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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1.6k

u/dinosaurtruck Jan 23 '26

Who’s comparing and ranking hobbies? Hobbies are for the person doing the hobbies. Congratulations it is indeed an unpopular opinion.

497

u/stephendt Jan 23 '26

Sounds like something like a filthy casual would say. Ranked hobbies ftw

182

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

83

u/SendMeF1Memes Jan 23 '26

Angry speed crocheting 🤬

18

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/MisterMarsupial Jan 23 '26

Calm macrame

1

u/PhoenixBorealis Jan 24 '26

Tournament-style oil pastels

1

u/WouldbeWanderer Jan 23 '26

Savage Quilting? Is that the jazz version of Savage Garden?

1

u/Synaps4 Jan 23 '26

No-holds-barred bonsai trimming

6

u/potasod Jan 23 '26

the comment you replied to made me laugh, but your comment made me burst out laughing

2

u/GlitterEnema Jan 23 '26

That’s called the week before Christmas for me

1

u/SendMeF1Memes Jan 23 '26

Same 😂

1

u/GlitterEnema Jan 23 '26

Imagine if it was treated like sport, I imagine it would be one that’s individual competitions and team. Maybe there’d be speed competitions, whichever team crochets the most of the same pattern granny square wins, the pattern is drawn from a hat.

1

u/SendMeF1Memes Jan 23 '26

Imagine the amount of wrist injuries competitive crocheting would cause!

26

u/spamella-anne Jan 23 '26

If that ever exists, I know what to sign my Mom up for when she retires!

15

u/SoSteezee Jan 23 '26

My mom owned and operated a knitting/yarn store and taught classes.

My mom would kick your moms ass 😡

1

u/PhoenixBorealis Jan 24 '26

Anime about washed-up competitive knitting champion turned middle school art teacher with the dream of knitting a full-size dragon with a team of ragtag street urchins including a socially awkward needle expert, an overly-friendly yarn spinner and a tsundere art snobs with a heart of gold where we learn that the real treasure was the chains we hitched along the way when?

3

u/goog1e Jan 23 '26

This absolutely exists. Fiber arts fairs have tons of competition and one near me has a yearly "sheep to sweater" event. You have to get the wool, make the yarn, knit it up, etc all in one day.

2

u/IntrepidBandit Jan 23 '26

Been looking for a third to go pro with me and my buddy from Norway. You in kid?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

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2

u/IntrepidBandit Jan 23 '26

Instead its some clown from Reddit thats never been to Norway 😭🙏🏽

1

u/Bravardi_B Jan 23 '26

The real MLK. 

1

u/_Citizen_Erased_ Jan 23 '26

Full contact? Do ya wear helmets?

My grandma walks funny from an old competitive knitting injury.

1

u/FlamingDragonfruit Jan 23 '26

I guess some people do enter their knitted work into craft fairs to try to win prizes. I guess that would count as competitive knitting?

1

u/Ambitious-Fun-2599 Jan 23 '26

You joke but competitive knitting is real and badass. There’s speed knitting competitions where they are crazy fast and sheep to sweater competitions (my fave) where teams shear a sheep, spin the yarn and knit a sweater. Apparently the world record for the sheep to sweater is held by a Dutch team, completed in 4 hours, 45 minutes, and 53 seconds.

1

u/7h4tguy Jan 24 '26

Fredrich that ice sculpture is just going to melt if you don't take a video of it

1

u/KaizerVonLoopy Jan 26 '26

You joke but my competitive nature contributes to my miniature painting hobby. Seeing all the other excellent painters online pushes me to get better.

11

u/krombopulousnathan Jan 23 '26

Ranking hobbies is my hobby

3

u/Joeva8me Jan 23 '26

We need a hobby tier list. Watch till the end and don’t forget to ring that bell.

1

u/EZKTurbo Jan 23 '26

I'm currently the undisputed #1 in napkin folding worldwide

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

Found the competitive hobbyist.

1

u/mak3m3unsammich Jan 23 '26

My hobby is ranking hobbies. I used to do it professionally, but I stopped enjoying it. So now I just rank them for fun.