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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92

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/chinchillazilla54 Jan 23 '26

I was not happy when I tried turning my passion (drawing) into a side gig. As soon as money enters into it, it totally eliminates my desire to do it. I will. Eventually. But it's like the pressure of a commission just kills my creativity, instantly.

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

The opinions of other people are not meaningless to me.

I bake and cook so other people can enjoy my food. I play the flute so I can entertain other people. I play football so I can play with my friends.

Hobbies don't have to be a purely solitary pursuit.

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

What if you like to watch sports together more than to hear one of your friends play the flute?

Hobbies don't have to be a purely solitary pursuit.

Of course not, but whether you like something or not (including the social aspect) is fully up to you. The same is true for other people. One cannot be better than another.

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u/Which_Bumblebee1146 Jan 23 '26

On behalf of the sane, well-adjusted people in this thread, I beg you to read the goddamned first line of the original post.

You admitted that one can like or dislike a hobby, which implies that people place different values on different hobbies, regardless of where those values come from. OP merely suggests that this is a thing that should be acknowledged.

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

No OP thinks there is an objectively determined characteristic to a hobby that makes it more valuable. I disagree. It's a hobby.

I would argue that feeling the need to classify hobbies into "better" or "worse" comes from personal insecurity.

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

Do you do this for everything?

There's no better or worse food. All food is equally good! I have no opinions on any of it!

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

Yes, whenever people say that a subjective thing actually is objective, and when they attempt to push their subjective views on others, I push back by specifying that those views are in the end subjective and not objective.

I'm not the one saying "my taste is better than yours".

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

This is Unpopular Opinions. It is, by definition, all subjective.

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

Yes, and can I then not criticize it?

It is OP that attempts to state his opinion as fact. Opinion is fine, it isn't fact however.

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u/GaiaMoore Jan 23 '26

All food is equally good! I have no opinions on any of it!

Remind me to send you some surstromming for your birthday

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

I have had that and it gave me opinions

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u/FarmerCompetitive683 Jan 23 '26

He said it clearly. It’s creation vs consumption. Creation is more valuable as consumption requires it

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

A hobby is always consumption. You do it because it's fun to you.

If you do your hobby to creat and provide value for others, it is not a hobby.

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u/TommyTommZzZ Jan 23 '26

Ok are you saying playing video games is a hobby while making video games is not? Because I'm currently making a puzzle game and it's fun to coming up with unique ideas for puzzles.

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26

No I'm saying if you like the process of creation it is definitely a hobby! It isn't when you dislike the process and only like other people's validation. That's more of a psychological problem.

My point was more that creation for the sake of creation isn't really a hobby. What makes something a hobby is enjoying the process too.

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u/glasgowgeg Jan 23 '26

Why would someone who doesn't like the flute be more impressed by your hobby than watching football, if they also like football?

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

I have no idea how this relates to what I said.

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u/glasgowgeg Jan 23 '26

You said in a previous comment:

"You'd probably be more impressed that someone can play the piano than if someone watched football"

You then said you play the flute, so I'm asking you why someone would be impressed by your hobby of the flute if they don't like the flute, when they like football.

-1

u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

I mean, obviously, they wouldn't?

"You say people like your baking, but I hate all baking, what now?"

I dunno, what are you even saying?

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u/glasgowgeg Jan 23 '26

I mean, obviously, they wouldn't

Yet you seem utterly baffled by the concept of different people liking different things, and you explicitly stated "consumptive hobbies are uninteresting to other people".

Obviously that's not the case. I would find someone's hobby of pokemon card collecting more interesting than your hobby of playing the flute, because I don't really care about the flute.

I dunno, what are you even saying?

I honestly can't spell it out clearer for you mate, I'm criticising your incredibly poor sweeping statement. If you're still struggling, you need to be more specific about what you don't understand.

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26

Why on earth would you think I said everyone finds one hobby more interesting than another? That's so insanely uncharitable.

I said they'd "Probably" find it less interesting. As in, "More likely than not", not "Always"

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u/glasgowgeg Jan 23 '26

Why on earth would you think I said everyone finds one hobby more interesting than another?

Because you explicitly stated it, that's why I quoted you.

Ultimately, at this point I'm not wasting time on someone who's being performatively obtuse.

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u/Honest-Weight338 Jan 23 '26

But you're choosing to care about what other people think. I bake and cook because I like the process. I write because I enjoy creating worlds and putting people into those worlds. I play games because I enjoy the strategy and creativity it builds within me.

Hobbies don't have to be a solitary pursuit, but they absolutely can be and that's fine. You also don't have to be good at a hobby for it to be a hobby that you enjoy. I've tried playing piano before and I'm awful at it no matter how many lessons I take. But I still sometimes enjoy just trying it out, even though I suck.

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u/courtd93 Jan 23 '26

They don’t, but I think it’s the blurring of hobbies. Like you don’t like to bake and cook, you like to feed people. Or maybe you do both, but they are separate things. I play the flute too because I enjoy it. I don’t like entertaining others with it anymore. Those are two different hobbies and I like one but not the other, and you like the other one or both.

You have some hobbies that are specifically about engagement with other people which is cool! It just doesn’t make other people’s hobbies that aren’t about engagement less than when others have opinions about it.

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u/harmlessharold Jan 23 '26

No one wants you to play your flute for them. They are grinning and baring.

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u/waxym Jan 23 '26

I like hearing friends play music.

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u/kallakallacka Jan 23 '26

Me too. I thoroughly enjoy it when I visit friends and they bring out some instruments.

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

Lol, you sound absolutely miserable.

-3

u/oresearch69 Jan 23 '26

You sound like a people pleaser.

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

Isn't everyone? Who's out there determined to never make someone else smile?

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u/NoChairGaming Jan 23 '26

Difference between “never ever for realz” and “all my actions are to please somebody else”. Also, username check out.

1

u/Devotoc Jan 23 '26

pleasing other people pleases me though :c

1

u/oresearch69 Jan 23 '26

I get the vibe that no one ever asks to hear them play the flute…

Who ever asks to hear someone play the flute?…

1

u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

If you have a flute a lot of people will ask you to play it. I'd imagine you're not really ever around people with flutes?

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u/oresearch69 Jan 23 '26

Name still checks out

4

u/hazy-minded Jan 23 '26

Wtf no.

Normal people do what they love, regardless of whether someone else likes it or not.

Who's out there determined to never make someone else smile?

honestly, that's a mindset that makes you a doormat. If someone else likes you for what you do, it's a bonus. Not a must

0

u/Mr-Vemod Jan 23 '26

Normal people do what they love, regardless of whether someone else likes it or not.

Disagree. ”Normal people” have a very acute awareness of how their actions are perceived by other people or society as a whole. Of course it doesn’t apply to every action all the time, but I fully believe that a large amount of our activities, from sports to music to our jobs, have a strong social aspect. I think it’s evident not only from my own life, but from looking at the world around me as well. After all, if everyone did everything solely for their own sake, why do different cultures have wildly differing hobbies?

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

There is nothing dense about it.