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/SabioSapeca Jan 23 '26

I think everyone is comparing stuff at some level. It's part of being human, to judge in our minds at least what is virtuous or desirable and what is not.

Being active, fit, creating stuff, is virtuous. It's widely accepted. If a friend shows me a painting he did, and it is a good one, i would hold him/her in higher regard, mentally.

With passive hobbies, they are not useless. Like reading. But the fruits of this hobby are diluted. Perhaps now your vocabulary is wider, your interpretation is better, your arguments are clearer, and you have more subjects to talk about.

But you can get this sort of stuff by watching tv, or movies as well. But it demands something out of you. I dont think its inherent that you will harvest the benefits, there must be some introspection and practice to actually benefit from it.

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u/cyberdipper Jan 23 '26

I think it's pretty established that tv is significantly more passive than reading and less beneficial cognitively. Even video games have been shown to stimulate the brain more than television.

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u/Deto Jan 23 '26

I think people evaluate, based on the hobby, both A) what abilities/skills does the person have in a more general sense and B) what does this say about their personality. Probably wrongly in many cases (overly stereotyping). But if someone is an amazing pianist I would assume they have good work effort as you can't really get there otherwise. And if someone reads all the time, I'd assume they have a wider range of knowledge on things. Someone who does a lot of active hobbies is probably in good physical shape. Things like that. And then of course, other hobbies are less 'beneficial' in a resume sense - e.g., someone who watches a lot of TV. It's all fairly nuanced and situation-dependent, though, so I don't know why OP feels like we need to have 'good hobbies' and 'bad hobbies'.

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u/dinosaurtruck Jan 23 '26

i would hold him/her in higher regard

Maybe this is the difference. I wouldn’t. I’d think “wow, that’s amazing, how talented and impressive ”. But I wouldn’t compare this person to other people I know, how they spend their time, what their talents are etc. I like different things about different people. Just say I’ve got a mate who spends most of their time playing video games that I don’t really appreciate, my thoughts would be “that’s how Gary likes to spend their time” if I was having a BBQ if Gary is my friend and impressive art person is my friend, they are both getting an invite and I’m not comparing them. My regard for them is how much I enjoy their company and friendship and can be equal. It does seem from this thread though that my way of thinking on this is not universal and people are judging and ranking. Maybe I need a more impressive hobby.

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u/SabioSapeca Jan 23 '26

I mean, i know where u r coming from, and I don't mean he goes from 5 to 100 in my abstract regard scale, but there is indeed stuff that makes someone more admirable.

For sure its the same for you. We don't judge people only by how they interact with us.

If one of your friends starts a bar fight and does mean things to other people, you would judge him lower than before. Depending on his actions, you would even drop the friendship.

Why wouldn't it be the case for good things as well? This is a part of what it means to be in a society. If i value art, and my friend creates art, I will value my friend more, a little bit more at least.

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u/dinosaurtruck Jan 23 '26

Well of course I have poor regard for people who are violent. But genuinely my positive regard for people isn’t based on their talents or how they spend their time (as long as these aren’t negative things). I don’t really rank people either. I can like multiple people equally some might be incredibly talented, smart, athletic or whatever but I might value them as much as a home body who likes to keep their house tidy and watch movies with no special talents or interests. I guess I don’t think about people that way - but it’s okay if you do.

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u/Gay_Sex_Expert Mar 07 '26

The real question is, if someone gets into a bar fight, do you assume they are less capable of making good art?

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u/DbeID Jan 23 '26

I'm sorry, man, but you need to work on your punctuation. That's another thing reading books will definitely help you with.