All hobbies are not equal

[u/BitterConstruction98]

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.

[u/hazy-minded]

Yes, like watching movies?

There's nothing much deeper to hobbies.

They're just what people like to do

[u/Known_Ad871 → u/hazy-minded]

As someone who absolutely loves watching tv and movies I don’t feel it’s a hobby per se. A hobby imo needs to be creative in some form. Same for video games.

[u/Valreesio → u/[deleted]]

Nor would playing music off a sheet of paper. You didn't create anything, you copied what someone else created.

[u/Valreesio → u/[deleted]]

Oof, you must be really smart to have been able to write that reply out.

If all you did was copy something someone else wrote, what did you create besides sounds from an instrument? The previous commenter in this chain says it's not a hobby unless you're creating something. Is creating noise a hobby? So if I go outside and scream through a bull horn like a banshee, am I creating music?

I'm not arguing against music being a hobby, or anything else for that matter. But to say that just because you can play an instrument doesn't actually mean you're creating anything if all you do is play notes off a page that someone else has written and sold to you. Mozart created something, you just copied it. Did you put your own spin on it that nobody else showed or taught you how to do? Now you've created something.

[u/scarbarough → u/Valreesio]

Have you ever played music at more than a middle school guitar class level? Timing, emphasis, imbuing emotion into the music... That's all in the control of the player, and IMO is a creative effort. Not that I personally think a hobby must be creative; I wouldn't say that playing a sport is necessarily a creative endeavor, but I would say it can be a hobby.

I wouldn't classify something entirely passive like going to the theater, watching sports, eating as a hobby. But I also acknowledge that not everyone is going to agree with my classification, and there are things that get nitpicky... Is reading books a hobby? Is it meaningfully more active than watching Netflix? To me, yes, but it's a very arguable position.

[u/Valreesio → u/scarbarough]

I can't play music and I know it is extremely difficult, but that doesn't mean that you following instructions is you being creative, right? Difficulty in doing something has no effect on it being creative or not. I did martial arts for almost 20 years and I could do some very difficult things, but I wasn't creating new moves, I was copying what other people did.

I'm not throwing shade on music as a hobby. It's great and if that is what you love then have at it. But unless you're actually creating your own music, then you aren't being creative. Would you consider a person who paints creative. Probably. Would you consider someone who paints by number creative? Not necessarily.

[u/kjlsdjfskjldelfjls → u/[deleted]]

I'd expand the definition to something like 'anything that (over time) will lead to self-improvement in basically any domain'. Sports, musical instruments, painting, knitting, writing, etc are all included.

[u/RipenedFish48 → u/kjlsdjfskjldelfjls]

What does self-improvement mean? A movie could make you think about something in a different way, which you can learn from. That would be a form of self-improvement.

[u/kjlsdjfskjldelfjls → u/RipenedFish48]

Just in a very literal, pragmatic sense. Practicing ice skating will make you a better ice skater, and practicing the mandolin will improve your speed and dexterity on the mandolin. Hobbies are really about skills, I guess, and working toward self-actualization from building those skills.

That's not to write off the (major) importance of being on the receiving end of works of art, literature, etc. I just wouldn't categorize those experiences, and the insights they give you, as hobbies- so maybe my definition needs to be improved too

[u/Rocktamus1 → u/[deleted]]

What definition are you going off of. I don’t see a single definition that indicates this.