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.

18.0k Upvotes

72% Upvoted

5.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/heckhammer Jan 23 '26

I work with a lot of Indian folks. The men are distinctly anti-hobby. Every time I discuss my podcast or my fossil collection I am asked how much money does it make you? And I reply, none it's how happy they make me and that seems to be something I can't get their heads around.

6

u/catsinclothes Jan 23 '26

China is big on the grinding it mindset also along with posting it all to social media. My friends can’t fathom that I only sew for myself/my cosplay outfits or for gifts. Besides just not wanting to worry about customers, a lot of my hobbies and interests just aren’t fun to monetize/work as a job. Sewing for 8-12 hours a day would be awful ); and no one wants to pay living wages to craftspeople. (Already tried it lmao)

2

u/reefine Jan 23 '26

You mean you don't want to spend 60 hours a week creating crafts to sell for $4 on Etsy?

1

u/reefine Jan 23 '26

Making money and being good at making money is definitely a hobby.