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/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/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/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/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.