Translating special interests to real life..do you do this?

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qawer
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18 Apr 2013, 7:33 am

I find I become more happy when I view life this way.

Mathematics, music, programming and memory are the topics my brain gets "rewarded" from thinking about/being preoccupied with. That's why it's so easy for me to like special interests related to those areas.

But they haven't got much to do with real life. As a solution to that I can think of life as some "optimization problem" I need to solve. Instantly I get much more happy about life the way it is "supposed" to be lived. I live life in the normal way and get constantly rewarded for doing so (i.e. "living in the optimal solution"). Haha this is geeky.

Do any of you do something similar? With other areas of interest perhaps?



SupermassiveSouffle
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18 Apr 2013, 7:39 am

That sounds so cool! It really wouldn't work with my special interests though. :(



qawer
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18 Apr 2013, 7:46 am

SupermassiveSouffle wrote:
That sounds so cool! It really wouldn't work with my special interests though. :(


It wouldn't... How come?



Last edited by qawer on 18 Apr 2013, 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

Nissanfan84
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18 Apr 2013, 7:47 am

My SI's include business, finance and statistics and I definitely do that. I refute arguments using statistical theory or I will try to find correlations in every day things. I even use statistics and finance in my video games. I play MMO's and I actually spend about 75%of my time in game simply buying and selling things in the marketplace. I've actually made a few hundred dollars from selling things to people via paypal.


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xMistrox
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18 Apr 2013, 1:58 pm

My main interest is origami, which has some real-life applications I'm interested in, but my math ability is too low to really act on. It can be used in engineering to devise methods of compacting objects into small spaces neatly, such as common things like airbags and crumple points on cars to maximize safety in a crash, to extreme uses such as creating a new space telescope lens that wouldn't make it into space efficiently without being "folded" and stents that can move through blood vessels more easily and expand when needed. I hope that one day I find a way to comprehend math well enough to understand these things at a beyond visual level.

As for practicality, I do have a good eye for measuring distances without instruments due to origami and having to find divisions on difficult models, but most of that practicality in my workplace goes into making tri-fold pamphlets (library) and unfolding documents for copying/faxing. I suppose I could sell my works if I packaged them in some way that people would by them. Paper figures alone seem like something people would shrug off or consider them cheap/too delicate than what I would have to charge in order to make a profit. I have done some classes for payment before, but it isn't sustainable enough to make a living off of.

My interest in gems, fossils, and rocks could lead to a paleontology type of job (what I wanted as a child), but it is very hard to get a good position, let alone if I could pass college math classes as prerequisites to graduate (part of the reason I'm seeking a diagnosis would be for job assistance/secondary education). The only other practical application of that I've used is to make small talk about people's jewelry when I can't find another topic. The same goes for my interest in biology, it mostly serves as trivia and answering reference questions, but it does help in dealing with animals.


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Drehmaschine
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18 Apr 2013, 2:03 pm

I get paid to indulge in my interest (see Avatar) for 8 to 10 hours every day.



redrobin62
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18 Apr 2013, 3:19 pm

My current SI is sleeping. But seriously, I like to write. I've looked into writing for the local weeklies around here but they're all intern positions, that is, without pay. I wish I could tell my landlord to give me a break on the rent because my current job as a writer pays nothing, but all that'll do is get me a space beneath the nearest bridge.



DyspraxicPanda
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18 Apr 2013, 3:26 pm

My special interests, among others, are theatre and medias and I'm going to do a master to work in communication for theatres or troups ! ! :)

On the spectrum and willing to work in communication thou hahaha I'm a paradox but cultural communication is not the same as actual social interaction obviously.


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Ettina
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18 Apr 2013, 4:03 pm

I'm working on a degree in my special interest. Hopefully someday I'll be paid for it.



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18 Apr 2013, 5:36 pm

My interests are:

Shopping (mostly for books) -- can use this at my store clerk volunteer job and reading can help me be a published writer some day.

Psychology -- can help me take better health for myself, and eventually I want to work as a art therapist

Medicine (meaning med disorders, such as AS, Diabetes, weight loss, ect) -- again keep myself healthy and benefit my eventual job


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SociallyChallenged
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18 Apr 2013, 6:57 pm

I think the term "special interest" is rather prejudiced. Are there people on the autism spectrum who are preoccupied all day long with things that really are rather maladaptive? Certainly. Is it maladaptive to be good at solving optimization problems and finding creative ways to turn problems that other just find hard into a tractable optimization problem? Probably not.



rapidroy
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18 Apr 2013, 11:10 pm

Most of my SI's can't help me with bringing home a cheque however meny of the skills learned through them can be useful in keeping the household together, avoiding the repairman, copeing in life etc. Most of the skills that I have learned I have have had to teach myself and my SI's are what mainly what keeps me active and learning so yes my special intrests do I suppose translate into real life, just not directly most of the time.



allegrorules
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18 Apr 2013, 11:38 pm

Horses - I am currently competing in hippology which is a horse knowledge competition. I hope to go into veterinary medicine and do equine research. I also play horse video games, read non-fiction horse books etc.

Harry Potter - I read harry potter each night before I go to bed. I also like to imagine what Dumbledore or Harry or Hermione would do in certain situations. I also named my dog Luna after Luna Lovegood.... Harry Potter helps me when I am in stressful situations. I used to read it in the school lunch room because it was so stressful and loud...



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19 Apr 2013, 8:36 am

I have tried to bring my knitting to work but got in trouble. :( I could/should have been a costume designer but was discouraged from drawing and steered into writing as a child. Also can't do simple arithmetic very well.


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LonelyJar
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03 Oct 2014, 2:35 am

I'm trying to become a math tutor or teacher to use my math skills professionally. I only have a BS in Math, so I think I'd be at a disadvantage if I applied to a different kind of mathy job unless I went back to college. *shudders*



bungleton
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03 Oct 2014, 2:46 am

Oh yeah! I take advantage of my interests by actively writing music across a variety of genres and developing visuals which I then project at gigs.
I'm preoccupied with radial symmetry, so usea lot of kaleidoscopic filters etc.

Probably the best thing in the world EVER is a program called Structure Synth. It uses a simple scripting language to generate 3d geometry.
Check it, it's pretty much made for (and wouldn't surprise me if it was made by, aspies :D

http://structuresynth.sourceforge.net/


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