Childhood Deprived Experiences=Future Passion?

[YoungGuns]

I just got done listening to a Neil deGrasse Tyson interview. In it, he talked about how when he was a kid and lived in the Bronx he thought that there were only a few stars since that's all that can be seen there. Since it was out of sight, it was out of mind. Then, traveled to the country when he was 11, which has a great visibility of stars. From that moment on, he was fascinated and knew stars was what he was going to study throughout his life. He specifically mentioned that if he grew up always seeing a bunch of stars that he probably would have never been fascinated with them.

I was thinking about how this concept applied to my life. I grew up in a family prettymuch devoid of good humor. They were either too serious minded, stuck up, or simply not intelligent enough to understand most humor. I still have to be humorless around almost my entire family (except maybe an aunt). However, around friends I can be very goofy, arguably funny, and somewhat irreverent; I become an very but not completely different person. Pretty much all the TV/videos I watch are either comedy standup/nightly comedy shows, science, or a few comedy sitcoms I watch mainly while eating.

I'm thinking one of the reasons I may be so interested and enjoy being funny is because it's weird to me since I never really experienced much of it as a child. There's the obvious aspect of it getting people to like me that probably plays a greater role, but still.

 

[snafupants]

Perhaps these conjectures should be collectively called the Michael Jackson hypothesis?

 

[Proletar]

Would also explain most peoples absurd fixation for sex. (Not me, though. I got laid tons as a child.)

 

[nanook]

same for me. not about humor. about being reflexive and sharing it. my parents don't do that at all. they are old school, 2nd world war generation, like japanese, don't even display a personal ego, they just 'function'. i value my potential of being reflexive and sharing it more, than average people and i utilize it to the max. and my ability at that may still seem poor in contrast to that of people who come from a family, where being reflexive is standard, is taken for granted and where the potential isn't fully utilized (boomer hippies from boulder). can't tell if idiot or gifted specialist.

 

[Architect]

Yes that can happen, a danger however is neuroticism can develop around it. It often happens that childhood interest can stick with a person the rest of their life. In N. Tysons example it is both. He didn't get the stars as a kid, so when he saw them he was fascinated. Probably got some books on them the next week, and at any rate that interest he developed as a kid stuck with him.

I developed a lot of interests as a kid, but one of them (computers) stuck with me. Additionally I was 'computer starved', I never could afford much in the way of computers. Now as an adult I'm obsessed with them. My kid loves them too, and he isn't suffering for lack. I'm curious how he'll grow up, he's already planning on being an engineer, which can change, but in this case he seems pretty serious.

With jobs and childhood it seems there are two types. One are the kids that grow up with compatible parents (S-S or N-N). S-S combinations are often when you see the parents with a family blue collar business (fishing, building, etc) and the kids just naturally take it up. On the N-N side I've seen it with academic families. In either case those people tend to have successful careers. It's easy when you grow up thinking it's natural to own a business or to get a PhD.

This is a contributing reason to why INTP's have difficulty in careers I think. I hypothesize that INTP's more often grow up with opposing parents (S), as it was in my case. For us then it can be difficult to both find acceptance for finding an appropriate career (my parents couldn't wrap their head much around getting a PhD) and thereafter.

 

[pjoa09]

I have to agree.

I stared at my parents and bus driver drive manual transmission vehicles keenly and never got to drive them myself. I ended up being the first of the siblings to get a license and drive on a daily basis. I still am seriously obsessed with cars, it effects my life negatively. I have also gotten into go-karting for that reason although it seems I am more into the designing of a car. Looking at a gear knob for me is like looking at a glass of whiskey on a table top in a bar. It's a fucking good photo.

I also used to jealously stare at my brother play Sim Farm,NFSII, and GTAII as a child and now I have to stay away from game consoles and high end computers. I can't let it eat me again. I once played GTA for two days straight without sleeping.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I have to agree.

I stared at my parents and bus driver drive manual transmission vehicles keenly and never got to drive them myself. I ended up being the first of the siblings to get a license and drive on a daily basis. I still am seriously obsessed with cars, it effects my life negatively. I have also gotten into go-karting for that reason although it seems I am more into the designing of a car. Looking at a gear knob for me is like looking at a glass of whiskey on a table top in a bar. It's a fucking good photo.

I also used to jealously stare at my brother play Sim Farm,NFSII, and GTAII as a child and now I have to stay away from game consoles and high end computers. I can't let it eat me again. I once played GTA for two days straight without sleeping.

It was the opposite for me. I would be sitting in the front seat next to my dad when he would take his hands off of the wheel and tell me to take over. I was not thrilled. I have been exposed to driving from an early age, and don't really enjoy it or want to do it now.

 

[Puffy]

Seems reasonable. I'm obsessed with creativity and reflexiveness (as Nanook called it) now in large part because it was absent from my family/ hometown growing up.

Perhaps there's an extent to which some blame their problems on what they lack/ed, and so pursue careers in them thinking it has the answers.

 

[YoungGuns]

Yes that can happen, a danger however is neuroticism can develop around it. It often happens that childhood interest can stick with a person the rest of their life. In N. Tysons example it is both. He didn't get the stars as a kid, so when he saw them he was fascinated. Probably got some books on them the next week, and at any rate that interest he developed as a kid stuck with him.

I developed a lot of interests as a kid, but one of them (computers) stuck with me. Additionally I was 'computer starved', I never could afford much in the way of computers. Now as an adult I'm obsessed with them. My kid loves them too, and he isn't suffering for lack. I'm curious how he'll grow up, he's already planning on being an engineer, which can change, but in this case he seems pretty serious.

Personal

I can't believe I didn't post about computers instead of humor. I've had a bunch of little obsessions, but computers have not been one I've ever let off of ever since I had home access to one. We didn't have a home computer until I was 13 or so, which was just about 7 years ago. I had been awed by using computers ever since our school got a computer lab when I was in second grade, although I was way behind my peers in computer literacy. Once the family got a computer, I was on it prettymuch at all times that someone else wasn't. Now, I practically live on the internet.

I will say that my obsession with computers is mainly in using them as a medium to get information and socialize, although I usually choose computers over books nowadays. I am taking a Java progamming class that I somewhat enjoy, but I was never completely self motivated to learn that stuff. Not yet, at least.

Not so Personal-Important Point

I think it's important to make an obvious note that this hypothesis of childhood deprivations=future obsessions probably only apply to stuff that you had an aptitude for to begin with. I was completely deprived of watching sports on TV as a kid (as well as playing, but that's not as absolute as watching on tv was). To this day, I've never watched televised sports and have no interest in doing so.

 

[Da Blob]

I think it is a "Power Trip" to a certain extent.

For some, just telling them, "You can't do that..." creates a desire to do that very thing denied.

For others, it is a matter of a long-anticipated opportunity, manifesting (perhaps for a limited time)

I think it is a good policy to state to children "You can not do that -Yet" with the accompanying concept of opportunity as a temporary event that must be taken advantage of during its brief appearance.

A child's answers to the hypothetical "When I grow up...", can establish goals for a lifetime...

 

[pjoa09]

It was the opposite for me. I would be sitting in the front seat next to my dad when he would take his hands off of the wheel and tell me to take over. I was not thrilled. I have been exposed to driving from an early age, and don't really enjoy it or want to do it now.

Yeah, the opposite seems to have an inverse effect. I have grown predisposed to hate soccer and math for the very same reason. I was forced into an 8 a.m soccer club during the summers and have had involuntarily been taught math by tutors.

Although now math is starting to become interesting as it's no longer in my face.

 

[DeadonDreaming]

I mostly stayed inside and played computer games. I grew up in a really bad part of Los Angeles, and my parents wouldn't let me go very far from my house, and my neighbor just played video games all day, so...


Maybe that is why I'm fascinated with the question , "Why do people do what they do?"

 

[The Gopher]

When I was young I wanted to unicycle and play violin.... I now unicycle and am learning violin....

Not sure if it translates directly but I found I actually do better and stick at things that I always wanted to do when I was younger.

 

[Architect]

Maybe that is why I'm fascinated with the question , "Why do people do what they do?"

In what sense, in terms of work?

 

[NinjaSurfer]

Lol I grew up always admiring the slackers from afar
Now I am one of them
Fist pump

 

[redbaron]

I wasn't made to do any household chores or get a job until I was 18. Once I got a job though, I worked harder (and enjoyed it) than anyone I know. I enjoy my job and I actually like going to work. Mostly though I think this a combination of the people I work with (actually a lot of intuitive people).

Although I work hard, I can do it in my own manner and people at my work are always up for a laugh. My supervisor and I often find certain things mutually hilarious, and we can crack up for minutes at a time over something one of us says.

I don't know if there's a connection between me being possibly the laziest student/child ever and me being the hardest/most dedicated worker, I always felt as though chores and school-work were just stupid. With work I actually see benefit in what I'm doing and enjoy doing it - which seems to be more relevant.