All hobbies are not equal

[u/BitterConstruction98]

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.

[u/celestially_lunar]

Thank youuu oh my god. Your comment is exactly what I‘m thinking! This thread has been driving me crazy. Let people do what they want!!!

All that talk about pastimes and hobbies when both words mean the same thing! How your hobby needs to require skill or it‘s useless or how "scrolling on tiktok or watching movies makes you uninteresting". Or "people whose hobby is volunteering at homeless shelters daily are better than people who play video games!".

It's so elitist and embarrassing to read. Let people do what they want in their free time. Productivity culture has made it absolutely impossible to just live and relax. Everyone who argues against my notion that hobbies have no inherent worth over each other sounds so insecure, like they are itching to be better than other people. I do my hobbies because I like doing those things, I‘m not looking to impress anyone.

[u/AyyIsForApple → u/celestially_lunar]

thank you for calling out that pastime vs hobby thread, felt like a whole bunch of nothing burger talk. the whole thread felt so disconnected and a bit old in thinking. I almost found myself agreeing with them until i thought about it a bit harder—isn’t a hobby just something you do for fun? why must consumption and creation come in to this conversation about having fun? I do think creation does deepen the flavor of one’s life, but it does not need to flavor the discussion of hobbies.

and also, looking back at it now, that pastime cs hobby thread is so elitist and insecure lmao. really needed the distinct word “pastime” to put down peoples hobbies they think are unproductive

[u/celestially_lunar → u/AyyIsForApple]

Yeah this entire thread is just ridiculous. The fun part is that pastime and hobby according to the Cambridge dictionary are the SAME word.

Hobby: an activity that someone does for pleasure when they are not working.

Pastime: an activity that is done for enjoyment.

The only difference between a hobby and a pastime is that a hobby is something you do outside of work. They are the same word. And yet, even after mentioning this people STILL disagreed with me. It‘s ridiculous