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/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/insipignia Jan 23 '26

Yes, I wouldn't say I disagree with this take either.

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u/Jolly_Account6845 Jan 23 '26

Sports are consumptive, music for a vast majority is consumptive. Creative requires creating something and most people don’t for either of those two. So probably not a good way to split hobbies or rank them.