Poll Do You Obsessively Research What You Don't Understand?

[Friday]

Feeding the elephants child is my favorite hobby.

But it's more impulsive, less compulsive. Could live 1000 lifetimes & never learn all I wish to.

 

[Ronin]

Short answer, yes.
Or I research how to research, if I don't have the answers I better get how to get to them later.
Curiosity = one of my most cherished traits, in self and others.

 

[darrenS]

Nope.

I stopped when I realized that much of what I was researching wasn't giving me any real answers. It was just a method to increase my madness. Now I work on simply trying to accept things as they are rather than figure everything out. I have a very obsessive mind so this ends up working out for me.

i tend to agree with Solara on this, i do research things but at the same time , i stay very focused on whats important. Researching to me takes two streams , i research the things i enjoy like art , and technology. The other stream is my health and im very careful when doing research as you can overdo it and drive yourself crazy, or create unnecessary stress. I tend to find the issues that interest me and then share them with mentors , therapists and doctors, getting a full and balanced view and ensuring that i am not getting sucked in to an endless vortex of indesicive answers or thoughts

 

[WhisperingUnicorn]

I stopped when I realized that much of what I was researching wasn't giving me any real answers. It was just a method to increase my madness. Now I work on simply trying to accept things as they are rather than figure everything out.

I go in cycles/waves .. depends on *what* I'm researching .. if it's interpersonal/spiritual, I tend to soak up like a sponge .. if it's world events or medical type issues, I have to be VERY careful or it can really create anxiety! I still "obsess" but try to pull back when I feel anxious ..

~S2B

 

[Kintsugi]

@richter scale My memory is wonky like that as well. I remember things I've learned through reading or speech easily, but I cannot remember interpersonal interactions nearly as well as fact-based conversations. Like, you can say, "Remember when I told you I was shy when I was little?" and I would, but if you say, "Remember when I was upset at my boyfriend the other day?" I probably will not.

Rules, statistics, and raw facts stick really well, and I can often quote verbatim. Emotional states, familial conversations, future hopes/projected goals, anecdotes... those don't stick at all, it seems. Also, facts about myself do not stick well. Most things that I'm supposed to remember for me pertaining directly to my life escape me. My co-worker once told me 3-4 times in an hour that I was off the next day, and every time it was like new information to me. Conversely, I once read a paragraph I was supposed to print out and bring to class. I forgot to bring the paragraph, but instead I copied it by hand verbatim save for one word, for which I used the incorrect inflection.

Interesting stuff!

 

[Nighthawk]

It seems I think if I try find another 10 articals or answers maybe the secret answer will be revealed. Or maybe my dumb brain will click and understand it. Pffft I do it all the time. Not even always for myself.

 

[WhisperingUnicorn]

Maybe this is a little "chicken vs. egg" kinda thing ..

Do I research obsessively (wee bit OCD -- need to know/control every outcome) all or in part because of past trauma? Or am I (have I been) more vulnerable to the effects of past trauma because I have this need to know/control every outcome? Hmmmm....

*pots to thunder*

 

[Nam]

I'd be embarrassed to have you guys look into my kindle library. It's filled with all kind of non-fiction. However, I don't obsessively research for things that I simply don't understand. I have to have an interest. It could be because my child is sick, or I have a funny rash, or I can't freaking mix hot pink color for a painting. So I casted the middle vote. But, it's actually somewhere between the first and second option.

As to whether I retain it is questionable. I tend to remember things I want to remember. This is good and bad. This is one of the reasons why my hubs and I discuss things over instant messaging. I know that many of you are probably shaking your head on that, but it gets right down to the nitty gritty. What exactly do you mean? And there's a record of what was said. I'm embarrassed at some of them. What I thought I "read" and instead it meant something else entirely but I wasn't "reading" the words. Or things I thought about but didn't say (type). Yeah, Nam, those don't count.

I will research medical stuff until it gets to chemistry. Then I'm lost. (I took college chem and bio chem but obviously I didn't want to remember it! ;) ) With everything else, it's a "need to know" basis.

 

[Friday]

Killer bathroom reading :D ... Speaking of libraries



Dead Link Removed

 

[The Albatross]

No and what little I do is not obsessively or compulsively.

 

[Neverthesame]

I wonder why this is? Seems like I am not alone in being the research all things category.

Did some thinking on this. I believe that I do this for a couple of reasons.
- Keeps my mind occupied with something other than the same unpleasant thoughts over & over. (avoidance)
- A general and not wholly unwarranted suspicion of the truthfulness of information given by a particular source. ie: (Health concerns, medications and their positive/adverse effects ect, ect.)
- General interest. (I also just enjoy learning new things.)

 

[falling_wave]

I like this poll. I can spend extreme amounts of time researching things I don't understand especially when they have something to do with what I am feeling. I cannot rest until I feel like I have all the information and understand it. Sometimes when I'm feeling bad research is actually a comfort for me as weird as that sounds.