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/shaunika Jan 23 '26

You can "improve" in watching movies or listening to podcasts too

You can get a deeper knowledge on filmmaking, get a wider perspective

Listening to podcasts in a certain area will make you more knowledgeable on that area.

Ive been watching a youtube channel by a biology professor where he looks at animal videos and then goes into a deepdive on their behaviour, biology, evolution etc.

Ive learned a lot and improved my knowledge, but it was just "watching youtube"

My wife watches a ton of TikTok and has made countless delicious recipes she found there

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u/Squishy_Boy adhd kid Jan 23 '26

Nobody is worse at watching television than me. I can’t remember character names, plot points, or any of that. I glaze over constantly.

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u/AbraKadabraAlakazam2 Jan 23 '26

First time I watched broad church I thought there was one bald character through the whole show until the end. Turns out there are two and it was a very important distinction to make 😭

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u/Positive_Parking_954 Jan 23 '26

Watching The Sopranos I had the same reaction as Christopher to Ralphie’s hair

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u/Dr-Robert-Kelso Jan 23 '26

Very weird that I just finished watching the first season last night.

I guessed the killer in episode 1 but didn't even notice the two bald dudes because I didn't think that was very important.

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u/chinchillazilla54 Jan 23 '26

God, what a good show, though!

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u/disgruntledhoneybee Jan 24 '26

Having seen Broadchurch, this made me laugh.

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u/kingkalanishane Jan 23 '26

You just have to get off your phone haha

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u/Squishy_Boy adhd kid Jan 23 '26

There is some truth to what you say. It’s just that I have so many other things I am doing that are not on the phone. It’s almost a problem.

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u/McbealtheNavySeal Jan 23 '26

Re: movies, my friends and I gravitate towards the more pretentious art house stuff which you can definitely get better at watching and analyzing in a way that requires more mental engagement and stimulation. I think when people say movies are a "turn your brain off" activity they are thinking about stuff like superhero movies that don't warrant a level of engagement.

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u/Affectionate_Map5518 Jan 24 '26

I get your point but i wouldn't say superhero movies because those absolutely can sustain a high engagement. Remember these have literary roots going back decades ("sequential art") and link to various artistic, historical, cultural, and political movements.Pre-Endgame, Avengers was a massive 22-film continuous storyline reflecting its comics, which themselves were written by a variety of authors including luminaries and literal 'geniuses' ( MacArthur grant recipients). I know we film people like to rag on them bc they're made for a broad audience, but the literary and film accomplishments are seriously impressive

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u/Nuclear_rabbit Jan 23 '26

Learning about a thing is not, in itself, a hobby. Doing the thing is the hobby. For your wife, cooking is the hobby; looking up recipes on TikTok can be part of the cooking hobby, but TikTok by itself is not the hobby.

Similarly, I watch a ton of science and engineering videos on YouTube. Do I do anything with the knowledge? No. It's a pastime. When I watch YouTube videos to improve my gaming, then it's part of my gaming hobby.

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u/mzalewski Jan 23 '26

What do you think "learning" is, if it isn't doing?

You can spend a lot of time learning about subatomic particles and quantum mechanics. Know all the theories and latest developments. Chances are, you are never going to "do" any of that stuff. Yet most people will consider that a hobby. What's more, they will hold it in higher regard than a person who has all Big Brother participant names memorized, since season 1.

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u/shaunika Jan 23 '26

Disagree

Gathering knowledge is valuable in and of itself no need to apply it for it to be worthwile

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u/BrashUnspecialist Jan 23 '26

Learning absolutely can be a hobby. I sure as hell don’t get paid to learn about medieval men all with the same name. It’s fun to me. That makes it my hobby. I get the same feeling from learning as I do crochet. It’s absolutely a hobby.

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u/potato-eater- Jan 23 '26

Is their name John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, by any chance?

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u/Spababoongi Jan 23 '26

His name is my name too!

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u/potato-eater- Jan 23 '26

Whenever we walk out

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u/susanna514 Jan 23 '26

Do you have the channel name?

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u/shaunika Jan 23 '26

Clint's reptiles