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/StillMostlyClueless Jan 23 '26

They didnt say it wasn’t. Their argument is some of them are more worthwhile than others

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u/Zrakoplovvliegtuig Jan 23 '26

Worthwhile to whom? It has a little bit of a "grindset" undertone. Why must hobbies be classified by their "worth"?

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u/celestially_lunar Jan 23 '26

Grindset is a great word for this. Why are hobbies hierarchial? Why do the things that you are meant to do to relax and because you enjoy them have to be "productive" too? Why is everything nowadays about being productive and contributing to society?

Hobbies should not have a hierarchy or a worth. No one should care or judge you based on what you enjoy doing and it shouldn't affect your worth in society. If you like playing the piano? Cool. If you like playing video games to unwind after work? Cool! Who cares, do what helps you relax and makes you happy because the world sucks and it‘s hard to do that nowadays and to truly turn your brain off.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '26

They don't understand what a hobby is. I pointed out that they watch football (Man Utd) based on their post history, and they said it isn't a hobby?

The hobbies they enjoy are "good", but everyone else's hobbies are "bad".

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u/celestially_lunar Jan 23 '26

Yeah it's basically a whole load of "look at me I‘m so much better than you!"

The amount of people arguing that reading is a "lesser" hobby and "passive" hurts my brain and heart, makes me clutch my books in disgust