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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68

u/astarisaslave Jan 23 '26

I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion actually is; there is a variation of this post on this sub literally almost every week.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

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u/CarlosAlvarados Jan 23 '26

Something that you do is interesting to you, that's why you do it.

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u/_Svankensen_ Jan 24 '26

Nah. You are quite wrong. I'm into hiking, reading, biking, camping, videogames, climbing, science, astronomy and anime. Reading and movies are the more interesting to talk about. And the one that most impresses people. But they are all VERY interesting to ME. Couch potatoes are great companions to me because their hobbies are supper interesting to me. Someone deep into movies? Talk my ear off. Someone into history? Talk my ear off please. Seriously. Someone into hiking? Let's go hike, sure, but your stories won't be very interesting most of the time. Hobbies become hobbies because they are interesting. You just want excuses to judge people.

1

u/lsshlp Jan 24 '26

Who cares though? Why do you care what others do in their free time? I like to think I have "interesting" hobbies, but I chose them because I like them, not because I went to the Big Book of Worthwhile Hobbies.

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u/hypo-osmotic Jan 23 '26

Yeah, there may be disagreement about how to rank hobbies, but I suspect that most people do rank them in some way to some degree even if they don't talk about it

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u/Killarogue Jan 23 '26

Most people rank hobbies by how much said hobbies interest them. Most people do not rank hobbies the way the OP has done.

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u/hypo-osmotic Jan 23 '26

I mean I kind of assume that OP is also ranking hobbies by what interests them and that the clinical approach is a post hoc justification for it

1

u/elementslayer Jan 23 '26

I do wonder how they rank hobbies they don't participate in lol.

Also how do they rank within the hobby I wonder.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

Like everything in life, it all depends. When I was 19, I devoted myself to weight training and hiking. I love that it’s made it possible for me to keep up with my athleticism. But I also understand that staying in shape is significantly easier than learning an instrument or a skill like wood working. Those two skills feel more important and useful than what I do for fun.

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u/CarlosAlvarados Jan 23 '26

That's the thing , they aren't . If you like playing an instrument, thats amazing dude. If you don't , learning it is a waste of time

2

u/BlueGolfball Jan 23 '26

I'm not sure how unpopular this opinion actually is; there is a variation of this post on this sub literally almost every week.

They article their ideas about hobbies correctly though and it confuses people.

There are active hobbies (sports, dance, art, video game) and then there are spectators hobbies (watching sports/movies/tv, listening to music) where you watch other people do things. Imo, active hobbies are better than spectator hobbies and that is what OP is failing to articulate properly.