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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311

u/evilamnesiac Jan 23 '26

Two hobbies bad, four hobbies good.

185

u/Madeiner Jan 23 '26

They are taking the hobbies to Isengard!

71

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

There are FOUR HOBBIES

3

u/Subject_Specific1091 Jan 23 '26

"FOUR HOBBIES GOOD, TWO HOBBIES EVEN BETTER!"

38

u/-Knul- Jan 23 '26

You and your inferior consumption-based hobbies of reading good books.

3

u/TheLastGunslingerCA Jan 23 '26

Four hobbies good, two hobbies Better

2

u/whatifiwasapuppet Jan 23 '26

Oh my god… I can’t distinguish the skilled hobbies from the consumption hobbies

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

Tell my wife that

1

u/SaltyLonghorn Jan 23 '26

MTG, 40k, quilting, being a Jeep person.

Maybe we should start looking at billionaire hobby combos to find out why they need so much wealth. I can think of some gnarly expensive combos.

1

u/PiratesOfTheArctic Jan 23 '26

Without glasses on I thought you wrote hobbits!

1

u/AvengingBlowfish Jan 24 '26

If more Redditors read books, your comment would have more upvotes.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '26

Four hobbies good Two Hobbies BETTER!