My initial thought is video games, everything has pros and cons, sure. However, it feels like anyone not into video games views them extrodinarly negatively. Any other hobbies parallel to that in your opinion?
Collecting funko pops or figures in general. It’s kind of like watching cartoons as an adult, where people buy figures of their interests for display. There’s some art there to the figures themselves and even the funko pops. Why do you have to immediately make it your business to shame others for collecting them? They say it’s contributing to the landfill and all that shit. Well, that is if they’re buying the figures to destroy them or burning the vinyl plastic itself for no reason.
But that’s not what they’re doing, so get over it.
Consumerism can be problematic as a hobby, both to oneself and to others.
Not really looked down on, but every time I mention that I have an indoor greenhouse everyone assumes I’m growing pot.
How much are your electric costs for the greenhouse per month?
Even when I say I’m growing strawberries, people think I’m growing cannabis.
I mean, I’m not growing strawberries and most definitely growing cannabis, however it’s the insinuation!Not really looked down on
You mean near universally championed as cool?
Isn’t a greenhouse by definition indoors?
It could be a glass building outdoors instead.
Yes, and that makes the plants in a greenhouse indoors. Or is an “indoor greenhouse” just a greenhouse placed inside larger house?
That’s the definition I’d normally use, the greenhouse is the space the plants are kept in and if that space is inside a building it’s an indoor greenhouse, if it’s an independent structure it’s an outdoor greenhouse.
The greenhouse itself is not indoors.
Of course not, a greenhouse needs to be exposed to the sun. I think people are looking for “out building” and “attached building”.
And if you have houseplants, is your house then an indoor greenhouse?
No, my house is definitely outdoors.
Is your ganja good, though?
Asking the important questions.
I see that you didn’t say that you weren’t growing pot
Yes, but it’s still rude of us to assume that.
It is polite to pretend that we would grow something else, if we had a greenhouse.
(Edit: this is sarcasm. I think iIt’s really only awkward because the laws for growers are shit.)
Only rude if you think it’s rude. Growing your own drugs is, in fact, smart and powerful.
Yes. Sorry, untagged sarcasm. I’ll update.
Video games are a bigger industry than Hollywood now, are they really looked down upon still?
Now that there are parents that grew up as gamers, it’s settled down some, but many still consider watching TV or movies for a few hours more respectable than playing games for a few hours.
If you were to poll 100 people you’d probably have a generally favorable view. Those not in favor though are wildly anti, look at the people still pointing at it in relation to real world violence. I also have a good bit of anecdotal experience in which it’s considered everything from a complete time waste to an actively highly harmful behavior.
I would tend to think that the escapist and addictive qualities of some games contribute to negative perceptions. There really are gamers that take it too far, for the worse.
But on the whole, I believe studies show that gaming in moderation has a host of healthy benefits.
Yes.
The difference is between “things that are acceptable to do” vs “things that are acceptable hobbies.”
It’s like saying “I watch trashy tv as a hobby” - it implies that it takes up a considerable amount of your time, you put a non-negligible amount of effort or money into it, you might be trying to improve at it, or you consider this a significant part of your identity. It isn’t just “how you unwind” or “a guilty pleasure” - it is a significant part of your life.
What is the difference between acceptable and unacceptable hobbies? Acceptable hobbies improve the individual engaged in them and the world around them, while unacceptable hobbies degrade the individual and the world around them (as measured by the amorphous cultural consensus of the time). Hence:
Acceptible hobbies:
- Woodworking
- Cooking
- Soccer
- Dancing
- Painting
- Gardening
- Reading
- Playing the guitar
These hobbies have the effect of making the individual more active, more social, more creative, and more learned, while also often providing things to others.
Unacceptable hobbies:
- Watching TV
- Playing video games
- Drinking
- Smoking
- Gambling
These hobbies have, at best, a neutral effect on the individual or society.
Of course, many here will be offended, and will say “hey, I use gaming as my main form of social interaction with friends who live on the other side of the country - you’re making invalid assumptions here!” Well, sure - but this isn’t about my personal opinion of gaming. It is about society as a whole’s general perception of it. Argue with me all you want - it doesn’t change the perception of all of society.
Similarly, many will rightly point out “Hey, that middle aged mom spends hours every day on Candy Crush! I shouldn’t be judged any worse than her!” Sure - but again, she doesn’t consider Candy Crush to be a hobby. It is just something to kill dead time in her day. She might be an addict - but she isn’t admitting it, even to herself.
Yeah, but one person’s “drinking” is another persons “collecting and curating vintage wines”. There’s a whole lot of leeway with the “unacceptable” hobbies depending on prestige. Gaming itself has a spectrum there; candy crush isn’t really a hobby, a collection of rare arcade machines definitely is.
And I don’t necessarily get a great reaction to my productive hobbies, either, if they’re not correctly culture coded.
Edit: Somehow me deep diving on Wikipedia doesn’t count, but the next person over gets plaudits for trashy novels, because they’re on trees. That’s a pretty direct inversion.
Yes.
My point wasn’t to categorize certain hobbies as necessarily good or bad in a moralistic, but to explain which things are socially acceptable to have as hobbies. I don’t decide what is socially acceptable. Society does. I am just observing and explaining my observations.
I just don’t observe that myself, though.
If that was the way it worked, it would make sense, but in reality it’s all about some kind of social pecking order and posing within it.
I mean, if that’s the way you want to look at it, go ahead. It doesn’t seem like a very friendly world to live in, but you are welcome to it. However, here is how I look at it.
Humans observe other humans. They see humans doing things that are good for themselves and others, and they see humans doing things that are bad for themselves and others. They lump these actions into broad categories with only the necessary nuance needed to live their own personal lives. Then when they hear of a human who greatly values doing things in one of those categories, their interest in interacting more with that human increases or decreases based on their preconcieved notion of the thing. Humans communicate with each other, sharing information. And via communication through all of society, broad cultural consenses emerge about the acceptableness or unacceptableness of being heavily invested in a certain activity.
So the thing to realize is that if you feel like you are often socially rejected when you talk about your hobbies, it may just be that you need to rephrase them, and they will become very interesting to others. For example, if you like reading about history on Wiki, you can say “I like to learn about history”, and this might lead to a discussion of horse technology in the Mongol empire or something.
And if someone else says they like reading, but only actually read the most basic trash novels - well whatever. That’s not your problem. You are too busy talking about horse mounted archery.
Ok Boomer.
lol rekt
I am into most of those “acceptable hobbies” but would throw reading and gaming into the same bucket. I read, the kids game and both engage your mind. Husband watches TV to unwind and that seems much less mentally engaging to me.
@Korhaka@sopuli.xyz homebrewing to me falls squarely into Cooking category. I also put cocktail making, and any fermentation in cooking. So “drinking” as a hobby isn’t necessarily passive, can be creative like cooking. Putting Drinking in unacceptable hobbies, they might as well include Eating. The consuming of it isn’t creative but the creation of the food & drink is. Also learning about wine, etc.
I’d agrue that it is about social perception, not reality. If you say your hobby is reading, everyone assumes you are reading Steinbeck, and if your hobby is gaming, you must be playing COD.
Also, saying “I’m a foodie” is socially acceptable - people might think you’re pretentious, but will understand there is a level of intellectual engagement, skill, learning, and exploration that goes into it. If you say “my hobby is eating”, on the other hand, they will be a bit nonplussed, and might imagine you taking great pride in eating 200 McNuggets in one sitting. Same with “I like wine tastings” or “I’m a brewer” vs “I like drinking”; or “I like to dance” vs “I go clubbing.”
Where does homebrewing using ingredients I grew in my garden sit on the scale of acceptable/unacceptable? Would be nice to get into beekeeping but it looks like the entry costs are quite high for something I have absolutely no idea about. Also my garden is tiny.
If you build Warré hives and/or trap your own bees it can be very cheap. Trapping takes patience though and is easier in certain climates.
I don’t have a workshop so ability for making things is somewhat limited but might take a look at options. Got a folding saw and that is it for cutting wood, it certainly won’t be a perfectly straight cut and I more use it for cutting small branches.
Perhaps it would be possible to come up with something though without spending too much. Trapping the bees does make that free which is rather appealing. Unsure what sort of success rate that would have in my garden.
Warré hives are specifically designed to be built with simple tools. I believe a saw and a drill/screwdriver is all you need. Cuts don’t need to be perfectly straight and there is no fine woodworking like you need for Langstroth hives with frames.
I think all these things fall squarely into “socially acceptable”.
I think bee keeping is super neat! But as you said, can be expensive. And from what I’ve heard, can be more difficult than you anticipate due to modern pathogens.
At the end of the day, you should just do what you think is cool and what interests you. But maybe just don’t list DOTA on your Hinge profile.
Pretty much anything that’s considered “childish”. Apart from video games, Lego comes to mind.
Lego comes to mind.
Yes. I’ve found that an open positive comment about Lego can create a sudden mini community of adults who don’t get to talk about their Lego habit often enough.
Anecdotally, the raw data I have encountered seems to indicate that absolutely everyone who can afford any level of Lego habit, has a Lego habit.
I’ve met maybe two people who are too busy with their hardcore 10000 piece jigsaw puzzle habit to get into Lego.
I’m an adult who could afford it, but I don’t. Out of fear of being judged. :(
Aw. Sorry if you feel you are missing out.
Seeing a Lego set on display (or in pieces) has only ever raised my opinion of people.
Any children’s TV show, anyone who still watches My Little Pony as an adult is seen either as childish or as a creep (if male).
Because it is weird, to be honest. There’s no shame in watching children’s cartoons in general, but the problem is when people go out of their way to promote it. A lot of us don’t really need to know, especially those that go the extra mile to re-create their saturday morning routines down to wearing PJs and eating cereal to watch cartoons. If you’re going to put that out there, then you can’t expect people to not judge you a little over it or get a head tilt.
There are just somethings that should be reserved and enjoyed in private.
Lego is a great one, good answer.
Watching Youtube videos. It’s as good as college for anyone with a little savvy. I’ll bet that Youtube employs more PHD philosophers than any three universities.
It’s as good as college
No, it’s not. I’ve heard this line from a few conspiracy and woo groups like flat-Earthers and Pleiadians. I’m not saying you are one of those folks, but those are the people who are most vocal about the idea. They believe that just because the information is presented, they’ll become the experts for passively consuming it. But since they’ve never been to school beyond high school, they’re missing the entire school context, the study culture, the discipline, the challenges to prove your knowledge, the hands-on experience, the contents of the lectures from the point of view of top professionals, and the guidance that a university offers.
There may be a few prodigies out there who really learn the material on their own, and that’s amazing. But for the typical person, the effort and perseverance required is so demanding that they won’t realistically stick with it before it becomes incredibly overwhelming and tedious, especially while on a platform known for its distractions.
Sad to say, but YT’s quickly going down the tubes lately for anything with any kind of substance as slop content is promoted over anything actually good nowadays.
Ha! Employed PHD Philosophers. That’s a good one!
Depends a lot on what you are watching
Yeah, when you say ‘I like watching YouTube’ sounds exactly like ‘I like watching Tiktok’.
You have to say it differently: I like to watch online learning content. :).
What are your to ho channels?
Juggalos
That’s not a hobby. That’s degeneracy.
- You are doing exactly what the OP was talking about, looking down on something harmless
- “Degenerate/degeneracy” are literal Nazi words and you should probably stop using them [Edit: formatting weirdness]
They all seem like teddy bears to me. Maybe SMELLY teddy bears, but still.
Toys collecting. Especially dolls and or stuffed animals.
When a guy collects Pokémon figures, that’s fine and cool.
However when I like to buy myself Bratz dolls and Hello Kitty stuff and cute plushies, I’m told I am childish and I need to grow up🙄😒
Both things are uncool
That’s just your opinion 😊
I don’t care about being cool. I collect childhood things because they make me happy.
I mean, you do you. I only talked about it because you posted about it. I’m very much “w/e none of my business” about that kind of stuff irl
Yeah, I feel like a massive Pokemon figurine collection would put a guy in the nerd/kidult basket as well. Of course, people should just mind their own business and let others do what they like.
Oh yeah no, I totally wear the kidult label with pride.
You will rarely ever see me without any emotion support plushie in tote
Plushies rock.
Well… everything with art, in switzerland, work = your destiny culture stuff is only here for getting hammered mostly
Legal porn
Fair
Illegal porn, if you’re in Saudi Arabia.
Talking to yourself
So long as you’re not arguing, its a non issue.
So long as you’re not arguing, its a non issue.
Well… Shit.
Off to therapy I suppose.
Is it an argument if only one voice disagrees?
I remember video games having a helluva stigma when I was a kid in school. People mocked me for playing Pokemon. If you were to look at them now, they probably play it religiously.
That aside, I feel like tabletop miniatures get similar dislike. Some people are like “That’s cool” but the common layman just think it’s playing with expensive toys.
Skateboarding
poll dancing
People get together and dance when they vote? Weird - no shade or anything but haven’t heard of that before.
I would blame this on autocorrect but lord knows I don’t use my phone for anything. Take your upvote
Sounds like a great idea for naming a “get out and vote” event.
Masturbating in private.
I know it isn’t what you meant, but my head keeps putting the emphasis on the “in private” part, like everyone is fine with it in public, but those weird-o’s doing it in private are disgusting.
I think thats a whole thing somewhere in San Diego
weird-o’s
Why is there an hyphen here? o.O
Csa prevention and looking to the researches related to risk groups, listening to those we are seeing as risk groups as a society. I know this is more higher risk than video games, but methinks it has also can be more positive stuff as well if you do not romanticize certain things.
- Billionaires
