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I find the world to be crawling with interesting things to learn about. From electric plugs, to coffee, to how computers work, etc. It always drives me insane that the average person doesn’t seem to be remotely interested in learning much about how and why the world works…
Didn’t know it could be an ADHD thing though.
Hey I think I should get tested or something. I’ll make a phone call… Eventually
That’s why I love technology connection guy, I can just skim through his list of videos and find some weird things to watch about some random tech.
electric plugs
I thought that I was the only one… But it makes sense that other ADHD folks would too. Have a favorite plug? Mine’s the CEE 7/4 (Schuko). It just has a lovely symmetry and thoughtful, safety-conscious design.
The UK plug seems to be the best engineered one, I’m partial to the French one, along the Schuko.
The UK plugs are pretty great too. Easy to wire and designed to have fuses. I felt much more confident wiring one of those for my in-laws than I ever would with a US plug.
Ok, I had to look at this and I definitely agree. It’s much better than the US Type B plug which I’m always afraid I’ll short out when a random piece of metal falls on it.
at the moment i’m partial to andersons, wonderfully versatile, modular, and scalable. You can get them ranging from itty bitty baby connectors, to big chungus giga connectors.
It’s a very nice design. I don’t like plugs, i think they’re all bad tbh.
As someone who switched meds, didn’t sleep much for about 14 days and discovered modular synths: I’m in this picture and I don’t like it.
Disclaimer: let’s face it, I actually love it. Like others in this thread, I can’t even imagine how boring I’d feel not discovering a completely new interest / hobby / aspect of life all the time.
Hell, I know so many people my age who simply seem to stagnate and are simply not interested in anything any longer, and I feel “protected” from that. Life is fucking exciting, let me try all the things!
There are definitely layers to this though, I have core interests that are more aligned with my personality, and I feel that governs how invested I am into each particular hobby. That doesn’t keep me from having wildly varying interests, though.
People: what do you do in life? Me: video games. that’s it, just videogames. A LOT of videogames
NT: “So what are your interests?”
Me, inside: “Software development, compression algorithms, binary file processing, scripting in Bash and Powershell, web development, networking, homelab/selfhosting, household automation, 3D graphics and modelling (and a particular fascination with Geometry Nodes), shader programming, video game development, video games…”
Me, outside: “… …I like computer? Like, all of computer?”
no i do not have adhd. i love doing lots of things and learning lots of things. it means you are a smart person and have alot of time on your hands to do all that. most people are in a RUT and work home and family thats it.
The big diagnostic factor is, do you FINISH those lots of things.
It’s ok to occasionally try something and be like yeah, this wasn’t as great as advertised, I’m walking away.
But if your shelves are covered in an assortment of unfinished projects that never will be finished? ADHD
My interests tend to rotate, thankfully. I try to decorate my room or have things that will physically remind me of old hobbies and get me to jump start them back to life.
I have one broad interest that manifests in many ways: I like to make things. From a D&D table, to a workbench, to glowing led hex panels, to making automated blinds from scratch, to cutting worm gears, to internal keyway cutters, to sex machines, to syncing up videos to said sex machines, to grind rails and ramps for skating, to gearboxes, to spool un-winders, to book presses, to rpi powered media centers, to pi arcades, to bed frames…just to name a few.
This is one of the things my other ND things cancels out. Or maybe just the way my ADHD is more on hyper focusing than being totally unfocused? I only like, basically, 3 things. Video games, music, and language. Granted, “language,” covers a lot.
I consider video games to be multiple hobbies as each genre can scratch such a massively different brain itch. Sinking into a JRPG vs sinking into an RTS are very different levels of mental engagement.
Video games can also be a lot. When normies play, they play one game or two. Say fifa and cod. My steam lib is 500+
I genuinely thought I was NT because I was comparing my quantity of interests to my brothers quantity of interests. He’s autistic, he has one interest.
Then I’d compare my quantity of interests to my best friends quantity of interests, he has ADHD hyperactive type, he has 700+ interests.
And I have like, 25 (and that’s if I split up larger interests into subcategories)
So I’m normal…except for all the sensory issues, executive dysfunction, impulsively, social difficulties, memory issues, communication deficits, learning difficulties, inability to establish routines, poor interoception resulting in medical complications from failing to attend to basic needs because I’m “in the zone” on something else.
Jokes on me, I have AuDHD.
Some of my “symptoms” cancel each other out in a way I’m very grateful for, and others conflict with each other in the most debilitating ways. That feeling when you are somehow catastrophically overstimulated and also your brain is tearing itself down the middle in desperate need for some dopamine through sensory input…
ive never understood when my friends decline something because it “sounds boring” i just cant think that way at all
Specially when it’s something new.
They feel the same about me when I decline the opportunity to get shitfaced drunk and banter over 17 games of “Mexican train dominoes” for the 59574th time.
that sounds like it would be insanely interesting maybe the first and second time.
My ADHD interests: intensely researching a topic that has no prospect of financial reward and wanting to talk about it to people who don’t care
What was your last one? I lately fell into the Esperanto rabbit hole.
Not OP, but TTRPGs. Started after I finished BG3, and talked my friends into playing DnD, with me as a DM. Knew literally nothing, and hyperfocused for months learning as much as I could.
I’ve prepared a 70 page document for my players detailing every one of my 6 homebrew classes, 20 subclasses, 15 origins (races don’t make sense in the setting), and some lore about our ASOIAF campaign (I could keep going for hours about all I’ve homebrewed).
We’re all ready and rearing to go and I’m kind of… Already over it. I’m homebrewing vampire bloodlines ala dragonborn lineages and wild magic radiation and mutation systems on the side but those don’t make sense in this setting, and it hurts.
Edit: the worst thing is, I do have people that would be interested in those homebrews, but they’re my players and I don’t want to spoil them!
I think what bothers me most is having no one to talk about things with. Like, I just made this cool thing! Someone ask me about it!!
Don’t forget waking up a month or two later and realizing that you no longer care about the subject you’ve been hyperfocusing on and now have no idea what to do with yourself until the next hyperfixation shows up.
I had a similar moment of confusion when I realized “normal” people have to put forth effort to think. Your brains aren’t always on, always thinking, about everything? You don’t always notice every little detail (though sometimes at the expense of the bigger picture)? How can you do one thing over and over again without getting bored? You just obey and believe things you’re told? You can follow rules you don’t personally understand a need for? You’ve been doing a thing the same way forever just because that’s the way it’s always been done?
Sometimes it’s aggravating to me as it seems like other people are being intentionally obtuse, but other times I envy the ability to float through life, free of thoughts and therefore free of anxiety.
I feel like “free of anxiety” is a rather large assumption. I’m definitely riddled with anxiety but that doesn’t mean a more neurotypical individual is free from that burden. We likely just deal with much more mental instability as a result of the ADHD firehose-like stream of consciousness exacerbating any already present sources of anxiety. :shrug:
Yeah, this sounds about right. I think this is why other people (without ADHD) often identify me with only one or two of my special interests instead of the full variety of all those interests. The other day I had to introduce me in a certain setting to someone where everyone had to mention their hobbies as well. I was struggling at first how to cram so many hobbies in a short time or how to prioritize them. Then a friend, who was also there, said to me “Oh, you like to upload pictures on iNaturalist!” This is true, but I did not really feel seen because of all the other hobbies that seem similarly important!
iNaturalist?! I wanna see these pics! Do you like Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t?
Haha, username checks out I guess xD
Have not heard of this podcast yet, but will have a listen. Thanks! Usually I have problems paying attention to non-fiction podcasts. But I give it a try.
I can send you a dm regarding my iNat. Have my real name over there and don’t wanna dox myself…
It’s a good podcast, I recommend it to anyone who likes plants. The host is a non-traditional student who swears a lot, very New Jersey/New York.
Totally understandable, so do I.
Oh nice, I’m just listening to the first episode and yes, it is pretty easy to listen to :) Thanks again for the recommendation
I just say i’m into science and technology.
i think ADHD is probably responsible for the bastardized version of “jack of all trades master of none”
That’s my headcanon for it at least.
What does it say about starting all those hobbies / projects and not finishing any?
when self-hating people who’ve learned a little about genetics and evolution pipe up with “why are we even still in the gene pool” sadposts … this is why. overall, this style of thinking is a net positive to the proliferation of Homo sapiens, and every now and then even a net positive to the people who embody it.
