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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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.https://twitter.com/joeld/status/1319056324139880449 …
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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.https://twitter.com/egoshiner/status/1319064814044459017 …
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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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My point was more that it's not about the activity but the perception around you doing it. Pretty much anything can be a hobby, but for some it becomes a competition (hobby + social status) or a job (hobby + money) depending on how you approach it.
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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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Corollary 1 - (2) and to some extent (5) explain the British revulsion to professional sports - which lasted in some ways until the 90s
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