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How long do your special interests last?

Dinosaurs: age 3-15
Star Wars: age 3-current (38 years)
Astronomy: age 5-30
Optimus Prime: age 5-current
Military aircraft: age 6-current
Human spaceflight: age 6-current
Drawing and illustration: age 12-current
Personal computers/programming: age 12-20
Artificial Life/Artificial Intelligence: age 13-21
Science Fiction: age 13-current
Tolkien's Middle Earth: age 13-current
Video Games: age 14-current
Spacecraft/Sci-Fi collection and dioramas: age 15-current
World-building/writing as a trauma coping mechanism: age 15-current
Creationism: age 15-32
Hacking subculture and DIY computing: age 16-19
Suicide methods and ritual self-harm: ages 16-19 and 26-28
Norse mythology: age 24-28
Angelology: age 24-29
Autism Spectrum: age 27-current
Old-earth creationism: age 28-37
DIRECT/Jupiter HLV proposal: age 28-30
Survivalism/Overlanding/Homesteading/Hermeticisim: age 31-current
Cultivating kindness/sincerity/wonder*: age 31-35
Miniature wargames/tabletop (sci-fi/fantasy/horror)*: age 32-current
Evolution science/planetary epochs: age 37-current

All probably TMI
The point is, there are a lot of them, with a significant range in duration, but most with considerable longevity.

As an example of short-lived interests, sometimes when world-building I'll get fixated on something like Sumerian mythology in constellations, or extinction-level events. I spent a few days last month devouring information about Lake Superior/shipwrecks/local history.

My interests aren't few, but they are narrow enough, and always intense.
 
When I exhaust a special interest, I don't completely abandon it. I just park it until
  • it figures into a project that I might be working on (like programming),
  • I come across additional information on that subject, or
  • another interest touches on it.
 
music has been a hobby of mine for years,the obsession took over in search of the best quality.i also obsess over fixing things,has to be perfect. it gets overwhelming at times.mostly special interests last about a week or two. seems like i get bored with things easily.hope this helps.
 
My SIs tend to last for several years. Although on several occasions I have left my SI, only to return to it in full force years later. :) Case in point, Bionicle. Bionicle was my whole world growing up, but around 2009 I sorta faded away from it, the story got a soft reboot and just didn’t interest me anymore. But these last couple of months I have been Bionicle-crazy. :D To the point of going back and buying my old sets again.
 
Gritches said:
Psychology and psychopharmacology, for eight years. Days and night and days again spent on it. Could've just gotten an actual PHD in that time, would've probably had better results too. Meh, but now I can't hardly stand to read a paper or article, I don't know how to describe it beyond fatiguing; it's just like *ugh*

Between that, a cumulative total of couple years each on sociology, anthropology, and brief stints (several months) on epistimology and philosophy (though I'd like to note that Hawking believes philosophy is dead and I agree with his reasoning). Of course, with the whole enchilada came necessary studies in related fields, notably game theory and logic in general. These secondary fields held knowledge necessary to understanding whatever it was in the world of psychology I was stuck on in that time.

All this was in pursuit of understanding the world around me. Now I kinda feel like I do (even though I'm sure I'm wrong about that), and I've just lost interest. I guess I'm between interests right now, you could say.

To answer the thread title, my special interest tend to last quite a while.
Click to expand...

This resonates with me and is probably the post here that I relate to the most. I've gone through phases. Most of my special interest related time has been spent on academic material but I have plenty of other things that I've obsessed about.

It always sucks me in chest deep and I get to a point where I need a break after months or years, and may not come back to it as much as I remember those thoughts fondly and still puzzle over it.
 
Obsessive focus is pretty innate to me. In high school it used to result in me having a hard time with the variety of each day. I found every bit of new information interesting and found it difficult to drop anything. So if I had history as my first class of the day, I'd often still be reading history books. I'd go to the school library in between classes merely to find more information about the period I was reading about. Likewise, if I had math in the first class, I'd go from problem to problem for the rest of the day.

It really depends. If the object or subject of my obsession is shallow, my obsession is shallow. If it is wide or deep, my obsession follows suit.

Then once a subject is completely explored and understood, whether or not I remain interested depends on how enjoyable it is and how much time I have.
 
My interests used to predictably change every 2 to 3 years while I was a teenager and to a lesser extent in my early 20s. The older I've gotten, the less rigid they've become, even though they're still within the same general categories I've always been passionate about.

Anime is probably my biggest passion. As a teenager, I would hyper-focus on only 1 or 2 series at a time (for example, as a 14 - 15 year old, I was crazy about Naruto and pretty much only Naruto). Now that I'm in my late 20s, there are roughly about 5 - 7 different anime that I'd call my favorites and my degree of interest in them changes according to my mood.
 
What I like about these questions are how it seems to show the common thread we share on our personal spots on the spectrum.

Career wise, I've never known what I want to "be"... I started (with the goal) as a pilot, flew till 200 hours and the point I'd go for commercial. At that time I also got my licensing as a aircraft mechanic, then was interested in American Sign Language, got my degree in interpreting... then a degree in teaching (special ed), worked in adult workshops with deaf developmentally disabled, was an outreach specialist for the deaf-blind, trained dogs for the deaf-blind and blind... Learned how to build websites and do graphic design... I started a small business selling a cat toy I made for my blind cat Timmy... Now I work maintenance in an apartment building.. I'm planning on teaching basic sign language to the local EMS/ Fire departments.. that's in the works..

This is sort of a sensitive subject for me because I feel I've always felt "unsure" in my career choices and the guilt of being so... I was able to achieve my goals, but with the exception of learning ASL, they were things I would tire of. Is that the influence of the autism? Maybe this is another of my traits... I immerse myself in a new passion.. experience it, learn it.. and then it gets "old" and I lose my motivation... that can be over years or months.. Until NOW, I'm happy to say, there was always that nagging voice of "What's wrong with you???"

Hobbies always seemed to be where I could be free and enjoy what I was doing. Photography is still very enjoyable.. Music... guitar, singing, song writing... Pottery, Art Glass.. I recently bought a commercial sewing machine to learn sewing on my "cat toy" business - I think my soul would be happiest in some field of the arts...or something heady and creative.

If this HOT to BURNOUT is common with spectral beings... what have people done to find a passion they could stick to? Or is that NT thinking?
 
It varies really. They all fade sooner or later (they don't stop being interests just special ones) but they also always come back sooner or later. Except, sadly, my first love - dinosaurs :(
 
Decades for two of my interests. I have had an interest in electronics, science (epidemiology), and mathematics since the early 90's.
I used to have an interest in military history from 1994-2004 -- funny how being in the military ended that interest.
 
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