7odd, I kind of have the same mentality that you do. I love to research things and obsess over things that interest me. As for how I come up with my thoughts and theories, I usually end up taking what the questions raised and then see what evidence is out there that might lead to a conclusion and then form a theory around that evidence. Plus I'm always thinking about what works best from a story perspective. There can usually be a lot of explanations for a question but if an idea doesn't move the story along in a logical way that's consistent with what came before I tend to discount it as a probable explanation.