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Defining the idea of a “hobby” is surprisingly hard For example you might think low risk is part of it but many hobbies are high risk, like sailing. More so than dangerous professions. Or low impact. Many of the biggest inventions came from hobbyist tinkering.
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The best I have so far is: an activity pursued with surplus time and resources, inoculated from considerations of practical returns.
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A lot of hobbyists spend ruinous amounts on hobbies, to the detriment of arguably more important things like say health or marriage or kids’ needs. So I don’t know if ex-ante low-stakes is correct. 🤔
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Replying to @vgr
ex-ante low stakes, reward wise.
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You also do other things in your leisure time, such as spend time with friends/family, watch movies, work on startups, take vacations... so leisure is necessary but not sufficient.
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Replying to @vgr
I always thought the distinction was just that it’s something you do in your leisure time.
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Hmm. This is an intriguing line of thought and I think on to something. Though hobbyist communities can have status contests too, they are easily avoided. You generally don’t need a community to pursue most hobbies.
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Replying to @vgr
First snap thought is hobbies don't seem to affect your social status. They aren't risky in a way that success/failure isn't tied to others perception of you.
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Ok yeah, skill or knowledge seems necessary. So take 2: activity pursued with surplus time and resources, without regard to material reward or social status, and involving developing a skill or gaining knowledge.
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Replying to @joeld and @vgr
There must also be a skill- or knowledge- (or asset- in the case of collectors, maybe) gaining component
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There’s also an element of contentment andcrelaxation. The opposite of existential angst or neurotic striving.
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Hmm. Some truth to this though I think historically they were unironically called hobbies. This is a zizekian definition a la cynicism as a form of ideology. It’s only a hobby if pursued with some ironic distance from the unironic base concept.
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Replying to @vgr
This is because nobody ever goes into a "hobby" labeling it as such, it's a label applied purely from an outsider perspective. For the practitioner himself its usually more like an vortex that just pulled you in.
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Some shit shouldn’t be considered hobbies: reading, listening to music, traveling, video games, cooking, playing most sports. Consumption isn’t a hobby. They’re non-hobby leisure pastimes. Once it’s too common it’s no longer a hobby.
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Replying to
This doesn't sound right to me. Golf is a hobby, right? And golf is extremely tied to social status. Hell, I once declined to join a World of Warcraft guild with new game-industry co-workers because I was worried that poor performance would embarrass me and impact my status.
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Golf is pursued as a hobby by people of a certain class, but typically not to gain status. If it is, then it’s closer to business networking or signaling. Intent matters in distinguishing hobbies I think.
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My mental model 1 uses surplus time / energy 2 doesn’t directly confer status / wealth 3 requires special knowledge / skills 4 has an implicit skills based hierarchy- more witches than wizards 5 rewards are intrinsic not extrinsic
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