Trouble with fiction, stories, and ultimately NTs

[Fino]

I also have little to no interest in movies, television, or fiction. I did enjoy fiction novels as a child and teenager and failed to see the appeal in non-fiction, but at some point in my adulthood, I did a 180.

I usually have no idea I'm being unusually honest until someone tells me afterward, but I've gotten better at catching myself, noting certain subjects and ways of responding that people typically find to be sensitive. Anything at all that is remotely related to sex, death, race, religion, or mental illness, as well as any criticism of anything, is off the top of my head some of what causes me to stop and consider what I'm about to say. But I'm usually not conversing with anyone unless it has to do with psychology, music, or Christianity. For a while, I thought it was an NT issue and ignored those rules while here, but there are a few sensitive souls here as well, which is not meant as a criticism. It's okay to be sensitive. I'll speak freely when I'm in Heaven.

 

[Streetwise]

(Sorry if I posed this in the wrong place, I'm beginning to think I did)

Does anybody else have this version of ASD?

It feels like I have short-term memory for anything that isn't 'real', 'true' or factual. I can't follow stories (even when I want to), but I can absorb information about a special interest like a sponge, especially when it's something I can prove and replicate with sorcery (math, programming, logic, etc). It seems like my brain is just locked into finding true / false values and can't really understand the gray area that stories (and possibly even real-life people, unfortunately) possess.

This definitely has its obvious social implications (I seriously couldn't make up a lie if somebody offered me a million dollars, and it's difficult for me to figure out peoples' true intentions sometimes), and I wouldn't doubt that there's a high overlap between fiction, storytelling and right-brained skills at this point because they seem so easily-interwoven.

This also seems to fall in line with brutal honesty, to a fault, which doesn't really go over well with NTs. Ever had this, or have any cool tips on how to deal with it?

do speak to NTs unless you're paying them

 

[Qoyote]

I'm really into a lot of fiction but I don't get movies at all. My family used to rent a movie a week so I've seen hundreds of them. Action movies, comedies, slice of life, socially-conscious period pieces... nothing. I'll watch them to be with my family but I've only seen a couple movies on my own and I put those in the background doing other things.

My dad and I have noticed the bullying scenes in popular TV/movies are worse and worse. The stuff in the 80's movies he grew up with are nothing compared to now. They're less physical but they're so much meaner, so much more humiliating.

We almost dropped Stranger Things cause the new season has a bullying arc for the first three episodes... but this season's episodes are all movie-length for some reason so it's really more like five or six. I get why writers and directors want/need to film those scenes but I don't get why audiences want to put themselves through them.

That kind of darkness is also why I don't like movies. They're too suspenseful because especially with recent movies I can never tell if this is going to be one of those "realistic" movies (read: misery porn because real = bad and good = fake, it's current year) where nobody gets a happy ending.

 

[Jeff T]

Ever since my father read books (Tolkien, others) to me in my young years, devouring fiction has been a hobby.
Novels last 2 or 3 days. I'll take a half-dozen with me when I remote camp.

(A fair variety of responses from everyone.)

Non-fiction is a much slower slog, but doable. If it's about an interesting person, that's a plus. Einstein took me 3 weeks to finish.

Movies are okay- but having to sit and carefully watch for two hours is taxing. Books are cool because you can stop at any time and pick it up later. Horror is okay (plan to see Nope! in a couple days)- Alien, Poltergeist etc. Pulp Fiction's violence didn't bother me as I felt very detached from it. Fargo hit harder, harsh and pretty realistic; since watching it I'm more circumspect when using the chipper/shredder......
Humor will keep me glued. A Christmas favorite is Army of Darkness!

Except as a teen, video games are a big Eh! Some school acquaintances were really big on Dungeons and Dragons, they seemed to play it for 8 hours a day or more.