Why are NT people not usually interested in trivia etc.?

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What I mean by that is I have a habit where if I'm really into something (whether it be a movie/game etc.) I often like to look it up and learn more about it, as such if say I'm watching a movie/playing a game with friends if I see something that reminds me of something I learned about the development or what have you I'll often say "Did you know when they were making this such and such happened" or "The main director put this shot as a homage to such and such". Sadly, I seem to be the only one that is at all ever interested, most of the time they're all "O...k" like it's weird that I happen to know so much about the subject at hand.

Thing is, I do realize Aspies have a tendency to obsess (though I don't really obsess over something or learn EVERYTHING about it, but I do enjoy reading trivia and learning more about development/production etc. yet I'm made to feel weird for doing so. Yet why is it NT people can tell you EVERYTHING about their favorite Sports team since it's inception yet that's considered awesome to know?

I realize not everyone has to be as interested in certain things as I am, but I do hate how it's okay for NTs to OBSESS over things like Sports and cars yet other things? Just useless trivial knoweledge. Granted I do realize there are NTs that can get into that stuff, but it's not surprising it can be something aspies are into.

I can't even understand how people wouldn't want to know more about something they are interested in. I have always liked trivia and I do see trivia in books about stuff and it's always fascinated me so there has to be NTs that do like trivia or it wouldn't be in books, even DVDs have commentaries on them and other features about the movie so there must be NTs out there who are interested.

That's what I thought as well, but almost every time I try to supplement something I know outside of the game/movie it's almost always received with a "Whatever".

A good example: When my friends and I watched the LotR trilogy awhile back I would bring up some stuff that was omitted from the books or something that helps expand a scene, but no one but me seemed to care.

Many NT are into trivia. Trivial Pursuit was a very popular series of board games in the 1980s or so.

I think it's more a case of how interested they are in the topic that is being discussed. I don't care much about cars, and I wouldn't want to hear a lot of details about a car or cars in general. But I would usually be interested in hearing more about films, directors and things like that.

I have a cousin, though, who told me "I don't care who's in it. I just like to watch it." She didn't know or care who anyone was and only knew the stars everyone in the world probably would know by name. We were in a Hollywood shop looking at touristy things (she was visiting.) I pointed to a photo of Leo diCaprio who had just become very famous and she had no clue who he was. That's when she said the above.

In some cases it could be timing. The person listening could be in a bad mood, not feel like talking or listening, or not want to discuss things at that moment. For instance, if the movie is playing, bad time to discuss it for a lot of people.

Yeah I get that, but even when it's something they're interested in it doesn't seem to help. One of my friends is a star trek fan but seems to get annoyed if I tell him some info from the books or something funny that was said in the behind the scenes footage.

Maybe I just don't understand the reasoning behind how NTs can like something but only get superficially involved. I understand them not wanting to get real in-depth or even necessarily look online for things about it, but still wouldn't you be interested in knowing something more?

That must have been the Titanic movie era, I remember when I first saw it, my parents were talking about "Jack" afterwards and they mentioned he was in Romeo & Juliet and What's Eating Gilbert Grape and he played the ret*d boy and I had seen that movie but didn't recognize him because I didn't remember what Arnie looked like in the movie.

I read on the IMDB on the message board about the movie that Leo did such a good job with his role, people actually thought he had mental retardation. He spent time with ret*d people and watched how they acted and interacted for his role so he could get the idea how his character should be in the movie. Sometimes actors will spent time with people with a mental illness or disability for their roll in the movie they are going to play when the character is mentally challenged or something.

You hit upon what I think is a key word: superficially.

I'm one who does like to know more about things. I love to learn new things. I'd like to learn as many languages as possible and a lot of other things. I just have specific ways I like to learn and those opportunities are not currently available to me (besides costing money.)

What you are talking about in that case is intellectual curiosity or the lack of it.

Some people prefer to be consumers. They want to be entertained by something, but are not really very fond of learning, or expanding their horizon. They may be attracted to the social aspect of an interest such as going to the Star Wars conventions. Or they may simply dislike conversation itself.

It's also possible if someone has an interest they are embarrassed to know less about it than you do.

Yes, it was around that time. Most people knew who he was; she only knew stars by name who had been extremely famous for a length of time. Arnold Schwarzenegger was one she hoped to run into while out here (we didn't.) There were others she didn't recognize at all who were at least as famous as Leo was at the time and she had the same uninterested reaction to seeing 'fan stuff' in the store. It was a store that sold things like glossy photos and T shirts of the stars.

I thought he did a great job in Gilbert Grape. Interesting movie. I remember reading about some of the things you mentioned. I think he takes his craft seriously.

INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY! That's it!

Yeah, now that I know what I meant to say I can expand further what I mean. It seems like aspies are generally much more intellectually curious than NTs, why do you think this is? I mean NTs just take things for what they appear on the outside but rarely care to dig deeper, even if it's something they are interested in.

One of the biggest problems I have making friends is that often I WILL know much more about the subject matter at hand yet the only one that seems to really know much yet they'll talk as if they know more. Like some guys will be talking about a certain game/movie then I'll say something about the director or something and they'll look at me as if I'm weird for knowing it.

*shrug* I don't know.

The thing I've noticed is that, as an Aspie, I tend to jump on a piece of information and blurt it out without considering how it might move the conversation along. I'm still in the process of learning what pieces of information will keep the conversation going, and what will halt it in its tracts. I've certainly discovered that information I think is totally relevant to the conversation is often off on some tangent and therefore wrong-foots a lot of NTs.

I don't think this is a specifically aspie thing to be quite honest; it's an intellectual thing that people who generally value knowledge for it's own sake and read a lot often have.

I've met plenty of intellectually brain-deadening aspies and intellectually stimulating NTs/non-aspies so I would never say Aspergers is the home of intellectual curiosity. I think we flatter ourselves far to much regarding this stereotype.

Most aspies I've come across seem pretty NT in their interests and curiosity level

What probably happens is that if you dont' mix with others well or don't want to, you are more likely to end up occupying yourself by reading books and talking to older adults (who are often more tolerant) and this increases intellect, then the internet came along with more opportunities to research things.

It's all to do with having to use alternative means of entertainment than socialising. Gaming tends to take the place of reading much more these days though and that is not going to increase anyone's intellect. Strategising, hand to eye co-ordination and reflexes it will though so it's not all bad.

Your question is considerably more specific than the title. You are well aware that many NTs are interested in trivia but are wondering why this interest doesn't cross the multiple domains of what they enjoy. As you say, many who enjoy sports and cars will know trivia about those sports and cars. So why doesn't this carry over into the specific domain of fictional entertainment?

As LeagueGirl noted, lots of NTs do indeed love the trivia of fictional entertainment. If this wasn't a common interest, Extras on DVDs wouldn't exist nor would the many magazines and websites devoted to this trivia. There simply aren't enough Aspies to make a market.

So why not your friends in particular? Perhaps they are in the group of people who prefer fiction to cast an immersive spell of illusion and going into the trivia destroys the spell. I have noticed this when discussing movies with friends. Some friends watch the DVD extras and enjoy learning about the director, different acting styles etc. (I am one of the people who likes that). Other people don't enjoy it and some actively reject it because it ruins their enjoyment. As one yelled at me, "You're destroying the magic!". Some people can't get lost in a fictional enviroment if too much of their mind is cluttered up with details of how that enviroment was created. L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz really understood this. He made it a plot point to have the magic of Oz compromised by ripping aside the curtain to reveal the Wizard. Some people really don't like it when you rip aside the curtain and talk about set design or method acting. Others just love it.

I don't know much about film stars, I just like to watch the film. But loads of my NT friends/relatives seem to recognise a lot of the film stars and their names. Even when they are watching TV soaps, they seem to know the actor's character names and their real names, and I'm sitting there like, ''are you speaking a foreign language?''

The reason for that is because they're more interested in socializing. also, a good way to connect with an NTs is to talk about things that they're interested in. It's okay to talk to them about our interests, as long as that's not all that we talk about and we don't go on and on about them.