Is normal to not want to miss any details in any and everything?

First off, let me say that this is not the traditional "FOMO" that you're familiar with, it's more like the fear of not being aware of or understanding every tiny bit of information I encounter. Weird right? I have a peculiar addiction or condition of being immeasurably curious. All I care for is discovering and learning, more specifically I covet sedulously evaluating every piece of information there is on this earth.

Some examples:

I find myself opening three or more Wikipedia article from just one. It happens every time I go on there, and it continues until I either reach the end of the subject, or I force myself to finally stop after investing at minimum an hour and a half on there.

As of typing this I have, 1,270 (mainly educational) videos in my watch later playlist on YouTube. These videos are spread across many topics, ranging anywhere from art to zoology. It should be noted that approximately ~300-500 of these videos are dedicated to music alone. Various genres of course. Let's not forget that I want to read at least 20 comments and the replies on each video.

I look up every word I hear or read that I don't 100% understand, words that I may or may not have known since I was a child but wasn't fully sure what they meant (even though I could've guessed) or forgot. I cannot watch a movie, a TV show, or consume any form of media without pausing or stopping at least 10 times to define words that I may or not've known.

And with all this going on I've been learning Celtic and Germanic languages, and I'm thinking of getting into learning a Slavic language.

I wish I could manipulate or live outside of time so that I had the necessary "extra-demensional time"to do everything conceivable. I would use this "Extrademtime" (lol) to go back in time for instance, to witness the very first sea creature leave the ocean and permanently settle on land and observe how it will eventually evolve into many species and much later humans. I'd watch the neanderthals live and discover how and why they died. I would use "Extrademtime" to live amongst our ancestors, to understand things the way they did, to understand the truth and fathom the logic behind every segment of mythology and theology. To read through every book that was ever written, to listen to every song ever made. I would very slowly close the gap between unknown history and known history. In short, I want to learn of every single thing that has occurred on this planet, even the smallest, most infinitesimal things that I haven't typed. Though, I am aware my brain has limits and this would be impossible to fully record without some form of technology, I just wanted to alliterate my voraciousness for knowledge and enlightenment.

I can't remember when I became this inquisitive, but the Worst part is that I fear I have slight amnesia. For example after a long day of reading, watch, listing, and trying to understand various things I'll sleep heavy (like I do every day) and by the next day when I'll wake up I can't remember a vast amount of what I researched, maybe ~40% of what I consumed I cannot remember. I can only remember certain things. I keep depositing hours of time into researching, but I can't retain it. Sometimes, I even find myself redefining words I previously have only a few days later. This is about the absolute worst thing that can happen to someone like me. Who knows, maybe I'm feeding my brain too much in to little time.

I wish there were a way to control or limit my curiosity. It's starting to get redundant and useless since my memory is getting poorer too. I don't know how to quit, and everyday it gets worse, but concurrently I'm in pure anguish every time I think about and acknowledge the fact that I will die knowing there is more to be explored and understood.
I need this to stop. I don't even know why I care for the many things I'm curious about. I wish there were something like an AA-like meeting for this, so I could discuss this strange ailment.

TL;DR: I'm inexhaustibly curious about everything, I've a fear of missing out on the tiniest of details no matter what they are. I spend all of my time researching things that I shouldn't even care about. I don't have enough time for life. I consider my extreme curiosity an addiction or condition that needs attention, and I have memory issues that are probably a side effect of my research sessions.

So after all that and even though I probably know the answer to this question, I'm going to ask it anyway. Is it normal?

Voting Results
80% Normal
Based on 5 votes (4 yes)
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Comments ( 31 )
  • Ummitsstillme

    Your tl;dr is tl;dr

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    • Sorry about that. lol

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  • IShaveMyBallsWithALawnmower

    Oh, it's you again Hans.

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    • I'm not Hans.

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  • JellyBeanBandit

    You remind me of me, though I wouldn't be to that extreme. But yeah, there's lots of different things I'm curious about and that I want to learn. Although I'd only want to learn the basics of them all really, I don't need to learn every little detail. If you really enjoy learning all of it then there's nothing wrong with it really. If you don't really enjoy it, but you're just doing it because you feel you need to, then you should try to reduce it.

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    • Boojum

      Having some idea of what you don't know is just as valuable as knowing stuff.

      These days, knowledge is so easily accessible that I think what you really need is a solid understandings of the basics of everything from French cuisine to domestic plumbing to cosmology. If you have some sort of sketchy understanding of things, that will give you a better idea of where to start looking for detailed information if you should ever need it.

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  • Cuntsiclestick

    Hi Hans. Fancy meeting you here again.
    :)

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    • Who/what is Hans? I tried looking it up but only found the meme but it doesn't make sense, please explain.

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      • Cuntsiclestick

        Sorry about that. There's a guy on here that makes really long posts about himself and this seemed like something he'd write.

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        • Oh, ok.

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  • nikkiclaire

    You don't get paid by the word here.

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    • LOL sorry for being so wordy.

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      • nikkiclaire

        I guess your title promised as much, so that's as far as I got 😂😂 it's ok. I don't read super long stuff.

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  • paramore93

    Are you me from another dimension?

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    • What?

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      • paramore93

        I could have written this, it's my exact thoughts. It freaked me out a little.

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        • I don't think I'm you, afaik I've never been to another dimension.

          Would you care to tell me about some of your experiences?

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          • paramore93

            I wouldn't know where to start.

            The definition thing - I'm constantly looking up words that I already know but I have to know exact definitions. A week later I've forgotten the exact definition and I'm in a constant loop. I even looked up the definition of definition. I know what it means but wanted exact words and origins.

            What you said about time and going back to watch how everything evolved into the world today, that's my exact train of thought 24/7. That's why I got into geology and archaeology, the tiniest of discoveries can give so much insight into the ancient past. Put the tiny discoveries and patterns together and you have big discoveries.

            I can't just think, I need to research every thought, every thought that branches from those thoughts and how they're connected. It's like a pathological need to understand everything. Every tiny detail that's analysed pushes something out of my mind and it's never ending. Information overload. I think it drives the people around me crazy.

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            • My doppelgänger, is that you? lol, kidding aside I think we need help. What do you think of this:

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_personality_disorder#Millon's_subtypes

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  • Boojum

    Hello again, Hans.

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    • Who's Hans?

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      • Boojum

        I apologise for my mistake. You do sound rather like him, though.

        I think the last time Hans was seen in these parts, he was explaining at great length in a series of posts the tenets of his new religion and how it took the best bits of all other faiths and made something much better. I assumed Hans had evolved from the spiritual realm and moved into the intellectual.

        As for your basic question, the answer is no, you're not normal at all. But I'm pretty sure you realise that already. Many people are content to stop actively learning when they leave school. Others (like me) have a few topics that interest them, whether for professional reasons or out of personal curiosity, and they focus on those.

        A few centuries ago, it was possible for a person to know everything there was to know. Trying to be a modern-day Renaissance man is a fool's errand, since knowledge is constantly expanding.

        What you describe is a compulsion, and one that's now causing you some distress and a sense of failure, rather than being a source of enjoyment and a feeling of achievement. I'd suggest you might consider seeing professional advice.

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        • nikkiclaire

          Yeah theres actually paragraphs in this one. I still didn't read it. Come to think, your response was too long as well.

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          • Boojum

            That's amusing, Nikki.

            My initial, three word response above has to be the shortest reply I've ever written here. I was quite proud of myself, and now you've spoilt it.

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            • nikkiclaire

              Sorry booj 😊

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  • JD777

    Meh. Kinda boring.

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  • IceRed

    How does this have negative 14 comments

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