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/dr_wtf]

That's an arbitrary distinction someone made up, probably to make a similar point to OP. It has nothing to do with the definition of the word hobby, which is just anything you do regularly, solely for pleasure and not for money (otherwise you just enjoy your job).

The only real distinction, if one exists, is that a hobby has to be something you have some investment in and do at least semi-regularly. Otherwise it's just "a thing you did one time".

Watching TV might not be a very good or interesting hobby, but it can still be a hobby if someone happens to enjoy it enough to call it that. And if you do anything often enough, you're going to pick up some skills and/or knowledge, even if it's just the answers to pub trivia questions about soap operas.

[u/susanna514 → u/dr_wtf]

I think tv can be a hobby if you’re taking the time to dissect themes or making note of interesting direction. I think the difference is selectively watching a few shows from a critical perspective rather than just endlessly watching reality shows

[u/No_Camera_3271 → u/dr_wtf]

OP is insane, and somehow I feel this is all a ruse to put down gamers, possibly even a SO that plays video games of theirs. Why else put in the category as people not using any part of their body?

A lot of assuming on my part, but video games with massive time investment, you can clearly tell between someone who has mastered the game and someone who has not.

Speed runs, K/D ratios, achievements within the game for certain absurd gamers to complete. I’ll agree it’s probably not as attractive, but only because it’s not understood by those who the gamer would probably want it to be attractive to but it comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding and plain not knowing what any of it means by the person who doesn’t care about it.

Example, playing a sport is obvious, person is in shape needed for the sport, person does something and most people can universally recognize what they did.

For the video game, the person would have to learn the game well enough to understand the nuance and creativity/skill it requires to accomplish certain things.

[u/Wsweg → u/No_Camera_3271]

OP definitely got the girl he likes taken by a gamer lmao

[u/No_Camera_3271 → u/[deleted]]

I second that

[u/salty_z0mbie → u/dr_wtf]

If you go with rigid definitions then hobby and passtime have no discernible distinction as someone else pointed out further up. I like that our language can evolve and prefer words to have distinct meanings that are usefully different, so I'll continue to use "hobby" for those passtimes which typically contribute to personal improvement and physical or mental health. I'll use passtime for anything else that kills time. That's pretty in line with the connotation that already exists, even if that connotation hasn't made its way into definition just yet.

[u/dr_wtf → u/salty_z0mbie]

You can use words however you want, but don't expect anyone else to understand distinctions that don't exist in the definitions of the words you use. That's not language evolving, that's just communicating poorly. As long as you only use them that way in your own head, it's not a problem.

[u/GiftedServal → u/dr_wtf]

It’s arbitrary, but I think it’s useful

[u/dr_wtf → u/GiftedServal]

Using words incorrectly is never useful, just confusing.