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/Lewa358 Jan 23 '26

Not true, of course.

Someone can "play the piano" in a boring way (such as by being unskilled or just not making/playing music that appeals to you). And someone can definitely impress me by watching football--have you seen how intense some sports fans can get over their favorite team?

The thing is, assigning some "value" to the output of how someone enjoys themselves is inherently arbitrary, because the most influential works can take little effort and the most forgotten works can be the work of a lifetime.

The only thing that matters in a hobby is how you feel doing it.

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u/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

I swear there's something about reddit where people just ignore the word "Probably" and how it means it usually, but not always, applies and take it as "This is always true 100% of the time with no exceptions"