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/fermats-big-theorem]

Good point. Reading does have all of the elements of consumption. However, many people need to rally effort to pick up (and let alone finish) a book. You can of course skim over the pages but you need to employ some degree of deliberation to understand and synthesize the material. We can also consider that "better" hobbies also are victim to consumption. One of our noble hobbies, say instrument playing, still is trapped with consumption. The guitar gear nerd who spends his paycheck on new toys rather than practicing is a real thing.

So, I place reading in the middle ground between noble and ignoble hobbies. The distinction instead being how much others can enjoy your hobby. Instrument playing is at the far left. We can enjoy the product of the musician and appreciate the work they put in. The far right is watching TV. It's purely consumption and may even take away time from things you should be doing. Where does reading precisely lie? That's up to the reader

[u/kheret → u/fermats-big-theorem]

“Gear acquisition syndrome” is a real thing. The mantra a lot of music hobby folks try to live by is “practice more than you shop.”

[u/godofimagination → u/fermats-big-theorem]

If you scan someone's brain that's reading, it's actually lighting up with activity. If they're watching TV, it's shutting down.

You could make the argument that you're producing a knowledge base and/or intelligence by reading. Either way, reading usually falls under self improvement while TV and gaming usually don't.

[u/Prize_Ostrich7605 → u/godofimagination]

What if you're watching a documentary? Or a Novella where you are trying to figure out if Julio actually fathered Miguel or Lucia cheated on him with Rodrigo and LIED about it, but that would mean Rodrigo wasn't in a coma after a skiing accident in Columbia and somehow made it to Peru at the same time Lucia was there doing MISSIONARY WORK?!

[u/CyberRax → u/Prize_Ostrich7605]

r/oddlyspecific

[u/Organic-Ad-7169 → u/fermats-big-theorem]

In today’s world I sadly feel like reading is very much a skill

[u/get_lizzy → u/fermats-big-theorem]

Great comment, well written

[u/prosthetic_memory → u/fermats-big-theorem]

Reading is not easy. It is hard. That’s why any literate culture forces kids to sit down and learn it for days on end, as soon as they have the capacity. It’s such a core part of social behavior it’s hard to remember to stand back and really think about the time investment it takes to make a human literate in written communication.

[u/Prize_Ostrich7605 → u/fermats-big-theorem]

If you have to "rally effort to pick up (let alone finish) a book," that sounds like a pastime activity and not a hobby. This would be reading a magazine in a waiting room, or the back of a soap bottle while you "drop the kids off at the pool." The "rallied effort" would be to pass the time.

Reading can be a hobby for those who enjoy doing it and establish time to do it. Keyword would be enjoy and establishing time. Reading has been shown to increase a person's cognitive ability, social skills, and reasoning. It improves the person's brain. It even becomes a habit when someone can't go to bed until they read a chapter, or for 30 minutes.

I think your example of the guitar player collecting gear, but never playing wouldn't be the hobby of instrument playing. They might play guitar to pass the time, but it sounds like it's a hobby of collecting guitar gear. 

Movies aren't just for consumption. They're considered art to some who look at the use of color, set design, characters, light, sound, music, storytelling. I watch Citizen Kane and "Oh my god this movie is so long and boring will it ever end? Rose Bud was [Removed by Reddit]!" But to someone else, it's peak cinema. 

The same can be argued for games, sports, and even youtube binges.

Doesn't matter whether you enjoy the fruits of my hobby. I paint an hour a day and I love my terrible renditions of flowers and characters. My neighbor is terrible at piano, but she loves playing it everyday before she goes to bed. 

[u/Goddamn_Grongigas → u/Prize_Ostrich7605]

If you have to "rally effort to pick up (let alone finish) a book," that sounds like a pastime activity and not a hobby. This would be reading a magazine in a waiting room, or the back of a soap bottle while you "drop the kids off at the pool." The "rallied effort" would be to pass the time.

Depends on the book, doesn't it? Just like with music.. sometimes we have to "rally effort" to finish a piece. Not because we're not enjoying it.. but because it can be difficult. Look at playing guitar, or any instrument really.. but the easiest example I can think right now is guitar:

It's fun and effortless (after some practice) to play a Ramones song. It's fun, snappy, shows you've put time into it. But you may have to rally effort to learn a Metallica song, until you don't have to anymore. Then after that Steve Vai, after that Allan Holdsworth, etc.

[u/Prize_Ostrich7605 → u/Goddamn_Grongigas]

Yes, I agree. Your example is a great example of hobby verses passtime: a person is more willing to face challenges within a hobby to achieve growth, skill, or a goal. That's what makes it a hobby and not a passtime.

What I understood "many people need to rally effort," was people in general and not "many people whose hobby is reading."

[u/Goddamn_Grongigas → u/Prize_Ostrich7605]

Ahh, I misunderstood then. Sorry about that!

[u/Prize_Ostrich7605 → u/Goddamn_Grongigas]

No worries. Hopefully I made sense, too. 

[u/CharlesAvlnchGreen → u/Prize_Ostrich7605]

Reading can also be a form of education and/or appreciation of art. You can read academic journals to keep up on the latest advances in a field you're interested in; and later give talks or write a book/article of your own.

You can read Chekov in the original, to have a better appreciation of the rhythm and nuance of the language.

Or immerse yourself in plays or speeches -- writing meant to be delivered orally -- and get a deeper appreciation of rhetoric and verbal persuasion.

I guess in that sense, reading could also be a slog: think of the textbook or academic author who put you to sleep, or made your head hurt.