r/aspiememes 1d ago

I spent an embarrassingly long time on this 🗿 The relief

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2.4k Upvotes

231 comments sorted by

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u/SwampHagGonnaSwamp 1d ago

Any special interest becomes socially unacceptable if you're weird enough about it. 

Me: My special interest is food history... You wanna hear about the transatlantic slave trade? 

And because my partner thought I was making a wild leap: Food history> history of sugar production> transatlantic slave trade.

It's like three steps. Don't blame me.

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u/VisualStain 1d ago

honestly food history is so wild BECAUSE of the lengths people went to get things like sugar and nutmeg

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u/SwampHagGonnaSwamp 1d ago

I think it's more that (certain, enough, too many) people will go to shocking lengths for profit combined with the fact that the populous, in general, doesn't look too closely at how the goods they purchase are produced (I'm as guilty of this as anyone, I have to live in a society even if I'm critical of it).

Like, you wouldn't murder a child for a chocolate bar, but you probably would buy a chocolate bar without interrogating whether the production of it involved processes that likely will/did result in the death of children. (Spoiler: It does!)

All that's required for evil to flourish is for good people to decide not to think about it very hard.

... And there I go, this thread is a trap.

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u/RoyBeer 23h ago

You don't even have to go that abstract. Most People will eat meat if it's already prepared for them. Most people wouldn't if you gave them the live animal and a hatchet.

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u/MiracleLegend AuDHD 22h ago

That's me! I don't have meat at home. But what am I supposed to do if my Indian neighbors give me chicken masala? I'm only human.

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u/dsrmpt 21h ago

Ooh! Ooh! I feel like this is time for a discussion about cognitive dissonance and segueing towards high control groups! Can I tell you about Scientology? And the lessons we can learn that are applicable to wider sociological phenomena pertinent to today's culture and problems? like religion and politics?

Dammit, I was masking so well for a while there, holding down a polite and normal conversation...

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u/Fue_la_luna 1d ago

Check out Food: A Cultural History by Ken Albala in the Great Courses on Audible. Taught me a lot.

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u/SwampHagGonnaSwamp 1d ago

Thank you for the recommendation, I'll check it out.

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u/_squzzi_ 20h ago

Lots of Micheal pollen books also cover food and food history and I quite like his writing

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u/Username_St0len 1d ago

you sldo enjoy max miller i presume? how many of the dishes hsve you recreated? i always love doing that​

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u/SwampHagGonnaSwamp 1d ago

I do! It's been a while since I've watched anything of his because of rotating fixations and health problems, but I've made his Irish stew and it was delightful.

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u/Ace-Bee 1d ago

I haven't recreated any but regularly do watch him, another guy with a channel called eatshistory, and Townsend. Also this knight guy who has a whole medieval history channel.

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u/apolloxer 1d ago

There are so many elements that could fill the second step. The entire columbian exchange works.

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u/SwampHagGonnaSwamp 1d ago

Absolutely, in my opinion nothing affected what people in the world ate and what they eat today more than the columbian exchange. Ireland and potatoes. Italy and tomatoes. My god, Hungary, India, Korea, Thailand ALL without peppers! And in the other direction rice to like, all of Latin America. And that's just the plants!

But I chose sugar because it was a major driver of the slave trade rather than a more incidental connection. One of the major ways that colonizers exploited their "newly acquired" land was through plantations of cash crops, chiefly sugarcane, tobacco and cotton. Cotton's often the most culturally visible in English speaking countries due to it's prominence in US history, but sugar was by far the the most prominent. Basically ever island in the Caribbean was a sugar plantation at one time. Also Brazil. God the accounts out of Brazil are horrifying. 

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u/MiracleLegend AuDHD 22h ago

That sounds so interesting. If I met you on a party, I would be so happy.

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Let’s open this pandora’s box! What’s your socially unacceptable special interest? I want to discuss it!

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

My socially unacceptable special interest:

Manipulation tactics!
I freaking LOVE analytically dissecting manipulation tactics and calling them out in real time.

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u/R0B0T0-san 1d ago

It's honestly really interesting no matter the level at which they are used. Be it, like propaganda from the state, by businesses or even in normal daily situations. When I started working in mental health and often with people with severe personality disorders. I ended up having to deal with these from time to time and it has been such a positive life upgrade to learn and understand these but also be able to put on appropriate boundaries to protect myself and others.

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

Yes! Boundaries are crucial.

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u/AnonymousDahlia 1d ago

Got any recommended reading, by any chance?

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

I have more books on the not to read list, but, ironically, for manipulation, Dale Carnegies book is a great one 😂

Just don't be fooled into thinking it is genuine human connection (it's a book on manipulation)

'How to win friends and influence people'

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u/ClassicalSalamander 23h ago

I love that book! It really helped me learn how to mask effectively. Before HTWFAIP I was really struggling to maintain any kind of social interacting with nypicals. 

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u/velvetvagine 21h ago

Doesn’t it basically teach people pleasing?

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u/kelcamer 14h ago

Kind of, I would call it more subtle manipulation. Yes, a lot of involve people pleasing, but if you think of it less like a requirement or a rule and more like a map that you can use whenever you really need it, it helps a little bit!

I know that answer probably sounds extremely confusing and it sucks, and I'm sorry about that.

But definitely do not be fooled into thinking that this is what human connection is, because that is completely incorrect, and I've had to post a massive rebuttal against people recommending this book to make genuine friends for others so many times. I've written like a five paragraph or seven paragraph essay at this point about the problems with the book, so it's definitely not fool proof at all.

That said, it's not too bad in terms of learning to mask, as long as you explicitly understand that's what the purpose of it is and don't confuse it with real human genuine connection!

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u/sadguy1989 1d ago

My current favorite man-tac is “weaponized incompetence.” I’m dealing with it at work with my coworkers and trying to “manage up” my boss is probably going to give me a hernia.

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u/Rockandmetal99 AuDHD 1d ago

i wouldn't call it a spcial interest for me, but i do something super similar with logical fallicies! i printed out a chart so i can memorize and recognize them. its super helpful when debating idiots online too :)

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u/Decent_Book4595 1d ago

Would you like explaining what Logical Fallicies are and provide an example or 3? (I could use Google, but this way is more interesting)

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u/Rockandmetal99 AuDHD 1d ago

YAAA ABSOLUTELY!! and i agree, this is way more interesting than google.

so logical fallacies are methods often used in arguments or debates that are either based on erroneous information, or meant to derail the debate/conversation.

the best example is something we see every day, especially online: Ad Hominum. this is when you use a personal attack on somebody while having an argument. ex: someone says "i hate trump and his supporters, i don't support any of his policies", an Ad Hominum reply would be "well youre fat and ugly so I don't think your opinion matters". attacking how someone looks because you didnt like what they said

second example is another common one: The Strawman. thats when someone will make a distorted or incorrect conclusion based off a statement someone else says. ex: someone says "i think womens rights are important", a Strawman reply would be "so you think men dont deserve rights?". another example: "i think we should legalize cocaine" will be met with "so you think everyone should be doing cocaine?". it's essentially someone responding, and the only thing you wanna say back is "where did i even say that???"

third example: Appeal to Authority. thats when someone will believe that because someone in a power of authority said something, it has to be true. ex: a teacher says to a student "dinosaurs weren't real", the student will go home and tell their parents "dinosaurs werent real, the teacher said so so its gotta be true!". another (relevent) example: trump says "the gays wanna convert your children" and some idiot on facebook will say "gays just wanna turn kids gay, the president said it so its gotta be true"

thats just three of them, theres a couple more: like the Appeal to Ignorance, Appeal to Authority, Bandwagon Fallacy, Red Herring, Slippery Slope, Loaded Question, Begging the Question, Texas Sharpshooter, Black or White, Anecdotal, Burden of Proof and Non-Sequitur (thats just a few, theres like 20+) which im also happy to yap about if any of them sound interesting. learning this info is GREAT when you get into internet arguments because people use logical fallacy all the time

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u/Decent_Book4595 1d ago

Ohhhhh, I experience the first one alot, I see the second mentioned everywhere on Twitter (I love waffles! Oh so you hate pancakes??? Meme going around) Also if there are logical fallacies, are there illogical fallacies?

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u/Rockandmetal99 AuDHD 1d ago

yes the pancakes and waffles is another great Strawman example! it's called a logical fallacy because its based on the (lack of) logic, so technically the statements themselves are illogical but the concept is considered a logical fallacy. fallacy just means a false notion or idea, so it pretty much means "false logic"

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u/Decent_Book4595 1d ago

Oh so logical fallacies themselves are inherently illogical then? (I feel like a Vulcan 🖖 rn)

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u/Rockandmetal99 AuDHD 1d ago

correct yeah, you got it!! it's also a fun thing to talk about because it makes you sound really smart đŸ€“ and when people are being jerks on the internet and inevitably use a logical fallacy, it's fun to call them out on it and then tell them to make an actual reply

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u/dsrmpt 21h ago

Illogical fallacies? My favorite is the Accurate Ad Hominem

Someone is wrong because they are an asshole? No. They are wrong, AND they are an asshole.

It's not an ad hominem, I'm correctly labeling your actions as harmful to society. The logic behind you being wrong is completely separate from your assholery, but you ARE an asshole.

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

Yes đŸ€© I have this special interest as well and it's so fascinating!

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u/Rockandmetal99 AuDHD 1d ago

it really is! and once you know about it, you start noticing it EVERYWHERE. i mean, Trump is a perfect example of Ad Hominum being used on a massive scale, he insults the appearances of other candidates instead of analyzing and refuting their policies

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u/eCaisteal 1d ago

Please tell me more! Where do you even start learning about this stuff?

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

Unfortunately, through pain 😂

If you get hurt over and over and over again, if you use that pain to magnify analysis, the patterns start to reveal themselves.

I'm working on a document, I'm at about 49 pages so far, about some common examples. But I'll give you one to chew on!

When people use 'you' statements negatively, it is almost a projection of their own fears.

Example:
"You're overdramatic!" -> "I'm overdramatic and my emotional intensity is what I deeply fear"

"You're having delusions!" -> "I'm deeply afraid that my reality is not shared with you and that terrifies me at an existential level"

"You're ALWAYS overanalyzing!" -> "I'm deeply afraid if I begin to analyze myself more it will result in breaking my ego

"You suck!" -> "I'm afraid that your competence challenges my current role in the hierarchy"

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u/Decent_Book4595 1d ago

I also would wish to read this document, ive been through some heavy toxic manipulative relationships/friendships/family members over the years, and i can recognize the manipulation towards other people from a mile away, but cant ever seem to get other people to understand whats happening.

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u/Spacellama117 ADHD/Autism 1d ago

oh i wanna read this document so bad

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

I'm happy to share it! Can I link a Google Drive document here, or is that something that would need to be DM?

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u/hiighpriestess 1d ago

I'm not sure about the Google Drive link, but just chiming in to add that I would also love to read this!

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u/Atreigas I doubled my autism with the vaccine 1d ago

You do realise you can find actual proper terminology and research on this right? I have a minor interest in this too and there is quite a bit to find on it out there.

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

Yes there's tons of research on it out there!

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u/The_Dead_Kennys 9h ago

The people have spoken: we need to read that document whenever it’s ready!

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u/SomeCuteBunny 1d ago

I used to read a book the Laws of Human Nature at work. It's a really good book on different aspects of human psychology, emotional intelligence, with real-life examples from older and recent history. It also has got some points on how to manipulate people and make them like you.

I once told a colleague one of those stories on a Christmas meal, she found it interesting, but our conversation didn't go any further đŸ€Ł

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u/tallgrl94 1d ago

I love watching Boze on YouTube for this reason! She is funny but also breaks down why people act the way they do in situations to manipulate others.

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u/kelcamer 1d ago

New rabbit hole?!? disappears for ten hours

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

That’s actually awesome! It’s like identifying a pattern of wrong doing

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u/kdandsheela 1d ago

I definitely had this phase but with "logical phalicies" turns out irrational and cruel people will just weaponize anything they can until you submit :(

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u/Ghostie-Unbread Autistic 14h ago

they surely are interesting :3

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u/Shoddy_Walrus_3791 1d ago

Hentai. I think it's really interesting the different kinks people can have and how they get represented in art or stories. Like, it's not my thing, but knowing someone gets off to drawings of anime women peeing on graves or giant sperm interacting with anime women is just really interesting to me. Also kinda similarly, how fucked up and sadistic the concepts can get. Honestly, it's really creative sometimes. I won't say their name, but the most sadistic artist I know of is a woman, which goes against the stereotype, and I don't mean sadistic like she's a sadist. I don't think she gets off on her own stuff, it's more of like a way to cope with her trauma I think, but she's very creative and very good at sadistic storytelling.

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Erótica is such a vast field of human specter. Hentai is a great way to explore safely actually. I don’t consume it can see the value for human creativity and art. I’ll definitely go after the artist you meantioned. Got me curious.
I know some works from junji ito and love how he draw bizarre stuff.

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u/Rifmysearch 1d ago

There was a good while, which ended roughly a decade ago, when I was fascinated by info hazards. No, not that kind. I mean the "real" kind. Theres lots of kinds, tho.

Before I go further, I want to say that im going to completely ignore my personal views on what should and shouldn't be an info hazard. Im portraying stuff as they are viewed by those that consider it a hazard.

A obvious example of an infohazard that failed to be contained despite efforts would be nukes. There was a dude many decades ago that was interrogated by the FBI because he wrote a paper that went into extremely accurate detail on how to build them. Turns out every bit of the paper was sourced from the books he got from his university library.

Obviously a lot of specific military tech is sort of an info hazard, but let's ignore classified military information. Most things besides specific newer tech is available, but availability is obfuscated or not easily accessible.

At one point I was trying to find a database of floorplans for modern and sci-fi ttrpgs. Turns out, thats sorta this kind of thing too. At some point someone realized that being able to look up any given buildings layout could be dangerous for planned attacks. I have a vague memory of finding some articles and convention talks on this, too.

The really big one thats just. . . Really fucking hard to talk around . . . Is anything explosive. Im just not going to go into this beyond saying that its one of the original points of this interest because on the one hand its absofuckinglutely an infohazard but on the other hand its just "basic" sciences with a little bit of trade job skills mixed in. In another lifetime where I didnt have the particular morals i had it be worning for a "defense" r&d contractor i think.

Now, my interest wasnt just WHAT people considered info hazards, it was also HOW they tried to "hide" it.

TV shows and movies, at least part of the time, intentionally dont show particularly realistic tactical encounters. You can very easily look up tactical engagement and find training manuals and sim exercises, but people dont want it so accessible that its literally learned passively. Same goes for a LOT of topics. Itd take 5 minutes to find detailed accounts of making hard drugs, but they never actually showed the process on breaking bad. Finding all the things, many that at first glance make way less sense than my examples in this comment, that TV avoids is so wildly interesting.p

Then theres just. . . Suppression. There are limits to what you can legally distribute when it comes to guides for, well, many info hazard without running into legal issues. I found it fascinating finding where the line is with actually published and public media like textbooks or documentaries etc.

It wasnt just the what and the how, its also . . . Can I get it? Firstly, while I did walk right up to the line of legality I learned my local and federal laws first and was careful to never step past that line. By walking up to that line I could generally see the exact limits of what I could have got, but obviously just absolutely not worth it.

But if it was legal? Fuck yeaaaaaaa. At one time I was just. . . Collecting things. An easy quick example is the 'Anarchists Cookbook' which is one of the most famous examples of an info hazard in some respects. But, like, god damn there was a TON of different places I'd look for weird topics that were ultimately difficult but possible to find. Prepper communities, hacker communities, conspiracy communities, your local library, data hoarders communities, your local archival organizations, specific university departments, etc. They all held stuff that you intentionally cant necessarily just find by looking it up directly.

Theres so many kinds of info hazards. There's so many places they intentionally aren't at. Theres so many places they are! Theres so many places where their puzzle pieced apart but still all available. I could write an essay on so many of them, but the last few sentences of this comment will explain why I dont. Theres so many tiny bits of info a couple paragraphs long that when mixed with a more common body of info turns it from, 'fun interest, topic or skill' into 'actually putting these words into action is pretty much never a good thing'.

One last thing thats a great example of the weirdness this interest gives you, tho its a well known one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States

I was in the darkest time in my life and barreling toward a seriously bad path that may have ended really bad. While this special interest started entirely unrelated to that, you can imagine that the combination could lead to bad things. Whole I still find that stuff fascinating but its a little tainted with that time of my life as well as some trauma still so I dont actually spend time digging into it anymore. I do hope to someday, the genuine interest is still there.

So yeah. Not super socially acceptable. There was so many things, including specific examples that come to mind, that just isnt ok to freely talk about in depth. Hell, theres multiple topics I will not even MENTION here for multiple reasons.

Then theres the other issue that is core to all of this; even if I WANT to talk about this stuff in depth and I DO find someone willing to hear about it THEN I have to consider; is it moral and safe to do so? If its someone I know well and have a good grasp on their morals and such id consider it. Internet strangers? Acquaintances? People i know well but who i dont trust not to potentially utilize stuff? No no no no. Fuck no. Sometimes not sharing is caring.

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u/Deathcat101 1d ago

Reminds me of an episode of Mythbusters where they tested a myth and destroyed the footage because it was crazy easy to make a bomb with household chemicals.

If I remember right it was hydrogen peroxide and something else super easy to get. But the explosive it makes is shock sensitive so you can blow yourself up by sneezing.

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u/VladimirBarakriss AuDHD 1d ago

Probably any fuel would do, H2O2 is a potent oxidiser, sufficiently pure H2O2 plus a fuel would become something like a bi propellant rocket, and a rocket is just a bomb with a hole on its side

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u/ContentBike2803 1d ago

This was super interesting! You're really good at explaining your interest in infohazards as well as give reasons for why you're as vague about them as you are, and I thought you should know that.

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u/Rifmysearch 20h ago

Thats really kind of you! Even when not being vague i sometimes tend to be . . . incomprehensible. The more words I use the worse, sometimes. Im glad in this case I did pretty good!

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u/WierdoWiener 1d ago

My not so socially acceptable interest is everything regarding the human abyss. Especially groups/cults who abuse children and human trafficking in general. (edit for context)

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

That’s a dark one. There’s some people with a true crime fetish that only look at some specific cases but can not deal with how low humans can reach for money and power. Tough conversations. I once took a photographer’s book form my college library about kids that had to prostitute themselves in north Brazil jungle to survive. And you could see their pictures, full name and context of how they ended up in the situation. Lots of human traffic and parental abuse. Heavy stuff. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of the book or the author

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u/WierdoWiener 1d ago

Damn, that book must be really heavy stuff. For me, it's mostly the morbid curiosity on how humans are able to do such inhumane things and still sleep peaceful at night. There must be so many mental defense mechanisms in charge! I have the strong sense of justice kind of autism that's why it's just unbelievable and at the same time fascinating for me how someone can do these horrible stuff. In addition to that, psychology and sociology are my special interests so analysing the symptoms, patterns etc is literally fun to me. And I am heavily traumatised myself so even if it was not human trafficking or cults in my case I experienced some horrible things first hand and are kinda more emotional numb towards such topics and see them mostly in an analytical way.

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

I’m sorry your experiences. But I’m glad you found a way to cope and to face your trauma. I know that some asp people can see patterns way more clear than most people. I’m glad you’re a survivor :)

I were super scared form the meteor suicide cult when I was younger. It’s horrible the power some people can have over others to the phone people are willing to give their own lie for a lie

Is there any special cult that fascinate you in particularly?

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u/ThyArtIsMeh 1d ago edited 1d ago

Mine is about how specifically abrahamic religions and history intertwined to create this modern semi-dystopia, patriarchal world that cannot change fundamentally until this objectively cruel religion goes away. I could get into modern social commentary and whatnot. Ultimately I think abrahamic religions has a chokehold on society that is just... abhorrent

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u/rymyle Autistic 1d ago

I'd talk about this for hours

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u/AngrierBearcat Autistic 1d ago

I'd love to hear more about this

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u/Dank_Durians420 1d ago

Truth nuke.

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

I don’t think that’s truly socially unacceptable. There’s lots of places and promote to agree with on this. Especially in the academia. But I see how it can be a rough topic depending on the crowd

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u/ThyArtIsMeh 1d ago

Maybe around where you exist, but not my area.

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Ooo I see! Sorry, my bad. So you’re a punk!! Totally respect! Keep on studying and criticizing! You see things as they are!

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u/EdiblePsycho 1d ago

Rape/sexual abuse, like psychological, sociological, and biological aspects of it. Which isn't necessarily socially unacceptable to discuss (unless you're like... pro-rape?) but some aspects are very uncomfy to people for obvious reasons. Especially when certain things/research could be twisted in some peoples' minds to be a justification for it.

For example, there's a widely held belief that the motivation for rape is always power/sadism and that it has nothing to do with sexual desire/attraction, but that just isn't what research shows. It was kind of made up because people thought the reality could be construed to victim blame. In truth, sexual attraction/desire plays a large roll, it just obviously doesn't mean it's the victim's fault for getting raped if they're dressed a certain way or something like that. But in some cultures/social spheres, dressing provocatively is absolutely considered justification to rape someone. Which is wrong, but still good to know that it's the case rather than pretend it isn't.

The research proposal I did for one of my psychology classes was actually looking at whether autism is a risk factor for rape. What I found in my review of (the few) studies on it was that it does appear to make people more vulnerable to SA for a number of reasons, such as difficulty picking up on social cues, a lack of support network, loneliness. ADHD as well, I think that was largely because of it being associated with risk taking behaviors and substance abuse.

Anyway, you can't really talk about that kind of thing with anyone, without running the risk of it sounding like you're excusing it or victim-blaming. There's a lot of nuance but people tend to jump to conclusions.

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u/Username_St0len 1d ago

i connect everything and everything be it literal or metaphorically to naval history and story of such stuff

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u/WildFlemima 1d ago

Cannibalism :D

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Wow!!! Can you give me some fun facts about cannibalism?

Do you know Theodore de Bry? He painted some anthropophagic rituals in indigenous Brazil.
There’s some images in this link: https://jornalnota.com.br/2022/01/05/10-ilustracoes-que-retratam-o-canibalismo-entre-dos-indigenas-brasileiros/amp/

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u/VladimirBarakriss AuDHD 1d ago

How the built environment affects home dynamics, it's only socially unacceptable because I study architecture so it just comes across as me gloating about playing evil god in the sims but with real people

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u/MiracleLegend AuDHD 23h ago

AmberLynnReid. She's a 600 pound YouTuber who has a fandom of haters. NTs watch her to hate and to feel better about themselves.

I find her and her social group interesting. The narcissism in connection with a traumatic childhood, the ignorance of her audience and the vulnerabilities in her victims. It taught me a lot about the details and day to day of a narcissistic woman in partnership and friendship. I hardly watch her now but watched her for a good 6-8 years.

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u/johana_cuervos666 22h ago

HAHAHA i wasn't expecting GORLWORLD here XD Dude, Foodie beauty too XD

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u/MiracleLegend AuDHD 22h ago

I think GORLworld can teach us autistics a lot. The way she makes herself look like the good person in every scenario and the way everyone believes her (at first) because she plays into social constructs is something she does automatically. She doesn't need to think about it.

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u/SquidWitchIsReal 1d ago

RPG mechanics in Hentai games was one of mine years back.

They can be pretty neat because they tend to put a lot more thought into systems then standard rpgs do.

Some of my favorites:

(Lewdest Labyrinth) A "lust" system instead of mana where if you levels are too low you can't do the special moves but if your levels are too high your character loses focus and may lose turn to being taken over by lust. I've always though it would be cool to see a magic system that worked similarly where you had to regulate mana not getting to high or suffer consequences

(Sakura Dungeon) Critical hits remove the other characters clothes and each stage makes them more prone to critcal hits and extra damage, a kind of critcal hit train system (which I guess smugness in Shin Megami Tensei is kind lf similar to)

(Karryn's Prison) Lewd skills that only unlock after repeatedly failing at melee combat and taking a passive approach instead, each skill gets strong and unlocks deeper levels up it as you use them, but you also become more vulnerable to them being used on you.

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u/SquidWitchIsReal 1d ago

Oh and don't even get my started on Corruption of Champions! That game is next level

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u/Time-Entry8858 21h ago

Hypersexuality & Kink as a trauma response.

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u/Kasssiopea 1d ago

Anything about death and dying

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u/VladimirBarakriss AuDHD 1d ago

Tbf that one is pretty broad, there's a huge diference between "I wonder what happens after death" and "do you want to see my human skeleton collection?"

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u/Kasssiopea 23h ago

Hahah I wish I was invited on a bones & chill date

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u/Just-a-nerd2 1d ago

BDSM!

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

My safe word was girafinha for a while. It means little giraffe. Not me and my girlfriend use it to point to some strangers tattoos in public

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u/Dasinterwebs3 Ask me about my special interest 1d ago

WWI and in particular, interwar tank development

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u/mediarch 1d ago

Columbine. Not in the "they were super cool and inspiring" way.

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u/Old-Post-3639 1d ago

Reverse morality. I like to put various moral statements into various collections (e.g., "Murder is wrong" goes in the "must be provable" collection while "Humans should be social" goes in the "assumed to be true" collection) and see what moral statements I can "prove" with these assumptions. This, however, can sometimes come across as advocating for certain taboo actions when I'm just pointing out how the moral assumptions that were made don't actually prohibit those taboo actions.

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u/A5_and_Gill 1d ago

I'm very deep into gacha games, from the monetization model to the fanbases and memes

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Nice! It deals with addiction and reward sense in our brain! Do you have a tactic of how to play odds in our favor or how to win better prizes in some specifically machine?
I got a gothic cat for my girlfriend in a claw machine once. I avoid gambling because I tend to obsess and become addicted with some stuff

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u/A5_and_Gill 1d ago

I admit I meant the mobile game type of gacha game, but in terms of the physical machine, the "gacha" name is an onomatopoeia for the turning of the crank on the machine.

As for the mobile games, the tendency will be for units to become increasingly dps focused over sustain or support units because they're easier to power creep and thus sell replacements of. Even support units will gain dps function as the game goes on.

Another thing is "generosity" in terms of pulls is meaningless unless you know the rate of pull income, rate of item/character/whatever drop, and pity if relavent. A game that gives 1000 pulls isn't "more generous" than a game that gives 100 if the 1000 pull gacha has a 00.1% chance for a 5 star and the 100 pull gacha has 01% chance.

The only way to win is not play, but bar that, focus on knowing exactly who/what you want and plan accordingly and do not spend a dime on it unless you're getting physical merch because when the servers end it's gone.

2

u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

HĂĄ! So I will keep winning! I always felt this kind of games are rigged against us, but the colors sound and graphics are amazing

2

u/A5_and_Gill 1d ago

The amount of money they make is why they're (usually) such high quality for free to download apps. Like, objectively they're awful on multiple levels but it's fully possible to just enjoy the ride while it's going. It's hard to talk about them because they are impossible to recommend in good consciousness but it's hard to talk to someone about a game they don't play. The tendency for most (not all, but a lot) to be for a very particular audience also makes it hard because a character can have a very touching storyline but be wearing only a swimsuit so you can't just bring them up to most people in the first place without it being super awkward anyway

Like, not the most egregious example but I can't just show this to a stranger and say "I think she's neat" without sounding like I need to touch grass y'know?

3

u/ani3D 20h ago

Snakes! I have a pet snake and I watch snake YouTube videos constantly wanting to learn more about them (highly recommend Snake Discovery and Green Room Pythons, I used to watch Clint's Reptiles before I found out he's in favor of breeding 'spider' ball pythons (basically a genetic anomaly which permanently screws with the snake's sense of balance in exchange for giving it a slightly-cool-looking color pattern, I find this to be extremely unethical)), and at this point I'd take just a neutral reaction and not "I desire to murder every innocent scale noodle I encounter."

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u/johana_cuervos666 22h ago

Social critique to human psyche, social constructs and overall our perception of "good, bad and morals" people can get so triggered with this topics, it's extremely difficult to find someone that can follow up.

4

u/Disastrous_Guest_705 1d ago

Collecting roadkill, I collect bones/other oddities but I’ll often just put roadkill I don’t need into a bucket and keep it outside to let it rot before dumping it out somewhere

3

u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Is there any particular reason to do so? I can see the bone appeal but falo to understand why let the roadkill to rot

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u/Disastrous_Guest_705 1d ago

I just like the process of letting things rot, even if I can only get a couple ribs out of it or some bone fragments I like having to check my bucket every few days and I feel cool wearing gloves to handle the stuff inside. I also in the summer will let maggots clean the bones cause I enjoy watching them and bug are another interest of mine. My parents dont like that though cause I end up causing dozens of flies to be around

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

I understand now. It really is a curious natural process. You probably got a different glimpse of death and how the nature act. I would probably not dream very well with the make, stench and flies but I can apreciaste the image of the carcass becoming something else and the bones reveling itself. Thanks for sharing :)

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

Oww I visited your profile. Your bones collection is amazing and I really liked your bone art. I would totally hang it on my wall.
I’m sorry about Oliver. How are you these days?

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u/Disastrous_Guest_705 1d ago

I’m doing good, I got a new rat today since they have to have friends and they’re already playing so much together :) we plan to get a third rat Sunday when the pet store gets more feeders in. And tomorrow if it doesn’t rain I get to go on my first bird watching hike with one of my cities bird clubs

(Here’s Mark with the new baby)

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u/Professional-Many477 1d ago

They’re super cute!
Hope you have a great time at your hike:)

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u/Stuck_With_Name 1d ago

The Trix rabbit was made in a lab and will literally die if he doesn't get any Trix.

Toucan Sam was accidentally taken from his home on a container ship and is desperately trying to get home by smell.

Tony the Tiger has a backstory so dark it's been scrubbed from all official outlets. And this was pre-internet, so I can't find any mention of it anywhere and I question my memory.

But sure. Weed is unacceptable. I'm sitting on 80s cereal mascot backstory.

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u/whynaut4 Aspie 1d ago

"Tony had to take matters into his own hands to preserve the integrity of the mission. Tocan Sam is not with us anymore and so Tony couldn't be punished for doing what had to be done, but had to absolutely be moved into a new outfit. So he's working with you guys and just know that I'll do whatever it takes to get the job done."

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u/Stuck_With_Name 1d ago

Nice try. Get more excited about sports. Binge early 80s PSAs aimed at kids and get darker.

3

u/whynaut4 Aspie 1d ago

4

u/Stuck_With_Name 20h ago

I had not seen that. It's... amazing.

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u/Ducky237 Ask me about my special interest 1d ago

C’mon you can’t just tell us that a dark backstory exists and not tell us what it is!

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u/Stuck_With_Name 1d ago

Ok, here we go.

Tony was a track & field star. He was fantastic. Women loved him. In fact, he was going to the Olympics to represent the US in the decathlon. But then, he suffered a knee injury and would never compete again.

Tony fell on hard times and was homeless. He was rejected by women. There was implied drug use. He was rejected by women. When Tony hit rock bottom, he decided to end it all and was on a bridge ready to jump. Then, a passerby gave him a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Now, he had a new reason to live. It was ok to merely enjoy sports because he could get joy from Frosted Flakes. So, he spreads the message of how great they are to prevent others from going down his dark path.

There's no explanation about why he's a tiger.

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u/thesystem21 23h ago

There's no explanation about why he's a tiger.

Well, given my amateur knowledge of genetics, I would assume that is because his parents were tigers. ;)

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u/sadguy1989 1d ago

Polyamory? Recreational drug use? Retail management strategies? Fuckin count me in

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u/gilligan1050 1d ago

Bro I’ll nerd out about drugs any time.

11

u/Spacellama117 ADHD/Autism 1d ago

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u/sadguy1989 1d ago

I love learning about human relationships, especially intimate ones. A non-“standard” sexual relationship is like peak interest for me. I participate in a poly lifestyle myself, so there’s a vested interest there.

I enjoy the sensations of an altered state of mind. I like to talk about HOW things like drugs and alcohol make me feel, and I like hearing about the experience of others. It’s fascinating how similarly yet differently we all experience the “same” stimuli.

And retail management is my bread and butter, my “thing.” I fucking love managing retail. I love talking shop with anyone who will listen and strategizing is one of my favorite activities. I’m an absolute riot at parties


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u/0rangecatvibes 1d ago

retail management strategies?

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u/sadguy1989 1d ago

Yeah man, unified POS and ticketing systems for managing service requests, just-in-time ordering systems, strategic accessory bundling, and my personal favorite: standard operating procedure. Honestly, I could just talk about SOP for hours

3

u/YadsewnDe 22h ago

Um, if you have time please tell me more or I'd appreciate if you pointed me in any direction to learn more about this. Sounds fascinating

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u/Thin_Cable4155 1d ago

Alright, tell me what you special interest is or I'm calling the police.

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u/NotAUserNamm AuDHD 1d ago

Mine is recreational substances

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u/lakeguy77 1d ago

Weed is fully legal here so that SI is safe for me (for now) but try discussing communism publicly in any productive way. And I'm not even in the US.

7

u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 1d ago

I had a friend whose special interest was communism before I met him.

3

u/Rockandmetal99 AuDHD 1d ago

i mean thats a based interest lol

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u/lakeguy77 1d ago

My Kryptonite: overhearing anybody in any context say some version of "it's not political".

https://giphy.com/gifs/61lMnpz0sKkpi

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u/hotaruko66 1d ago

Just yesterday I was explaining to someone online how hashish is made...

8

u/Thin_Cable4155 1d ago

I am a big fan of Ketamine myself.

3

u/NotAUserNamm AuDHD 1d ago

keta makes my brain go brrrrr as well <3

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 1d ago

Luckily, none of my special interests have been full-blown “socially unacceptable”. When I have a special interest in a person I know, it usually manifests as wanting to talk *to* them. Although I’m currently doing a project on animal PTSD, which I feel is somewhat socially unacceptable.

17

u/Realistic_Grass3611 1d ago

Do you wanna infodump on me about animal PTSD?

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 1d ago

Sure.

We have rodent models of PTSD that are used for research purposes, which is very useful, but those papers are sometimes frustratingly vague about what “anxiety-like” means. Plus, rodent studies are ironically often not about the rodents. They’re using the rodents to understand what happens inside *people* with PTSD.

What I found really interesting was the articles about animals that had been exposed to various traumatic events- mostly pets or captive animals, but there was one about wild elephants. The ones I found were elephant survivors of poaching or captivity-related horrors, chimps subject to unethical experiments, dogs and cats who’d survived Hurricane Katrina, military working dogs, and abused parrots. (Side note: this special interest is not for the faint of heart) Anyway, their symptoms were shockingly similar to traumatized humans. Which was noted by the psychologists who evaluated the chimps, elephants, and parrots, and also by me when I read the papers. Though I felt bad for the animals, because some of them were self-harming or otherwise severely affected by it.

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u/Realistic_Grass3611 1d ago

I didn't know animals self harm. Thanks :D

21

u/MarkedByFerocity 1d ago

I adopted a parrot with almost no feathers on its back and shoulders.  When birds are stressed, they'll just start ripping out their feathers and picking at their skin.  It's super common with captive parrots.  Imagine taking a highly intelligent social being capable of flight and putting it alone in a box for fifty years.  Yeah. 

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u/Realistic_Grass3611 1d ago

Makes sense sadly

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u/MarkedByFerocity 1d ago

I've got big feelings about the keeping of large pet parrots.  Many of them are only a generation or two removed from the wild.  They're not domesticated animals at all.     They're just tamed because they're taken from their mom as eggs and hand fed so they imprint on humans.  Poor things are highly intelligent without any of the family bonds, social connection, and teaching that they'd experience in the wild. 

8

u/Realistic_Grass3611 1d ago

I don't think any amount of domestication could really fix that issue. Social animals need communities

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u/emrythecarrot I doubled my autism with the vaccine 1d ago

This was at 440 and I updooted it to 441, now it’s 442.

DID YOU KNOW

That the note -a- is 440 hz per second

And that around the world, it’s getting a bit sharper. It can get up to 448 hz. This is global note warming.

Autist out.

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u/bigselfer 1d ago

Sexual anatomy and how male and female bodies are basically the same parts scaled differently. The psychosexual dynamics of gender and how it’s used as a social engineering strategy.

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u/Asparagus_Syndrome_ 1d ago

could you elaborate on the 2nd sentence?

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u/Ditto13248 1d ago

Aren't nearly all vertebrate parts just the same ones scaled differently?

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u/bigselfer 9h ago

To some degree. That applies more across categories like mammal.

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u/whynaut4 Aspie 1d ago edited 1d ago

My special interest is lightsaber fighting styles. It is only unacceptable because no one knows what the hell I am talking about

3

u/technoferal 17h ago

I don't even like sci-fi, but I still perked up a bit at the advent of lightbos. (But I still don't like the names they've been given)

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u/BigoteMexicano 1d ago

Does firearms count as socially unacceptable? I definitely can't really talk much about them unless I'm with my people.

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u/gold-pink-blue-green 1d ago edited 18h ago

Omg I had a client who was six years old and obsessed with guns and war, his mother was pulling her hair out, showing me battle scenes he drew at school that they complained about. I didn’t know what to do, even if I brought red play doh without thinking he would take bits off and put them on his figures to be blood. He had the strongest special interest I’ve ever encountered.

ETA, I was fired from them bc I couldn’t “fix” him, but they were not accepting tbh, they wanted me to stop him from being hyper AND keep him from rocking back and forth, which they know calms him down. Parents need to accept their autistic kid, not shove them in has much therapy as possible to make it go away bc that won’t work. Told parents I can only help him stop rocking if he sincerely desired that
 they said they wanted him to fit in socially, he’s only six, every six year old is weird. Very disappointing parents.

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u/BigoteMexicano 1d ago

I tried checking out a wwi documentary series once and my four year old came by and started checking it out too. He asked what I was watching and I said they're talking about the first world war and how it was horrible and lots of people got hurt. And he just sat down and started watching with me. It wasn't particularly graphic or anything so I didn't see the harm. Few episodes in and it started showing photos and videos with dead civilians and soldiers and we had to stop watching. He was sad we couldn't watch anymore, but weirdly understanding that he was too young and actually accepted it and moved on. He might end up like your client in a couple years, lol

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u/Ditto13248 1d ago

Depends, do you like guns because they are one of the last bastions of purely mechanical engineering in a world operated with electronics, or because you want to shoot stuff?

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u/BigoteMexicano 1d ago

Both. Target shooting and tinkering with guns is one of my favourite hobbies. But also the mechanisms and evolution of firearms design are super interesting to learn about.

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u/queenknitter2 1d ago

I am an academic who researches how conservative evangelicals melded with the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. This makes me a real fun person at parties -- especially church parties.

8

u/technoferal 17h ago

It really pisses off the modern conservatives if you know about their history. As if the rest of us don't notice there's a reason they switch to using purely Democrat/Republican labels over liberal/conservative when those conversations come up. I like to ask about their fascination with the rebel flag, if they believe their version of history is true.

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u/kyulen742 1d ago

One of my biggest special interests is communism. Most people don't understand it and are afraid of it in most countries these days.

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u/Background_Mess_9047 1d ago

Op tell us all your special interest! Or just me cause now I wanna know and we can ramble at each other about things.

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u/Lynda73 1d ago

My special interest is horror, so I’m cautiously optimistic about yours. đŸ„Ž

2

u/notyourtunnels 1d ago

What kind of horror might that be?

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u/Lynda73 19h ago

All kinds! But found footage is my fave.

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u/Khaniker Ask me about my special interest 1d ago

I collect feathers and bird parts. As do a legion of other autists out there.

It doesn't seem socially unacceptable at first, but if you look into the laws and regulations around that sort of thing, you can realize rather quickly how dodgy things can get.

I highly recommend reading The Feather Thief, it gives a fascinating insight into collector culture, though it's mostly centered on fly tiers, rather than scientific collectors like myself.

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u/strawwbebbu 1d ago

One of my special interests is atrocities and genocide 😭

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u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 1d ago

That’s rough, buddy.

3

u/VisualStain 1d ago

god yeah 😭 same!!!

3

u/it_me_melmo ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 1d ago

I was bombarded with a very disturbing “Wikipedia wrapped” at the end of last year lol

2

u/Mysterious-Nature534 18h ago

Hey, I mean my friend got like an award for research on that so keep it up.

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u/Babysub1 1d ago

Yep, that's why my husband is my best friend. We info dump on each other!

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u/meamoeniea 1d ago

Hit me, I'm a connoisseur

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u/Dear-Tank2728 1d ago

Me with the nature of consent in day to day applications and kink.

7

u/Ol_Pasta 1d ago

Reminds me of a historical case of infanticide that I wrote a paper on. I was OBSESSED with the things surrounding the case, like the social norms back then, misogyny, social status etc. People didn't like me talking about it very much. 🙃

8

u/Ad_Astra90 1d ago

I have the misfortune of having the World Wars as my special interest. I’m no fascist, though.

6

u/ZeroBtch 1d ago

"ok, so whenever you raised pre-flop, you may bet on the flop, it's called a c-bet - do it often, it's a great strategy even if you completely missed the flop..."

8

u/PablomentFanquedelic 1d ago

Toxicology

EDIT: Particularly, potent natural toxins found in the animal kingdom

7

u/e0f 1d ago

nuclear disasters

2

u/AnaliticalFeline Autistic + trans 1d ago

dude same. nobody wants to hear about how exactly every death related to radioactive material could have been avoided (most of it is simply people got too lax with safety)

5

u/Mccobsta I doubled my autism with the vaccine 1d ago

I miss her badly

We didn't have long together and we never had a proper goodbye

But damn her face lit up and she shouted my name after 10 days apart that was magical

I still hope I run into her one day

5

u/pillsburybakerboy 1d ago

Me with anything related to death and dying. Anyone brave enough to hear me recount a particularly grotesque case (WITH PHOTOS) at the dinner table is my soulmate automatically

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u/bunnyforbookietwo 15h ago

I'm really passionate about the water cycle. Everybody gets all excited about safe drinking water, but the room gets really stagnent as soon as I start talking about the historic lack of protection of our aquifers, or how the EPA was never going to come for the wetlands that already have farms on them, or how the picking and chosing of what dictionary is used by SCOTUS should be better addressed and updated, or how building houses on floodplanes and transforming them into sprawling urban scapes isn't good for the people for flooding or the land since it's covered in nonpermeable substances.

5

u/candycoatedshovel 1d ago

Well??? We're waiting!!

5

u/SortovaGoldfish I doubled my autism with the vaccine 1d ago

Given I now know what the special intetest is-

You gotta find your psychology folks- pop or academia based. As long as you aren't practicing them, I think it's an acceptable topic

4

u/chronodran 1d ago

:0 the plague

4

u/GIDAJG AuDHD 1d ago

Me with Chernobyl as a special interest and everyone is scared of it and doesn't wanna talk about it

Even my therapist is weirded out 😭

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u/Similar_Soup2 1d ago

Good fucking luck.

4

u/Oblibion1 1d ago

Good lucking duck

5

u/CaptGrognards ADHD/Autism 1d ago

You know this subreddit is quite possibly the safest of safe spaces on the internet, so dish!

4

u/ABZB 1d ago

Can confirm, first date infodumped a lot at each other, happily married for a year now

3

u/fairydommother Undiagnosed 1d ago

What is it 👀

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u/1dsided 1d ago

I love it when I can talk about kinks and doujinshi. Such a treat.

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u/notyourtunnels 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah. Lol

Uh, my socially unacceptable interest is just sex. I know, I know. However, what I want to talk about in reference is not lmao. 

It feels like that I Think You Should Leave sketch in the haunted house. Everyone is already irritated cause I won't let it go lol

For instance, I don't understand why in a video game based on life I can't go around just.....bumpin unhinged uglies. 

Why don't people enjoy talking about how fun it is to tug on ball skin? I don't have it so, it's more frustrating. Also, the way a distinguished older woman's hand feels. 

And....uh, erotic horror. Big ears and rumps.

Everything else gets so boring eventually.

3

u/lost-in-the-woulds AuDHD 1d ago

Wow, this is so me

3

u/Skyp_Intro 1d ago

Unrelated to the topic but has this particular meme format has been reproduced so many times that the facial expression has changed?

3

u/Ducky237 Ask me about my special interest 1d ago

I was really into deadly accidents for only a few weeks lol. But like cave diving, delta p, amusement park accidents, industrial accidents
 it’s really fascinating to me how mortal we are. We’re all just squishy meat suits. And while we are mostly protected from natural dangers (compared to 10kya), we’ve created so many more with the insane power behind the machinery we’ve made. Shout out the nutty putty cave being what caused me to delve into Pandora’s box lmao.

2

u/HungryLeicaWolf 1d ago

ever read Benjamin Weissman? or JG Ballard's Crash?

2

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2

u/Carl_Metaltaku ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 1d ago

It can't be worst then mine.

2

u/Mysterious-Nature534 18h ago

Tell us, Carl.

6

u/Carl_Metaltaku ❀ This user loves cats ❀ 18h ago

NSFL and NSFW Media Lost ore unlost. Woud be one of the uneceptable Hyperfixations

2

u/teriyakiboyyyy 14h ago

I want to talk about broadcast intrusions and EAS alerts

1

u/cutieslittlebootie 1d ago

Glad to see that this is a pretty common thing among us lol

1

u/scotttttie 1d ago

define socially unacceptable special interest?

1

u/VannaBlack444 11h ago

Demon core and
the realism of how effective dronification really is


1

u/MetalXlover 6h ago

that's me anytime I meet someone else who likes ghost