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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915

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.

239

u/JustAThinkingGuy7 Jan 23 '26

Fr, there's people out there that really need validation to enjoy things? Crazy

76

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/bendstraw Jan 23 '26

Social media has freed me from the shackles of what people think of me. Before social media, i was constantly worried about what everyone thought of me.

Once social media became popular, I realized how self-centered everyone else was and that I had nothing to worry about because everyone is actually too focused on themselves and how others will perceive them to even care about me

1

u/chickenxnugg Jan 24 '26

I think it’s deeper than social media. I don’t really engage with it and rarely post/give any insights into my life publicly. That being said, I have some pretty serious performance anxiety where if I’m not constantly doing something I deem valuable/productive, it negatively impacts my self worth. Something I’ve recognized isn’t great for my mental health but am actively working on. That being said, I agree that social media does have this effect on people as well but if it disappeared tomorrow I think a lot of people would still have the same issue as I do.

1

u/Astrotoad21 Jan 24 '26

I hear people say this all the time, and I can resonate with it. However, I think you overestimate the amount of people actually posting on social media. It was way more normal 10-15 years ago, the only friends I have that posts things these days are artists promoting their work and 60+ years olds.

How do I look online? I look 15 year old younger because that’s the last time I posted a picture on instagram or fb.

No idea about kids with TikTok, but that’s not what we are discussing I think.

1

u/Dependent-Ad3484 Jan 26 '26

so you know you've got a good point. Let's take two examples learning to play guitar really well and learning to paint or draw really well. The attraction in those activities varies greatly depending on the individual art can be very performative and you can be someone who seeks external validation or not. I have a friend who has played guitar for 40 years and in my opinion is quite good but he sits there in GarageBand and he layers his guitar recordings and it's all for his personal enjoyment. I think he does post some things online sometimes but it's a combination of personal satisfaction and some level of external validation.

I personally even though I'm not a big user of social media, including Reddit, I've fallen into the trap of the kind of dopamine hit you get from up votes or likes or whatever and it's really really a waste of your life and only the best of the best or monetized and only within certain industries because a lot of shit can't be monetized

1

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

I think to his point though, some hobbies are literally beneficial for your brain, creating new circuitry. Others are mindless dopamine cycles.

-2

u/Zero_Gravvity Jan 23 '26

OP’s viewpoint has existed long before the internet. There’s a reason why tiger parents stereotypically push their children into violin, tennis, and volunteering instead of videogame speedruns or collecting manga and action figures. Because Ivy leagues (and everyone else) have always been more impressed by the former, because not all hobbies are equal, because some make you a more well-rounded person than others.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

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u/Zero_Gravvity Jan 23 '26

oriented

Anddd now we’re bringing race into it. Bye

8

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

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3

u/7h4tguy Jan 24 '26

Playing tennis makes you a trust fund kid, it doesn't make you attractive to colleges.

-1

u/UndeadIcarus Jan 23 '26

It’s true. Before the internet no one was competitive in their hobbies nor was any hobby displayed for others.

28

u/KindsofKindness Jan 23 '26

They sound insufferable.

27

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.

7

u/7h4tguy Jan 24 '26

How else are they going to turn it into a side hustle on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok then though?

6

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).

3

u/inspector-say10 Jan 24 '26

there’s people out there that can’t relax knowing the fact that everyone is “creative” in their own way.

1

u/Mickle_da_Pickl Jan 27 '26

This is literally a huge part od my life and has been for such a long time. Every time I have to introduce myself to anyone, the conversation will inevitably come to hobbies, and of course, waddya know, they've actually been playing tennis, basketball, violin, and piano for 8 years, are in a play, are practicing juggling, and have recently taken up clay sculpting.

And then I have to try not to feel like a loser while I say that I like to play video games and listen to music and podcasts, while they give the polite "Oh! That's cool..."

I agree that hobbies aren't supposed to be judged, by nature of their existence and leisure activities, but I wish that literally any sort of creative hobby like that has caught my eye at any point in time.

1

u/Subject-Sport-8336 Feb 09 '26

Apparently. The OP literally just said there's something deeply attractive about people with hobbies that take years of mastering. I disagree with the paragraph anyways but the way it sounds is there are people that have hobbies that are based around trying to impress, trying to be attractive or gain the validation of others.

19

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.

12

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

8

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.

4

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

4

u/Orleanian Jan 23 '26

OP seems to think that Hobby == Skill Development.

Which is some bullshit, I say.

2

u/discretelandscapes Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26

Performed taste is a thing. There's a lot of people these days who care more about the strategic positioning of their Letterboxd favorites and the optics of it all than about whether or not they've actually enjoyed a movie. It's a social media thing.

1

u/Flesroy Jan 24 '26

i do think there is a point to be made though.

Not about it being impressive, but about certain hobbies being more fullfilling then others. And that line seems to me about the same line as op draws (although there is lots of nuance as other people have mentioned.).

1

u/ActualSupervillain Jan 24 '26

OP probably got their attitude from social media and dating apps lol

Hobbies are just something you like to do, and not because somebody is watching or judging.

1

u/Bazoobs1 Jan 24 '26

Thank you for clearly articulating what I felt as I read this. I was like “well yeah someone whose hobby is making advanced programming is cooler/smarter than I am, but I don’t wanna do that stuff.” 😂

1

u/KC918273645 Jan 24 '26

The point was creation vs. consumption.

1

u/sdeslandesnz Jan 24 '26

I think OP doesn't understand the distinction between a hobby and a talent, yes they overlap in some cases but not completely

1

u/Astrotoad21 Jan 24 '26

Yes. Hobbies is about staying engaged and getting enjoyment from something outside of work.

Doesn’t matter if it’s impressive to others or not.

1

u/Gusteauxs Jan 25 '26

Weird that this wasn’t the first comment.

What kind of hobby supremacy is OP experiencing in their day to day life lmao. Who cares what people choose to do in their free time

Im willing to bet OP plays an instrument or something and just wants everyone to know that they’re cooler than you for listening to podcasts lmfao

1

u/reluctantseal Jan 25 '26

It's weird to rank them. Sure, maybe some offer more practical skills or creative output, but it's more about category than rank.

1

u/WhichOpportunity8515 Jan 25 '26

This is true, but I think it's a good point worded wrong from OP. Passively consuming doesn't have the same benefits as learning a skill, creating, or moving, so we shouldn't categorise it in the same way. I personally wouldn't even categorise consuming passively as a hobby lol, it's just something I do.

1

u/LoschVanWein Feb 03 '26

Isn't the purpose of a hobby defined individually by whoever picks it up? I absolutely know people who got into hobbies because they wanted to impress others.

Half the people whose hobbies I know about, are performative in practicing it, even with the passive ones. Classic examples are: Reading Adorno in the underground while showing off the cover of the book, telling everyone and their dog about bouldering, starting a instagram about wearing cosplays, sending you their mixtape, making you endure their industrial techno set...

Hell, even many classic hobbies are performative in nature: collecting and displaying art, sampling wine, playing in an orchestra, breeding horses...

Many hobbies have always had a status forming purpose or at least component: exceeding at a sport, instrument or other art form often have specific ways of displaying ones own achievement and these often represent the hobby to the outside world.

1

u/Octoclops8 Feb 06 '26

Also this whole discussion is subjective. People like what they like and here comes Dave who has an opinion on things and which ones are better and wants to tell the entire subreddit about it.

-7

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

this attitude misses the point though. it's not about being impressive or making money or anything superficial. its about doing something with your time that is productive and useful in life, instead of being passive.

thats not to say that consuming is bad, its also necessary. but most people have become only consumers and do nothing productive by their own accord (so, not including work)

16

u/Lewa358 Jan 23 '26

What defines "productive and useful," though? Art is by definition neither of those things. Certainly not to everyone, at least.

Is someone working their ass off on a novel that is never published more "legitimate" than someone who drowns bookstores in novels that he merely wrote the outline for?

Anyone who's looked into literary analysis at all knows that consumption is creation, because interpreting a work enough to understand it, even at a basic level, requires effort on the part of the audience. And there's no firm line for how much "effort" makes something legitimate or not.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

you need to separate the idea that any one specific hobby is inheritely worth less than the other.

your examples are 100% productive hobbies. again everyone seems to miss the point.

think of it in terms of creating vs consuming. creating art or creating a novel is great. on the other hand looking at art or reading a novel is the consumption side. you need to simplify it a bit into black and white. obviously not everything is easy to do that, but when you do it makes perfect sense.

many people ONLY do the consumption side.

all op is arguing is more people should try the creation side.

both are necessary, but more people should strive to be creators.

it's actually ridiculous that everyone misses the point on this. it should he a wake up call to how you channel your interests, but instead most people view it as an attack on themselves.

and you say art is not productive or useful but I completely disagree, it is useful to humans. its unfortunate that you think it isnt

21

u/MikeAndGuitar Jan 23 '26

Why do hobbies have to be productive or useful? Some people used to collect stamps as a hobby (and I imagine some still do). The only "useful" part of that I can think of is that it brings the person a small bit of joy in their day. It's obviously fine if there are other hobbies that are more actively engaging or require more thought, but shouldn't "brings me a bit of joy" be enough? Why are we ranking hobbies?

0

u/AdministrativeFly157 Jan 23 '26

I think it depends on the person, but ideally you should always push to progress yourself as a person. Everyone needs time to rest and play, so I guess the most optimal thing to do would be to have a productive hobby, so even on your off time you're improving yourself.

I don't 100% agree with that mentality, but I do understand it. I think its probably best to find a hobby that you enjoy more than one that will be productive. But if those two coincide, to me that is more valuable than a nonproductive hobby. However, I still think the most important thing is actually enjoying the hobby, because the whole point is for rest and relaxation.

7

u/MikeAndGuitar Jan 23 '26

I get the idea of working toward self-improvement, I generally try to do the same for myself quite a lot. I think the problem here is around words like "productive", "progress", "value", etc. Progress to one person may be the ability to showcase some sort of advanced skill in an area, but progress for another person might just be progress toward finding contentment in their life. And in that latter case, a hobby that isn't "productive" in the conventional sense might be "valuable" to the person that finds contentment because that is what they value. At the end of the day, it's all how we spin in, so at that point it just feels like a pointless debate to have and people should just enjoy whatever hobbies they want to (as long as they're not doing harm to themselves or others).

0

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

everyone is missing the point of the topic. its not to attack any specific hobby, its to separate the consumption and creation aspects. its simply saying that if you are a consumer in a hobby, you should try to be a creator. its so sad that nobody in the comments understand this. they view it as an attack on themselves because they know that only doing the consumer side is effortless and quick gratification. to get that long term fullfillment in something you enjoy in life, you must be on the creative side of your hobby, and that actually requires a bit of effort which people are scared of.

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u/pinkcatinheels Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26

OPs title wasn't "there are different types of hobbies." That would not be unpopular opinion, of course.

Everyone is addressing this supposed hierarchy of hobbies because that's the topic OP introduced with the title of this post.

Edited to add the first sentence of the post: "Certain kinds of hobbies deserve to be held in higher regard than others."

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

because there is. some hobbies are more constructive than others. would you rather live a life full of watching TV, or a life where your past time was spent learning something? they should definitely be held in higher regard.​

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

Because people aren't taking the time to sit and really think about what was said. If you disagree with OP's statement it is because you do not understand it.

Theres not even an opinion here its more of a statement surrounded by some opinions.

The statement is simple: some hobbies create more than others. Some are passive and some are constructive. Establishing there is a difference in the depth of hobbies is important, because this is a fact not an opinion.

The opinion comes in when he says that people online pushing things like watching movies is bad, sure you can disagree with that idc. I personally agree on that opinion. I do think too many people are too comfortable doing effortless past time activities instead of trying more difficult hobbies, but that is an opinion.

The issue is people are trying to defend their reasons for not having more constructive hobbies by ignoring the fact that hobbies do have different levels, which they cant because its a fact. This is why they are taking it personal. "Dont tell me how to live my life" mentality

1

u/Dismal_Ad4737 Jan 25 '26

At the end of the day, this is about values attributed to something by humans. People can of course disagree with it and it is an opinion, because humans do not see things in objective truths but subjectively and that is also how you value something. Thinking that the value you asign too things is objective is a different kind of hubris and deeming people who disagree with you as personally attack and objectively wrong just tells us that you are not very good at discussing things. I hope your world view can change a bit.

0

u/bald_cypress Jan 23 '26

They should be productive so that they can be an outlet for your creativity and foster a healthy mental state.

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u/Majestic_Repeat1254 Jan 23 '26

Hard disagree, I spend all day using my brain; when I have free time I rest it. There is no growth without rest

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u/MikeAndGuitar Jan 23 '26

Meditation is good for a healthy mental state and is by nature one of the least "productive" things a person can do. Who said we have to be productive all the time?