Don't knock what you don't understand.
 
Autistamatic said:
The statement that fiction is a waste of time really is very naïve. There's plenty of things I don't relate to, that to me seem pointless, but the fact that so many people see value in them demonstrates to me their importance.

I dislike sport, for example. I don't enjoy being competitive myself, I don't get caught up in the crowd hysteria and to me it seems strange that logical, rational people devote so much time and energy to it. It doesn't make me feel any less Aspie when someone on this forum talks of their intense interest in a particular sport or team. It's not my thing but it's their thing.

I don't drink wine - it all tastes like watered down vinegar to me, but I don't disrespect people that spend a small fortune on a special bottle that they regard as a gourmet treat.

I do like fiction though - particularly speculative fiction and historical fiction. You can learn a surprising amount from make believe. History is about people, not dates, not kings and queens or wars. Yes they have their place in history but the interesting stuff is how people lived, the politics, the religious intrigue, the everyday nuts and bolts of life. A well researched and written historical novel can teach you as much about how people once lived as any fusty old textbook.

Sci-Fi is wonderful for examining possibilities and for putting a mirror up to the world we live in. Something which changes just one detail of the world can be as thought provoking and philosophically enlightening as attending a week of lectures. Science Fiction changes the world by both warning us of the disasters we could create and inspiring people to create the technologies written about.

Mainstream fiction can teach you more about human nature and interaction than any number of self-help books or psychology papers. In a well written story you can see into the hearts and minds of the characters and understand their motivations, their inner conflicts, not just witness their actions.
I read a lot of non fiction too because... Well you have to! I have to do a great deal of research for my creative endeavours which sadly takes away from the time I can spend lost in a fictional world whilst absorbing fascinating information. Learning new skills means reading manuals and using reference books.
If I were unable to enjoy fiction, to immerse myself in a strange new world, to expand my mind pondering the philosophical implications of change, to learn about the signals I don't always spot people giving and to build my understanding of human nature, my world would be an empty, arid desert of dry, unemotional torpor.
The message in this post?
Don't knock what you don't understand.
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I wish you could agree more than once. You’ve stated and expanded on what I said in my post to the OP.

History is very important to me, hence also why I’m picky when it comes to reading historical fiction, and I could not agree more with you. It’s easy to forget that when you’re looking at artifacts or a body displayed in a museum that it was all shaped by a person. And believe me, not everyone appreciates history. A culture is formed by behaviors. So even last into the modern day. Interactions, social behavior, economic communities, industries are formed, evolved upon ...by people. History is all about people, and how the past can be shaped for human future development. Or at least that’s what I took as an archaeologist. Because not a lot of people seem to get that history is more than what is taught in school and thus boring... any form of history that can be easily consumed for people be it film, book or video game is great in my opinion. It’s even more impactful that these media’s are often accessible through fiction.
 
Indeed @Moomin , I thoroughly agree :)
Social history has always been my preferred angle. I really couldn't care less about the kings and queens, but how serfs ate, worked and enjoyed themselves fascinates me. Roman Emperors are less interesting than the societies they ruled, the way they integrated themselves into conquered nations and adopted their people as citizens or Rome, the trials and tribulations of slavery or the innovation of their merchants and artisans.
And generals and admirals make me yawn whilst the lives of the men in the field and of the people they left back home are a treasure trove of human suffering and despair, but also of hope.
I do kind of envy your line of work.If I knew back then what I know now I would have liked to pursue a similar career :)
 
Autistamatic said:
Indeed @Moomin , I thoroughly agree :)
Social history has always been my preferred angle. I really couldn't care less about the kings and queens, but how serfs ate, worked and enjoyed themselves fascinates me. Roman Emperors are less interesting than the societies they ruled, the way they integrated themselves into conquered nations and adopted their people as citizens or Rome, the trials and tribulations of slavery or the innovation of their merchants and artisans.
And generals and admirals make me yawn whilst the lives of the men in the field and of the people they left back home are a treasure trove of human suffering and despair, but also of hope.
I do kind of envy your line of work.If I knew back then what I know now I would have liked to pursue a similar career :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. Although there are some figures who are very interesting. Caligula was great (as in hilariously dangerous and crazy) and I love reading accounts about that. Check out Suetonius if you haven’t already: The Twelve Caesars - Wikipedia

You can still do archaeology. Fieldwork and post excavation can also be working with volunteers. We get a few every season.

Maybe we should start a history discussion thread?
 
I read Suetonius first when I was about 14 and I still go back to it sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the "important people" are irrelevant, I just find the everyday lives of the proletariat much more absorbing. Caligula was, as you say, a bit of a character to say the least ;)
Roman culture in particular has always been a pet topic of mine and there are so many Roman sites here in the UK to visit. If Mary Beard is on TV doing one of her excellent documentaries I am glued to the screen :)
 
I read the occasional fiction book, but I can't say it's my forte. This is actually becoming a bit embarrassing, as at the job all the customers automatically assume that a librarian reads fiction. Then I have to politely point out, that fact literature is literature too, and that it's really my thing. Luckily though, they mostly ask so general or easy questions that a bit of vocational knowledge helps me through.

I have just recently stated to myself, that reading fiction is particularly difficult because of all the social nuances that I have to think through very carefully. It feels like work more than anything else, so I don't do it unless I know it's a masterpiece. Luckily enough, I have been able to cheat the system lately. There is a category of fiction called "Mathematical fiction". I have learned to love it. I recommend a book called "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson. It's not really philosophically sound anymore, as it's based on some really old reading of Plato, but as a story it's pure iron. And as it's delivered through a theory that the characters investigate, it's a lot easier to read for a aspie-might-be than most other fiction. If you'd like something that is philosophically more up to date, try "Logicomix", which is a graphical novel about logical positivism, it's rise and fall.

Mathematical fiction - Wikipedia
Anathem - Wikipedia
Logicomix - Wikipedia
 
I love a bit of Neal Stephenson. I've not read Anathem, but Snow Crash and The Diamond Age are definitely amongst my favourite novels.
I will have to look out for Anathem :)
 
Autistamatic said:
I read Suetonius first when I was about 14 and I still go back to it sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the "important people" are irrelevant, I just find the everyday lives of the proletariat much more absorbing. Caligula was, as you say, a bit of a character to say the least ;)
Roman culture in particular has always been a pet topic of mine and there are so many Roman sites here in the UK to visit. If Mary Beard is on TV doing one of her excellent documentaries I am glued to the screen :)
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Oh, no. I quite agree. Mary Beard is wonderful. I loved reading her book about Pompeii and watching her show of it.

Im currently focused on the Paleolithic (cave bears) but I have some experience and love on Roman and medieval history. And I love the Egyptians but sadly haven’t had much of an opportunity there.
 
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