# On becoming obsessed with something **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222 "2020-02-20T08:40:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/1 "2020-02-20T08:40:57Z")
The story of all the great artists, scientists and leaders seems to begin with being obsessed with something. Stories of “I read every book about X”, “Got up early every morning to do blah”, " Faced rejection day after day" It occurred to me this is the thing I’ve missed in my life. I’m good at lots of things but master of nothing because I’ve never felt obsessed about anything. Career wise, after some bumps in the road, things have got a lot better for me now I’m doing a job that needs a diverse mix of skills. I fell into this by luck rather than realizing this kind of role would suit me. I guess some things I wanted to discuss is whether this kind of obsession can be learned (no one can make you interested in a particular topic but can they help you become a more driven person)? Is obsession becoming less or more important – will we need specialists more going forwards or more Jacks? Feel free to take this on other tangents too, I’m not sure I have a coherent point at this time. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/2 "2020-02-20T10:08:55Z")
I find this very relatable. Personally, I’m working on being more comfortable with this aspect of my character. As in - ok, I know that I’m not ever going to have a “particular goal” that I feel like I MUST get to, and that’s because there’s quite a large number of things I could be spending my time on that are perfectly okay, interesting things to be spending time on. So I know that I won’t be successful or productive, say, striking out on my own trying to create some new exciting or interesting piece of software. Therefore - I don’t do that. Somebody **else** can be goal-person, and I’ll solve problems for them. I like solving problems for people. As for whether generalists rather than specialists are needed\* in the workplace\*, I guess my thoughts would be a) I think that people who can think creatively about a variety of things are needed now more than ever and b) if not, well then, too damn bad for the workplace! I do like people paying me money to do things, but I’m not going to let my sense of self rest on what’s convenient for being a cog in the machine - I’d rather just be me ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/3 "2020-02-20T11:03:38Z")
In _The Magic Mountain_, Thomas Mann wrote that greatness was achieved only by individuals with boundless energy, or else by those with a singular obsession. Everyone else is Hans Castorp, the book’s very average protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/4 "2020-02-20T15:52:21Z")
I think there are levels of obsession. I could say that I am obsessed with walking at least 6 miles/day - hopefully 7. If for some reason I’m not able to, it bothers me. But I think that is more of a habit. I could say that I am obsessed with boxers (dogs). We’ve had boxers for the last 17 years. I love them and will stop people walking their boxers so I can pet their dog and talk about boxers. But that obsession will never save the world! I used to be obsessed with reading and owning every Stephen King book that came out. His books in the last 10 years have been so disappointing that the obsession is no more. I sold my collection in my last rummage sale. Which at one time would have been a horrifying thought. Those are a few things that popped into my head when trying to think if I’m obsessed with anything. So obviously, I don’t have the personality to be obsessed with anything that will transform my life or anyone else’s. I sometimes think to myself there must be something I’m really good at that will make a mark in this world. But the thought passes quickly and I take the dogs for a walk! ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/5 "2020-02-20T17:08:36Z")
My obsessiveness is not a persistent attribute. I am not in an obssesive mode at the moment, but I was about three weeks ago when I spent a few days writing some code. I can go months without being in the zone, and then suddenly a project falls into my lap and that becomes my sole purpose in life. I love being in that mindset, but I am not easy-going during those times. My house becomes a mess. I don’t return calls or texts. I find excuses not to socialize. I get cranky when I am forced to step away from whatever I am doing. Sometimes my obsessions aren’t even centered around a creative endeavor. Like, all of last summer I was mildly obsessed with riding around town on my electric scooter. It was all I could talk about, think about. One day I got a flat tire and couldn’t figure out how to get the wheel off, and I became obsessed over finding a solution. It was the best summer ever, but maybe also the weirdest one. Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/6 "2020-02-20T18:51:39Z")
I wouldn’t necessarily characterize it as an obsession. I’d say it was an intense and driving passion, at least in most cases. There are people who have determination and the will to work hard and do so for hours every day. They may be very determined, but they are not driven. The drive comes from a passion so deep that it’s part of their very sense of self. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/7 "2020-02-20T18:51:51Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > The story of all the great artists, scientists and leaders seems to begin with being obsessed with something. > > Stories of “I read every book about X”, “Got up early every morning to do blah”, " Faced rejection day after day" > > It occurred to me this is the thing I’ve missed in my life. Its true that most people who are at the very top of their field are probably obsessed with it. You don’t become a gold medal Olympic skier unless you really, really like to ski. But why do you have to be the very top of some field. Sure you won’t be a world famous writer, win a nobel prize or hike from Gibraltar to the Berring straight. But neither will most people. There is nothing wrong with having a well rounded personality and enjoying the things you enjoy in moderation. For a number of years I was obsessed with mathematics, I loved thinking about it learning about it and doing it. I eventually got a PhD in statistics. For the last couple of years of my Dissertation, all I did was eat, sleep and do math. If I wasn’t previously obsessed with math, I would have burned out. But after it was done, my craving was satisfied. I still really enjoy math but I no longer feel quite as devoted to it, and all in all that is probably a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/8 "2020-02-20T19:23:58Z")
Moi? I don’t wanna talk about it! The fresh Air makes me Wither like I’m stuck in a ton of sand! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/9 "2020-02-20T20:29:58Z")
The person that comes to mind as far as obsessions go is John Laroche, the main character in _The Orchid Thief_. Susan Orlean describes his mercurial list of passions early on in the book: > [@](#): > > \*He says he was a weird kid. This is not hard to believe. When he wanted a pet, he bought a little turtle, then bought ten little turtles, then tried to breed them, then started selling turtles to other kids, then decided his life wasn’t worth living unless he acquired one of every species of rare turtle, including a three-hundred-pound exotic tortoise from the Galápagos Islands. > > Suddenly, another passion seized him. He became immersed in late-Ice Age fossils. Then he dropped turtles and Ice Age fossils and became obsessed with lapidary, and then after a while he dropped lapidary and got into collecting and resilvering old mirrors. His passions boil up quickly and end abruptly, like tornadoes. Usually, the end is accompanied by a dramatic pronouncement. > > When he was in his teens, he went through a tropical-fish phase, and he had sixty fishtanks in his house. He even went skin-diving for the fish himself. Then the end came. He didn’t merely lose interest in collecting fish: he renounced it, as if he had kicked a habit. He declared that he would stop collecting fish forever. He also declared that he would never set foot in the ocean again. That was fifteen years ago. He lives a few miles from the Atlantic, but he has not gone near it since.\* By the end of the book, Laroche swears off collecting orchids…and pretty much having anything to do with plants at all. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/10 "2020-02-20T22:03:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I love being in that mindset, but I am not easy-going during those times. My house becomes a mess. I don’t return calls or texts. I find excuses not to socialize. I get cranky when I am forced to step away from whatever I am doing. Wow, you sound exactly like me. Except for the bit about being good at something. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/11 "2020-02-21T08:17:17Z")
As Dave Barry wrote: “_There is a very fine line between “hobby” and "mental illness_.” ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/12 "2020-02-21T09:10:27Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > As Dave Barry wrote: “_There is a very fine line between “hobby” and "mental illness_.” But that’s the thing: the message nowadays seems to be that you _should_ be like that. That if you were to struggle to think of anything that you’ve reached that level of obsession on, it means you lack drive and you’ll never be successful. Most of the motivational messages seem to boil down to this. Sent from my Redmi 5A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/13 "2020-02-21T13:43:36Z")
Back when I was a prof, being obsessed about ones research was a plus. You just dove into a problem and stayed with it for days, weeks, at a time. Thinking about it nearly every waking second. You get so immersed that your intuition\* as to which direction to try next can get really, really good. And wonderful stuff ensues. Or you’ve got nothing and wasted a chunk of time. (Failure is just normal. Not even 1 in 10 of the “wonderful ideas” I got panned out. Just go on to the next one. 40+ research papers and 6-digit citations says I did okay.) Now that I’m retired, I can barely get a little focused on something for a few days. - Which, for me, is just a way to refer to chunks of my brain that are not consciously communicating with the main train of thought. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/14 "2020-02-21T15:06:28Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > But that’s the thing: the message nowadays seems to be that you _should_ be like that. > That if you were to struggle to think of anything that you’ve reached that level of obsession on, it means you lack drive and you’ll never be successful. So…if you obsess about not being able to find anything you obsess over, you’re sick? That explains a lot about our society. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/15 "2020-02-21T16:18:02Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > But that’s the thing: the message nowadays seems to be that you _should_ be like that. > That if you were to struggle to think of anything that you’ve reached that level of obsession on, it means you lack drive and you’ll never be successful. > > Most of the motivational messages seem to boil down to this. > > Sent from my Redmi 5A using Tapatalk I think the message that has been pushed is that passion is necessary for success. I don’t think passion and obsession are the same thing though. Obsession is passion kicked up a few notches. I don’t think passion is necessary for success. I think a person can do well in a field just as long as they like it well enough. I also think there is a point at which hungering for passion can be detrimental. Like, most entry level positions simply aren’t enjoyable. It can take years of drudgery before someone starts liking their work. So a person who needs to feel love for their work to stay committed to it probably won’t last very long in that field. Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/16 "2020-02-21T19:24:37Z")
When I was in a GATE parent support group, the school psychologist told us that obsession was linked to giftedness. Certainly true for me. That’s why I have 6,000 SF books. In third grade my daughter obsessively did math sheets - maybe 100 before she was through. Luckily not bad enough to screw up our lives. I can control it now by remembering that I have only so many years to live, so buying stuff I’ll never get to is pointless. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/17 "2020-02-22T18:26:40Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > But that’s the thing: the message nowadays seems to be that you _should_ be like that. > That if you were to struggle to think of anything that you’ve reached that level of obsession on, it means you lack drive and you’ll never be successful. > > Most of the motivational messages seem to boil down to this. What’s motivating about that? Also from Dave Barry’s list (number 11): “_You should not confuse your career with your life_.” As Monstro and ftg said upthread, it’s a state of concentration in which you make something your sole purpose for weeks at a time. IMO, a lot of people who are probably never going to experience that (outside of depression) are often good at keeping a group endeavor running smoothly. If we’ve learned anything from certain movies, it’s that it takes both kinds of people to get a job done right. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/18 "2020-02-22T18:39:32Z")
I get obsessed with things over the months and years. Anywhere from a couple weeks to maybe 3 or so years. Right now it’s computational fluid dynamics. I’ve learned to treat it as an advantage, a work mode that gets me valuable places. In the past I have thought of it as an out of balance character flaw, but in more recent years have honed working with my strengths. As a serial obsessionist, I imagine that people who do NOT do this would have advantages in being more predictable, more steady, more able to keep performing in the same area and build a solid reputation for that, and more versatile because in the moment they are more free to enjoy and be interested in a variety of things. It definitely has its disadvantages as a burden. From the perspective of all the things I’m not obsessed about at the moment, it must seem like I’m away at summer camp or in the hospital or in jail or something. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/19 "2020-02-23T02:45:28Z")
The concept of passion and obsession has many directions it can take. My screen play/ novel is based on the concept that passionate obsessed people tend to work on a higher level where money is not the main motivator. In the novel we create a social media site with unique features that give the average person more opportunities to find things he or she might become passionate about. I call that " Fertile ground". In the novel this social media phenomina mushrooms and suddenly big business finds they can’t compete with them. I like to refer to it as the mechanism by which " The Meek inherit the earth". ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222/20 "2020-02-25T00:33:54Z")
I have always envied people who not just had obsessions but lasting ones, ones that provide them with an identity, a career, and a reason to get up in the morning for their whole lives. They just get more experienced, more wise in their profession, more respected, over the course of their lives. My dad, for example, wanted to be a newspaperman from junior high school. He spent his whole, successful by any standards, life, in journalism. My daughter-in-law always wanted to be a teacher from grade school on. A friend of mine was a professional horsewoman her whole life, and although retired is still excited about the new filly she is bringing on. Me, I’m more like the Orchid Thief guy (a great read by the way). Although my obsessions tend to revolve around only a few axes – the arts, animals, plants, and mysticism – they have beginnings and ends, sometimes quite abrupt ends that I didn’t see coming. But they always end, and when they are over I am left with a voluminous knowledge and set of connections and skill set and a library and a complete blank space where my fascination was. I don’t know why this is, just that it is. I agree with the OP that the ideal of this society is a person with a one-track mind. My mind doesn’t have one track and probably most people’s doesn’t either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-becoming-obsessed-with-something/848222.md?page=2)