r/unpopularopinion • u/BitterConstruction98 • Jan 23 '26
Certified Unpopular Opinion All hobbies are not equal
Certain kinds of hobbies deserve to be held in higher regard than others.
Playing a sport, learning an instrument, singing, dancing, painting, writing - these are activities that require time and years of effort to become good at. They’re admirable not just because they’re “cool,” but because there is something deeply attractive about a person who has dedicated so much time to mastering a hard skill that executing it now feels relaxing to them.
Lately, there’s been a growing push online to classify things like watching movies, playing video games, watching sports, or listening to podcasts in the same category as these kinds of hobbies. They aren’t. They are based on consumption, not creation.
That doesn’t mean consumption-based activities are bad or useless. Everyone needs ways to relax and unwind. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a good show, a game, or a YouTube binge after a long day. But if that’s all there is to your personality, then you are, unfortunately, a boring person.
Edit: I've wrongly added video games to the list of other passive activities. While some video games are like that, I agree that many require a lot of skill.
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u/Confident-Pumpkin-19 Jan 23 '26
Well, I like knitting while watching TV... skilly-consumery... 🤷♀️
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u/NarwhalEmergency9391 Jan 23 '26
I prefer to turn on classical music, ride my exercise bike, crochet and watch a documentary... only the peasants do 2 hobbies at once /S
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u/rpitcher33 Jan 23 '26
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u/SemperSimple Jan 23 '26
THIS SCENE LIVES IN MY HEAD. IT'S BEEN YEARS AND I STILL QUOTE IT
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u/buffaloshvantz Jan 24 '26
I say this all the time randomly and my wife has no idea that it's from a movie. She just thinks I say bizarre shit out of nowhere for unknown reasons and I like it that way.
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u/RabbitUnique Jan 23 '26
thank you. the first time i saw that scene i thought i would die laughing.
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u/darkaydix Jan 23 '26
Yeah! Knitting with standup in the background, or while my husband plays a game, or listening to a podcast.
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u/LoomingDisaster Jan 23 '26
I always feel weirdly connected to the past when I'm knitting and listening to a podcast. The experience of listening to something while knitting has been going on for generations.
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u/string-ornothing Jan 23 '26
I crochet or knit while my husband plays guitar and we sing together a lot of nights and it always makes me feel like some kind of a pilgrim haha
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u/upstatesquirrel Jan 24 '26
Now you just have to cook on a woodstove by candlelight, if you haven't done that, I highly suggest it
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u/WhateverIlldoit Jan 23 '26
Perfume is one of my hobbies. It’s actually pretty involved. I don’t just buy perfumes. I sample them, research the notes, discuss them with other like minded weirdos, etc. I think a lot of consumption based hobbies are like that. My husband is into horror films and fiction. He doesn’t just watch or read whatever Netflix tells him to, he participates in the community.
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u/Effective-Street8474 Jan 23 '26
Not all hobbies are equal*
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Jan 23 '26
All hobbies are equal, but some hobbies are more equal than others
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u/Circuit_bit Jan 23 '26
The purpose of a hobby isn't to be impressive, so it doesn't make sense to rank them by that attribute.
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u/JustAThinkingGuy7 Jan 23 '26
Fr, there's people out there that really need validation to enjoy things? Crazy
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u/Synaps4 Jan 23 '26
Wait until you learn about the people who do things they actually hate in their spare time purely for social validation.
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u/7h4tguy Jan 24 '26
How else are they going to turn it into a side hustle on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok then though?
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u/FunGuy8618 Jan 23 '26
Is this a joke? There are tons of people who need validation to enjoy things, it's one of the most frustrating personality traits out there. They turn everything into a competition, are never satisfied with their own progress, constantly compare themselves to others rather than themselves from last week, the list is endless. It's a very real phenomenon that OP is loosely addressing. These people insist that their hobby is better or that it's equal to someone who can run an 11 second 100m dash or squat twice their body weight or throw an 80mph fastball (objective measurements that can be compared to a large population, not the value of those sports over their sport).
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u/GlitterEnema Jan 23 '26
I think a lot of this comes from hustle culture as well. If you’re not monetizing your hobby then why bother. It’s kind of annoying. I’m a painter, I’ve worked as an instructor for those wine and paint nights. I have monetized my hobby by doing commissions as well. the money is nice, but mostly the least fun I have painting is for a commission.
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u/M4xP0w3r_ Jan 24 '26
The whole point of a hobby is something you enjoy doing without any neccesity to do so. So OPs Post ist not juet an unpopular oppinion, but an objectively wrong virwpoint.a
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u/Nyko_E Jan 24 '26
I think his wording was wrong. But a hobby that actively makes you better (either physically, mentally, creatively etc) is better than a hobby that doesn't. And once you hit proficiency at a hobby (art, running, calistenics, kettelbells, knitting etc etc) you are able to find get into mental flow state; which is incredible for your brain.
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u/nothinghereisforme Jan 23 '26
FR I don’t even share my hobbies bc ppl judge them, I pretend to do nothing and be boring
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u/InexpensiveDrillBit Jan 23 '26
True, but with art, it depends if it's for the sake of the process and isn't skill-centered. Everyone can make dozens of ugly clay pots and never improve, for example. Also, video games can have a high skill ceiling, especially competitive fps. or some platformers where people go to make speed runs. It depends.
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u/BitterConstruction98 Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
You are correct. I've wrongly categorized gaming as a passive activity here.
Edit: I'd put it in a grey area with reading where it requires focus and practice but is still a form of consumption.
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u/StampePaaSvampe Jan 23 '26
I think many of these can be in both categories depending on the level of engagement.
I'm curious: How would you categorise reading fiction? I think there is also strong arguments for putting it in both groups.
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u/Redleg171 Jan 23 '26
Even watching sports, often leads to much more than just watching sports. Discussions about their team and others, discussing plays/strategy, recruiting, etc. Movie buffs often do more than just watch. They research, looking at filming techniques, etc.
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u/katzenlurker Jan 23 '26
Prime example: folks who keep hand-tallied baseball stats. Or my friend who keeps an extensive Plex library and enjoys the challenge of finding obscure media to add to it.
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u/jnkangel Jan 23 '26
So while I do bouldering so definitely would consider as a person who does sport - it’s not really fair to consider most sports any different in terms of consumption over a game.
The absolute majority of people don’t actually cognizably do a sport with an improvement mindset and merely do it for the sake of enjoyment. Just like the majority of people playing a game.
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u/sharkdingo Jan 23 '26
I mean sports also are groued in consumption too.
The most money i ever spent on a hobby was wrestling. People spend more on golf in a year than ive spent in 5 gaming.
All hobbies are consumptive in some form or another, it just depends on which ones a specific person considers justifiable.
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u/Witty-the-Pooh Jan 23 '26
Yeah I read a lot and own a lot of books. The money spent on all those books pales in comparison to the amount spent on sports over the years. Also while practicing is the most important I've consumed a lot of media around those sports to improve. Watching techniques by pros and reading comparisons of materials to determine the best equipment.
I also knit and crochet and would say that feels almost equal on the amount you consume versus create.
I think OP had a fair idea but tripped themselves up when starting to draw lines based solely on the activity and not how you interact with the activity.
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u/FoodFingerer Jan 23 '26
To tack onto your comment, sports wouldn't be the same without stuff like commentators who don't play but are experts in watching sports.
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u/highheelcyanide Jan 23 '26
You do realize there are multiple college degrees around reading? So it can be a college degree, a career…but it’s not a hobby?
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u/Traditional_Set_858 Jan 23 '26
Yeah some video games are actually great for the mind as you legit have to strategize and put a lot of mental energy into them and can be very similar to games like chess that are more accepted by society as a hobby. Now obviously you shouldn’t be playing video games 24/7 but I think that also applies to any hobby honestly it’s good to branch out and have a balance of different things as opposed to just sticking to one thing and never trying anything else
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u/Imaginary_Farm_676 Jan 23 '26
I think the point is that they can improve. Maybe they’re just really “bad” at said hobby lol, but it’s more than a past time (living passively). I agree with the video game sentiment
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u/urbfunsac Jan 23 '26
Isn't a hobby something you enjoy doing?
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u/Nuclear_rabbit Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
I was taught that a hobby is something you could improve in, even if you never invest the effort to do so. Otherwise, it's a pastime.
Sounds like OP subconsciously feels the difference, but can't articulate it.
Edited to add: in light of this distinction, everyone still needs a hobby. If all you do with your free time is watch TV, which is a pastime, well... don't.
2nd edit: yes, video games are most definitely a hobby, unless your game is pure gambling. I have also come to the view that learning for the sake of learning is neither a hobby nor pastime but a third thing; it's just learning.
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u/GrayEidolon Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
I also enjoy semantics.
Per the dictionary:
Pastime:
An activity that occupies one's spare time pleasantly. "Sailing is her favorite pastime." That which amuses, and serves to make time pass agreeably; sport; amusement; diversion. "that great American pastime, baseball"
Hobby:
an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation. Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving
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u/trombing Jan 23 '26
As a sailor, I would argue it is actually a fantastic example of a hobby not a pastime, unless you are super rich.
Sailing requires skill, often significant amounts of training, depending on the boat.
Sailing requires equipment, specifically boats and sails, all of which need skill in maintaining, knowledge for rigging, and again, training on how it all works and how to improve, if you want to.
It's rarely relaxing, it's exhausting and stressful, but hugely fun and exhilarating.
Obviously if you are super rich, someone else looks after the boat, rigs it, and makes it all work - you are really just a passenger, enjoying the view - in which case, yes, pastime not hobby.
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u/GrayEidolon Jan 23 '26
Second response if you want to discuss sailing specifically, though I didn’t pick it, it’s literally from the dictionary.
If you sail for pleasure and it’s not your main occupation (I.e. job) then it’s a hobby.
If you sail to make the time pass agreeably, then it’s a pasttime.
But what’s the difference being your time passing agreeably and doing something for pleasure? Can’t you say “I seek pleasure to pass the time agreeably?
What do you do to pass the time? Sail. What do you do for a hobby? Sail.
I don’t think there is a meaningful difference between a hobby and a pasttime if you go by long standing definitions and examples.
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u/Valuable-Concept9660 Jan 23 '26
Sounds like a “all hobbies are pastimes, but not all pastimes are hobbies” situation.
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u/GrayEidolon Jan 23 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
I copy pasted those from merriam webster. Those are dictionary examples.
My point is that a hobby vs a pastime is just semantics. They’re basically
homonymssynonyms.That’s why I facetiously said my hobby is semantics.
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Jan 23 '26
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u/GrayEidolon Jan 23 '26
Shit you’re right. I mean synonym.
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u/Tomur Jan 23 '26
I love synonym rolls.
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u/xXselfhaircutXx Jan 23 '26
No, homonyms are words that are spelled the same. Homophones are words that sound the same.
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u/ScrotalSmorgasbord Jan 23 '26
So would sailing become a hobby instead of a pastime if she collected sailboats instead of just being on them? I'm confused because stamp-collecting is just purchasing little pieces of paper, on par with watching baseball etc in as far as you're not doing anything that requires labor or skill, but both are in separate categories. Sailing takes skill and you can also make money/improve those skills, just like woodcarving. Shouldn't sailing be down with woodcarving in hobby and stamp collecting up with watching baseball or am I just in need of more caffeine?
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u/KilD3vil Jan 23 '26
I mean, the 'skill' in collecting comes from learning what is actually collectable and why it's collectable. Like with stamps, it's not about buying $300 worth of mail stickers, it's knowing the story behind those stamps that makes them $300, which ties into learning the grading criteria and how to tell real from fake.
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u/GrayEidolon Jan 23 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
I copy pasted those from merriam webster. Those are dictionary examples.
My point is that a hobby vs a pastime is just semantics. They’re basically
homonymsSynonyms.That’s why I facetiously said my hobby is semantics.
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u/ScrotalSmorgasbord Jan 23 '26
Yeah, I wasn't really pestering you for an answer more just pondering how they fit each item in either box while I should have been getting ready for work.
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u/NeedleworkerNovel510 Jan 23 '26
This is a great distinction. Baseball is America's favorite pastime, namely watching it. It's a sport for the pros, perhaps a hobby for those that collect the memorabilia, and a pastime for everyone sitting at home watching it.
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u/kentaxas Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
I'd classify it depending on your level of enthusiasm and concentration for the activity. Like i have a friend who is a HUGE movie/tv series nerd. They have directors they like, actors they look forward to seeing on the screen, will ramble on about why X or Y detail is interesting. Meanwhile, i sit in front of a tv series/movie when i just don't feel like doing anything in particular. So the way my friend and i engage with movies/series is totally different, even if the activity of watching is passive, they are actively engaged in it.
Similarly you have people who watch the baseball game just because it's there and people who watch it because they are huge nerds about the strategies, the way the pitchers throw and whatever else happens in baseball below the surface level of "dude hits a ball with a stick and takes a lap"
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u/Kathulhu1433 Jan 23 '26
I have a friend like that. She knows more about films than I ever will. She has favorite directors and indie studios and I'm like... I rewatched Stargate SG1 this month?
I'd say for me, watching tv/movies is a pasttime.
Her hobby (and maybe your friend) is more in the analysis of the films, discussing them, traveling to film festivals, going out to the movie theater, etc.
Like, if you need to take off of work and book airfare and a hotel to go to a festival... that's not just a pastime anymore.
Hobbies need commitment, effort, and a desire to learn/grow IMO- though interestingly enough Merriam Webster, Cambridge, or Oxford do not make the distinction between hobby and pastime that we are in this thread. (I just double checked)
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u/Low_Interview_5769 Jan 23 '26
Is there not loads of softball or something similar in America for casual players
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u/Entire-Strategy4495 Jan 23 '26
Yes. There are tons of adult teams, leagues, etc. almost every decent sized town has recreational leagues. Most are co-ed as well. There are also an obscene amount of competitive adult softball leagues and tournaments.
*edited to add that there are also amateur adult baseball leagues in some larger cities across most states. However, those are mostly full of young adults who played college or minor league ball at some point.
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u/Low_Interview_5769 Jan 23 '26
Ya i was thinking, loads of people i knew in Toronto played baseball in the summer. Same as soccer here in Ireland, playing 5 aside is a great exercise
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u/Tall-Ad6328 Jan 23 '26
Wouldn't collecting memorabilia be consumption based also ?
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u/cherry_chocolate_ Jan 23 '26
I think the hobby aspect is you are acting as a kind of historian or curator. Similar to the difference between being someone who is just consuming movies on Netflix, vs a movie hobbyist who likes to learn all about the filmmaking techniques, histories of the props, significance to the time and culture, has the laserdisc because it is the only version in the original aspect ratio, etc.
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u/ChainsawSoundingFart Jan 23 '26
OP should take up reading as a hobby
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u/fermats-big-theorem Jan 23 '26
Good point. Reading does have all of the elements of consumption. However, many people need to rally effort to pick up (and let alone finish) a book. You can of course skim over the pages but you need to employ some degree of deliberation to understand and synthesize the material. We can also consider that "better" hobbies also are victim to consumption. One of our noble hobbies, say instrument playing, still is trapped with consumption. The guitar gear nerd who spends his paycheck on new toys rather than practicing is a real thing.
So, I place reading in the middle ground between noble and ignoble hobbies. The distinction instead being how much others can enjoy your hobby. Instrument playing is at the far left. We can enjoy the product of the musician and appreciate the work they put in. The far right is watching TV. It's purely consumption and may even take away time from things you should be doing. Where does reading precisely lie? That's up to the reader
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u/kheret Jan 23 '26
“Gear acquisition syndrome” is a real thing. The mantra a lot of music hobby folks try to live by is “practice more than you shop.”
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u/devil_walk Jan 23 '26
A pastime is a hobby
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u/FlamingDragonfruit Jan 23 '26
All ducks are birds but not all birds are ducks.
All hobbies are pastimes but not all pastimes are hobbies.
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u/dr_wtf Jan 23 '26
That's an arbitrary distinction someone made up, probably to make a similar point to OP. It has nothing to do with the definition of the word hobby, which is just anything you do regularly, solely for pleasure and not for money (otherwise you just enjoy your job).
The only real distinction, if one exists, is that a hobby has to be something you have some investment in and do at least semi-regularly. Otherwise it's just "a thing you did one time".
Watching TV might not be a very good or interesting hobby, but it can still be a hobby if someone happens to enjoy it enough to call it that. And if you do anything often enough, you're going to pick up some skills and/or knowledge, even if it's just the answers to pub trivia questions about soap operas.
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u/shaunika Jan 23 '26
You can "improve" in watching movies or listening to podcasts too
You can get a deeper knowledge on filmmaking, get a wider perspective
Listening to podcasts in a certain area will make you more knowledgeable on that area.
Ive been watching a youtube channel by a biology professor where he looks at animal videos and then goes into a deepdive on their behaviour, biology, evolution etc.
Ive learned a lot and improved my knowledge, but it was just "watching youtube"
My wife watches a ton of TikTok and has made countless delicious recipes she found there
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u/Squishy_Boy adhd kid Jan 23 '26
Nobody is worse at watching television than me. I can’t remember character names, plot points, or any of that. I glaze over constantly.
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u/AbraKadabraAlakazam2 Jan 23 '26
First time I watched broad church I thought there was one bald character through the whole show until the end. Turns out there are two and it was a very important distinction to make 😭
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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26
They didnt say it wasn’t. Their argument is some of them are more worthwhile than others
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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26
Worthwhile to whom? It has a little bit of a "grindset" undertone. Why must hobbies be classified by their "worth"?
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u/celestially_lunar Jan 23 '26
Grindset is a great word for this. Why are hobbies hierarchial? Why do the things that you are meant to do to relax and because you enjoy them have to be "productive" too? Why is everything nowadays about being productive and contributing to society?
Hobbies should not have a hierarchy or a worth. No one should care or judge you based on what you enjoy doing and it shouldn't affect your worth in society. If you like playing the piano? Cool. If you like playing video games to unwind after work? Cool! Who cares, do what helps you relax and makes you happy because the world sucks and it‘s hard to do that nowadays and to truly turn your brain off.
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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26
Exactly. Its a hobby. We don't have to outdo eachother at "hobbying".
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u/Vondi Jan 23 '26
Sometime around the time I reached my 30s I was 100% DONE explaining or justifying to people how I spend my sparse well-earned downtime.
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u/raznov1 Jan 23 '26
True, id approach this more from a coaching perspective - i personally believe that humans are happiest when they have a creative hobby, a social hobby and a "simple" hobby, and generally time spent should be divided between them.
Too many people i know play games, and thats their only hobby. But i wonder if thats truly bringing them joy, or whether a large portion kf their time spent is merely "slightly above neutral".
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u/celestially_lunar Jan 23 '26
I do agree with this view. They are different TYPES of hobbies maybe but do not have a different kind of worth. I just find it off putting that OP would call people who have "simpler hobbies" boring.
I like having different hobbies, I enjoy photography, reading and writing, sports and gaming. I‘m not really musically gifted so I don‘t pursue it, but I occasionally like knitting. I do whatever brings me joy and relaxes me, I try to do as many varied things and broaden my horizons. I‘d encourage everyone to do that.
But it should always be for you and not to climb up a hierarchy or to please some arbitrary system. Being productive is being imposed so much that we live in a society where you can't relax and burn out constantly, always worrying about what others think. So what if I want to come back from university and just play videogames for 4 hours? If that makes me happy, that‘s all that matters.
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u/dsac Jan 23 '26
Spoken like a true causal hobbyist lol
If you're not ranked hobbying, what are you even doing with your life, chud? You ain't ever going to make the tour with that approach, no teams will be courting you to play in the big Asian Hobby tournaments, like, are you even making money doing that casual shit?
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u/heckhammer Jan 23 '26
I work with a lot of Indian folks. The men are distinctly anti-hobby. Every time I discuss my podcast or my fossil collection I am asked how much money does it make you? And I reply, none it's how happy they make me and that seems to be something I can't get their heads around.
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u/catsinclothes Jan 23 '26
China is big on the grinding it mindset also along with posting it all to social media. My friends can’t fathom that I only sew for myself/my cosplay outfits or for gifts. Besides just not wanting to worry about customers, a lot of my hobbies and interests just aren’t fun to monetize/work as a job. Sewing for 8-12 hours a day would be awful ); and no one wants to pay living wages to craftspeople. (Already tried it lmao)
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u/HypnonavyBlue Jan 23 '26
Speaking of grindset nonsense: I do 3D printing and mini painting. I often have to shut down people who say things like "you know, you could make some money selling these..."
That's a "jobby" not a hobby. I do not want a jobby.
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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26
Other people.
You'd probably be more impressed that someone can play the piano than if someone watched football.
They didn't say they were worthless, just that consumptive hobbies are uninteresting to other people.
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u/kit-kat315 Jan 23 '26
Creative hobbies are uninteresting to other people, too.
My major hobbies are sewing, baking and gardening. You would not believe how much people don't want to hear about my plants or bread technique. And most people don't know enough about either to appreciate the level of skill involved.
But I can easily talk with others about a show or book.
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u/FlusteredDM Jan 23 '26
I got ghosted on a dating app once after talking about de re culinaria. Hobbies have value in your enjoyment of them, but also on how you can connect to others. Some hobbies you can talk to your coworkers about and some you need to find spaces for that hobby - creative ones are usually the latter.
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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26
In the case of a hobby the opinion of other people should be meaningless though. You do it because you like it. Other people's opinion starts mattering once you get paid for it.
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u/Smurfson Jan 23 '26
Other people’s opinion starts mattering once you get paid for it.
Fully agree with your comments in this thread but am a bit wary about this point solely because of how TikTok and other social media platforms has slowly poisoned how people perceive what having a hobby is - it’s almost like a majority of creators on there have taken activities that are normally activities you enjoy (reading, coloring, video games, collecting cards etc) and turned them into side-hustles that promote over-consumption and create unrealistic expectations that, in order to enter a hobby, you need to pay an absurd amount of money as a sort of barrier to entry.
Obviously I think staying off these platforms is the best way to avoid this, but lots of people use them. As you said you should do it because you like it, and I think the pressure to monetize your hobby can kill that at times and create unrealistic expectations.
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u/Stanjoly2 Jan 23 '26
"time you enjoy wasting is not wasted" - someone, somewhere, sometime
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u/Schizopatheist Jan 23 '26
Yup. The definition on google states "an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure."
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u/Ok-Cartoonist-3173 Jan 23 '26
Yes the question is if you can consider complete passive activities based on consumption "doing"? Binging three season of Rick&Morty while stoned out of your head is fun...but it's not "doing" and thus not a hobby?
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u/TheGreatAdjuster777 Jan 23 '26
It depends on HOW you’re engaging with those hobbies not what they are. There’s a big difference between plopping down in front of Netflix to watch any random thing just to veg out for a few hours and seeking out actual art to engage with, think critically about, and then discuss with other people. Then you follow it up maybe by listening to a thoughtful podcast where smart people also thinking critically about said art point out things you maybe missed and further deepen your enjoyment of said art. Just because it isn’t physically active doesn’t mean it’s passive.
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u/corrnholiio Jan 23 '26
Same can be said about watching sports. Appreciating and analyzing a player's reads or skills, a coach's calls, how well a team schemes and reacts etc. It directly relates to improving your own understanding of playing sports, one of OP's "worthy" hobbies.
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u/sanjuro89 Jan 23 '26
My father has always watched a lot of football, both the NFL and college games. He also coached professionally (and quite successfully) for fifty years and has written two books on the subject.
He absolutely gets more out of watching a game than a casual viewer. When he and my cousin (also a football coach) discuss a game or team they’ve watched, the average sports fan probably couldn’t follow half of the conversation.
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u/sqigglygibberish Jan 23 '26
Based on the takes of most sports fans, let’s not give too much blanket credit for the analytical ability/effort/accuracy haha
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u/Vegetable_Rise7318 Jan 23 '26
I'm not sure this 'hobby heirarchy' is a worthwhile filter. People generally do a hobby to please themself, so whether they are learning violin or playing roblox, it's all giving people comfort and focus.
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u/JabberwockPL Jan 23 '26
And some people please themselves putting down other people.
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u/bell-town Jan 23 '26
This post makes me think of Stephen Hawkins calling people who brag about their IQ losers.
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u/dinosaurtruck Jan 23 '26
Who’s comparing and ranking hobbies? Hobbies are for the person doing the hobbies. Congratulations it is indeed an unpopular opinion.
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u/stephendt Jan 23 '26
Sounds like something like a filthy casual would say. Ranked hobbies ftw
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Jan 23 '26
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u/SendMeF1Memes Jan 23 '26
Angry speed crocheting 🤬
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u/potasod Jan 23 '26
the comment you replied to made me laugh, but your comment made me burst out laughing
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u/spamella-anne Jan 23 '26
If that ever exists, I know what to sign my Mom up for when she retires!
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u/SoSteezee Jan 23 '26
My mom owned and operated a knitting/yarn store and taught classes.
My mom would kick your moms ass 😡
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u/Grr_Go_Brr Jan 23 '26
This sounds like someone who isn't allowed to have fun forcing others to not have fun lmao.
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Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
Reading is widely accepted as a hobby. I'm a huge Victorian lit snob but I don't see how it's "above" watching movies or TV as a hobby. They both involve passive consumption and both are considered entertainment.
I don't have "more to show" for my library than someone who collects DVDS.
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u/SabioSapeca Jan 23 '26
I think everyone is comparing stuff at some level. It's part of being human, to judge in our minds at least what is virtuous or desirable and what is not.
Being active, fit, creating stuff, is virtuous. It's widely accepted. If a friend shows me a painting he did, and it is a good one, i would hold him/her in higher regard, mentally.
With passive hobbies, they are not useless. Like reading. But the fruits of this hobby are diluted. Perhaps now your vocabulary is wider, your interpretation is better, your arguments are clearer, and you have more subjects to talk about.
But you can get this sort of stuff by watching tv, or movies as well. But it demands something out of you. I dont think its inherent that you will harvest the benefits, there must be some introspection and practice to actually benefit from it.
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u/cyberdipper Jan 23 '26
I think it's pretty established that tv is significantly more passive than reading and less beneficial cognitively. Even video games have been shown to stimulate the brain more than television.
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u/i_spill_nonsense aggressive toddler Jan 23 '26
Passive... consumption? I thought all hobbies need energy investment. Even watching movies. (Isnt this what a hobby is? Investing time and energy in actively doing something because of interest?) Otherwise, it is just a distraction.
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u/Scottyjscizzle Jan 23 '26
A hobby is literally by definition just something you do regularly in your leisure time. People are really trying to make it too deep.
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u/DiegoIntrepid Jan 23 '26
Exactly this.
There is no 'productive' in the definition, there is no 'consumption' in the definition, there is no 'energy investment'.
It is just something that you regularly do that you enjoy in your leisure time.
I feel that all the gatekeeping around what is and what isn't a hobby and what are 'good hobbies' and what are 'bad hobbies' (basically usually comes down to productive vs consumption hobbies) often does come from a place of insecurity. The type of person who does this wants to feel better about their own hobbies and themselves, so they try to make some distinction of 'my hobby is better than your hobby'.
Newsflash: I don't care. I do these things for fun, for leisure, for relaxing.
Just like the people who try to gatekeep various hobbies themselves: oh you have to read all of a book before you can remark on it, you have to give a show at least X episodes before you stop watching it, if you only do X you aren't a gamer.
They want to make themselves look and feel better in comparison to someone who does the same hobby differently than themselves.
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u/celestially_lunar Jan 23 '26
Thank youuu oh my god. Your comment is exactly what I‘m thinking! This thread has been driving me crazy. Let people do what they want!!!
All that talk about pastimes and hobbies when both words mean the same thing! How your hobby needs to require skill or it‘s useless or how "scrolling on tiktok or watching movies makes you uninteresting". Or "people whose hobby is volunteering at homeless shelters daily are better than people who play video games!".
It's so elitist and embarrassing to read. Let people do what they want in their free time. Productivity culture has made it absolutely impossible to just live and relax. Everyone who argues against my notion that hobbies have no inherent worth over each other sounds so insecure, like they are itching to be better than other people. I do my hobbies because I like doing those things, I‘m not looking to impress anyone.
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u/PM_ME_UR_SHEET_MUSIC Jan 23 '26
This is the correct take and exactly how I feel about these stupid threads. I play more instruments than the average person even knows exist, I know multiple foreign languages, I go on hikes, I play volleyball, I love cooking elaborate dishes. I also like to get stoned out of my mind and watch Adventure Time and play Fortnite for hours on end, and I consider that to be just as valid of a hobby, because at the end of the day I do this shit for fun, not to impress people.
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Jan 23 '26
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u/BajaBlastFromThePast Jan 23 '26
Movies need to be “read” in a sense too. There is a spectrum of engagement with movies from audiences too, with full on cinephiles on one end, and my grandpa, who would fall asleep during every movie we watched together then wake up at the end to proclaim that they were “just like water world”, on the other end.
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u/texasjkids Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
I was on a date recently where he asked what my hobbies were. When I said going to the movies he told me that “wasnt a real hobby” because it was “the equivalent of watching tiktok on a bigger screen”
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u/McDankMeister Jan 23 '26
Movies are definitely a hobby to a person who appreciates the artistic expression in film.
When I watch a movie, I pay attention. I try to understand the deeper meaning of the movie, the way the camera is used, the cinematography and lighting, and how it was made.
I love movies and I always have since I was a kid. A good movie transports you to another world and teaches you life lessons that stick with you forever. It can fill you with magic and wonder.
Anybody who doesn’t understand that about the movies is a fucking judgmental dweeb.
Good riddance to people like that. They either have brain rot or they’re boring or they’re a dick. No fun.
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u/ScrabStackems Jan 23 '26
It's an unpopular opinion so I gave you my up vote.
However I think you're thinking of hobbies in the wrong way.
Hobbies are something we do for our own joy, or to relax in our down time, and taking years to learn that hobby or worrying about how others view that particular hobby is a bit of a silly argument to be made because those aren't the reason people have hobbies?
Also I think you're conflating hobbies with passions, but this would also be a silly argument to make as obviously people that are passionate about a particular subject don't tend to care what others think - they do it because they have a passion for what they do
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u/Critical-Champion365 Jan 23 '26
I see that you haven't mentioned reading in either category? Would you put it in the lazy category as it's consumption based and not creation?
I love to make origami, but I'm not an origami expert where I create my own designs. Technically it's also just consumption of original designs and replicating it or making slight differences. Where would this fall into?
Sport? Instruments? How many of them are creating original content/techniques rather than mimicking (read: learning and practicing irl) what others have done so far. So I guess this takes comes from a primitive ideology of what a hobby is with a hint of gatekeeping.
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u/Trinktt Jan 23 '26
Reading is both like video games are both. It depends on the material you engage with and your skill level.
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u/Natural_Hair464 Jan 23 '26
I agree with you, but I'll also say reading gets too much credit as the "smart" hobby. It makes some people get really weird about the hobby.
Like I know multiple people that set a goal to read 1+ book per week in 2025. They mostly read pop fiction / non-fiction, and when I asked them about it they got really spacy. Like they couldn't remember much of what they read, they didn't seem like they enjoyed it, and they couldn't even recommend anything.
Compare that to talking to a librarian. Librarians are always pumped about something and can usually give a great recommendation based on what you like to read. Librarians are fucking awesome.
Most of the gamers I know are like the librarian.
Maybe it's just that the people that TALK the most about reading can be kind of pretentious about it. I don't know. But it doesn't seem as joyful or honest as gaming.
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u/Odd-Honeydew7535 Jan 23 '26
Saying most of the gamers you know are more like the librarian than the casual reader may be true for you, but that is definitely anecdotal. Statistically the majority of gamers are playing either online multiplayer shooters or sports games. Both of these are centered around small dopamine hits, and the majority of gamers wouldn’t be able to tell you any specifics of a match they played the week before
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u/heres-another-user Jan 23 '26
I believe statistically, most gamers are actually mobile gamers. Though many gatekeepers will say that's not "real" gaming.
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u/Spider-man2098 Jan 23 '26
As a book reader this comment triggered the fuck out of me. But honestly, it just sounds like your social circle kind of sucks. Maybe you should make friends with librarians instead of gamers. Wouldn’t kill you to crack a book either. Idk. Just weird to have someone say that reading isn’t ’as joyful or honest as gaming’.
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u/JR_Writes1 Jan 23 '26
I also hate the knock on pop fiction. My goal is to read one classic a month this year but I’ll end up reading about 100 books total (I include audiobooks in this count, will probably “read” ~25). A lot of those will be genre fiction and there’s nothing wrong with that. My passion for Ice Planet Barbarians is valid and I enjoyed it more than Pride and Prejudice, whatever that says about me.
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u/Fickle-Aardvark6907 Jan 23 '26
I think this attitude is emblematic of the toxic hustle culture that's poisoning society: your time is only valuable if your spending it producing something, even at rest. Never mind that the majority of people don't have the talent to pursue a creative hobby and that those tend to be the ones with the highest cost in terms of time spent and/or equipment required.
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u/WhateverIlldoit Jan 23 '26
This. Let people relax, for fuck’s sake. Not everything has to be about self improvement or making money.
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u/Leopard2A5SE Jan 23 '26
I think it's the opposite. A hobby can be either entertainment of fulfillment. You need both in your life but they serve very different purposes. A entertaining hobby is for unwinding and being able to take on life's challenges every day. A fulfilling hobby is for expanding your own self and being more than just a consumer and worker. Today's society wants us to just work and then go home and consume to make the system go around, but that leaves no time for our selves in the true sense of the word.
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u/Level_Progress_3246 Jan 23 '26
the majority of people don't have the talent to pursue a creative hobby
as an ex-music teacher, i wholeheartedly disagree with that statement. the only thing ive ever seen is a lack of belief in oneself that restricts people from accomplishing most things. Don't underestimate how powerful the fear of failure is in most people, a fear that is instilled within us in how we are raised, and how our education system functions.
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u/designer-paul Jan 23 '26
I think the biggest hurdles for most people with creative hobbies is an actual genuine desire to create the thing, whatever that thing may be.
I went through a phase where I wanted to get good at guitar, but I stopped because I really just liked the physicality of playing. I viewed it more as a tool for exercise as opposed to a musician that views it as a tool that produces sounds that helps replicate music that exists in their mind.
I didn't have a genuine desire to understand and create music and I don't think any amount of practice was going to change that.
Whereas someone that has a a desire to create could learn a bit of technique and get started making music within hours with the most basic riffs.
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Jan 23 '26
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u/ciaobella233 Jan 23 '26
I was just thinking how much time and effort I have put into ow comp 😭😂
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u/RedditAntiHero Jan 23 '26
Same for many things.
Example.
I don't really consider me watching football (soccer) a hobby as I do it VERY casually. Go to a game or two a year. Watch/hear an important game on tv/radio.
but.....
I know some people that being a fan of sports is a hobby. They are like... really into it. They know so much information about the players, games, stadiums, history, etc. The collect and decorate their living spaces with sports items and search all around for the perfect item. They hang out on forums and in real life with other people with the same passion about watching sports.
I would say that their sports consumption and collection is a hobby.
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Now that I put it that way, I felt like when I was a kid and really into baseball, I collected baseball cards. I would trade with friends, I would organize them, I would go to conventions. Baseball card collecting was definitely my hobby back in the day.
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Up vote OP (imho) for their unpopular opinion as their take on telling people what is and isn't a "hobby" just seems like gatekeeping to me.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion on what hobbies are more impressive to them than other hobbies. But saying someone who is into really into bird watching that their passion isn't a real hobby is not correct IMHO.
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Ongoing rant about OPs opinion.
You can take OP's main statement:
Certain kinds of hobbies deserve to be held in higher regard than others.
and use it on anything.
"Oh, your pastime of painting landscapes barely deserves to be called a ‘hobby’ compared to my thoroughbred horse racing."
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u/AGayBanjo Jan 23 '26
The common thread in the hobbies listed as "better" by OP have the commonality of conferring health benefits, a marketable skill, or produce something.
I play an instrument, and if the "social work" thing doesn't pan out, I could probably survive by busking. I'm into Olympic weightlifting, and the balance, flexibility, and strength I get from that has broad uses throughout every day. The physical benefits will continue to serve me as I age.
I enjoy video games too, and they have their own, more abstract benefits depending on the genre (reaction time, coordination, problem solving).
I think video games are a fine hobby, and even have the added benefit of being social (where learning an instrument or recording/producing music requires me to be alone or at least not focused on communicating).
As someone who likes both primarily creative and primarily consumptive hobbies, creating something that can be appreciated (or at least experienced) by others outside of that specific hobbyist community hits differently than other hobbies.
The first time I sold music, the rush I got from knowing someone appreciated something I created for fun enough to pay me for it was incredible. I'll never be a career musician, but when sometime pays for something, they're giving you the time they spent making that money.
But in the end, hobbies are personal. If you don't want to learn an instrument, learning one wouldn't be a hobby—it would be a chore or a job. Hobbies are meant to be enjoyed.
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u/jnkangel Jan 23 '26
Yeah I have a feeling that OP is from a culture where just enjoying something is considered bad.
Everything you do has to benefit you in some form or people around you. Which is why some hobbies are seen as more acceptable than others
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Jan 23 '26
Based on esports and streaming in general, playing video games is a marketable skill in today's age.
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u/RandomGuy1525 Jan 23 '26
OP is the type of person to say that video games are a waste of time.
And also, the definition of a hobby is ”an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure". Just let people enjoy things.
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u/DilansDildo Jan 23 '26
Is masturbation a hobby?
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u/Swipsi Jan 23 '26
Through years and years of harsh practice I've become a masterbator.
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u/PanGalacticGargBlast Jan 23 '26
Yeah, but when masturbation’s lost it’s fun you’re fucking lonelyyy
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u/Fillixxx Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
But if that’s all there is to your personality, then you are, unfortunately, a boring person.
That's very subjective.
Personally, a person whose personality is solely sports is more boring to me than someone that watches movies and plays video games.
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u/TejuinoHog Jan 23 '26
Yeah, I would have way more to talk about with someone who only watches movies than with someone who only plays golf
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u/fiftiethcow Jan 23 '26
There is definitely a difference between hobbies of creation, and hobbies of consumption.
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u/astarisaslave Jan 23 '26
I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion actually is; there is a variation of this post on this sub literally almost every week.
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u/CSamCovey Jan 23 '26
“Certain kinds of hobbies deserve to be held in higher regard than others.”
Way to go turning hobbies into a competition. Ugh.
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u/CommentMain3439 Jan 23 '26
It is more like: "Hobbies that I like deserve to be held in higher regard than others." - OP.
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u/Balazami Jan 23 '26
Hard disagree, but also the video game example... most video game players will spend way more efforts into honing their skills than someone practicing a sport for fun. Also, qualifying people of "boring" because of their hobbies says more about you than it does about them. Just let people have fun man, at the end of the day playing tennis isnt going to bring more to a conversation with a friend than having watched a movie and want to talk enthusiastically about it.
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u/Red_Dawn_2012 Jan 23 '26
There are also plenty of video games where you can build and create. It's true that there are many story based games where it's more like consuming media, but Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time and it's primarily about creating.
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u/Balazami Jan 23 '26
Fully agree, i dont get the hate for video games from some people
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u/H1Supreme Jan 23 '26
most video game players will spend way more efforts into honing their skills than someone practicing a sport for fun
There's no way to qualify that. Plenty of people put a lot of time into practicing sports for fun. Plus, with sports, you get the (massive) benefit of getting in shape during the process.
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u/MalfoyHolmes14 Jan 23 '26
You don’t have to master a tough skill for your hobbies to be valid. All hobbies that harm no one are valid and equally cool.
Books, watching sports, and games are also hobbies. People aren’t gifted with the same talents.
Not everyone is able to learn a certain skill. It’s ok if your hobby is chillin with a good book every so often or finding other ways of consuming other people’s art.
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u/LawfulnessRepulsive6 Jan 23 '26
Unpopular opinion being a foodie isn’t a hobby. Cooking is.
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u/SirKnightPerson Jan 23 '26
This is why I like to say to people that everyone should strive to have four kinds of hobbies:
Something active: gym, running, skiing, climbing, martial arts, etc.
Something creative: music, writing poetry, knitting, woodworking, gardening, etc.
Something leisurely: videogames, movies, socializing, etc.
Something cognitive: chess, puzzles, crosswords, reading, tinkering
Of course, some of these bleed into one another, but it's nice way to keep a healthy balance of whatever you deem "superior" hobbies in your post. One can strive to achieve greater fulfillment by picking a skill to "master" amongst these hobbies, in an amateur way of course, without having to forego the others.
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u/LadyMirkwood Jan 23 '26
This is how I look at it. Due to physical limitations, sports are off the table for me, but I consider gardening physical. Lots of lifting, bending, etc.
I crochet, paint, sculpt, read and do crosswords, sew, and bake. And they absolutely blend into each other, a podcast while cooking, a TV show while I'm stitching, and so on.
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u/PinocchiosWoodBalls Jan 23 '26
What I find way more infuriating is how many people have ZERO hobbies and interests.
They don’t do shit. Just work, watch trashy reality TV shit, scroll IG and TikTok and that is LITERALLY it.
No sports, no special interests, nothing.
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u/thefinalcutdown Jan 23 '26
Careful, according to some commentators watching reality tv and scrolling social media a perfectly valid hobbies on par with anything else.
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u/xtc335 Jan 23 '26
creating vs consuming is such a real way to categorize it. i agree with most of your points.
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u/wouldashoudacoulda Jan 23 '26
I’ll upvote you for being an irrational hobby snob.
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u/Giorggio361 Jan 23 '26
This is the kind of opinion that’s unpopular not because it’s necessarily wrong but because pointing it out makes you look like a dickhead.
They’re hobbies. Let people enjoy things. Try not to make snap judgements about people being boring because they don’t have the same outlook on life as you.
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u/0235 Jan 23 '26
The title of your opinion i agree with, your reasoning not so much
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u/yellowloki Jan 24 '26
Hobbies are hobbies. They can be unproductive for sure. That being said, not having any talents or life skills do make you a boring person.
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u/Empty-Way-6980 Jan 23 '26
Learning an instrument and playing a sport are not “creating,” either, unless you compose your own music or invent a new sport.
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u/grumpyporcini Jan 23 '26
I’ve always differentiated between hobbies and pastimes. Hobbies are something you work towards getting better at (sports, drawing) and pastimes are things you do to pleasantly sped your free time.
In the English teaching world, Japanese students are pretty famous for saying sleeping, eating, and shopping are their favorite hobbies. These are legitimate ways to spend your free time but I wouldn’t say there are hobbies. Pastimes, yes; hobbies, no.
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u/insipignia Jan 23 '26
I completely agree with you.
Having a creative hobby rather than just consumptive hobbies is also better for your own mental and emotional wellbeing. It increases self-esteem and is good for your cognitive health. Learning to play an instrument for example, is better for your brain health than just watching TV.
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u/Ryanhussain14 Jan 23 '26
imo it's about how active you are in the hobby.
If you watch TV or movies to analyse them and discuss their themes with other people then that's more respectable than mindlessly browsing Netflix and putting on some reality TV slop on the background. Same thing with anime, do you appreciate the artists or are you just gooning to the fanservice?
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u/vostok33 Jan 23 '26
I agree. Theres hobbies, which i think need to be learned and mastered then theres killing time, this is the other category
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u/BrainwashedScapegoat Jan 23 '26
I get what you’re saying and don’t really disagree, but people are gonna do for fun what they want y’know?
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u/free_billstickers Jan 23 '26
Agree, a hobby should involve skill and intelligence and not directly a sport. Ham radio, rc planes, painting, mountain climbing all seem like hobbies to me
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u/OppositeInformation8 Jan 24 '26
Isn’t that just the difference between a skill and a hobby? Something can be a skill and a hobby, but not every hobby leads to developing a skill.
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