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I don't understand why more adults don't have awesome hobbies... most of my childhood friends don't seem to do anything fun now as adults. I really love physic

• switch007 3y ago
  If I could afford a bigger house with a big garden, shed, garage etc I'd definitely have way more hobbies like woodworking etc (UK here)
• JKCalhoun 3y ago
  Yeah, sure can name a lot of friends that consume: mainly gaming and streaming. Has the curve on the creator/consumer axis shifted in recent times or has it always been skewed toward consuming? Or is there instead a social axis that has been waning recently? I'm thinking of the once popular Bridge card game or bowling leagues as examples...
  • gravescale 3y ago
    I think it's always been about the same. Shakespeare wrote plays watched by hundreds who mostly didn't write plays, Mozart's music halls were full of people who mostly didn't compose, Austen's novels were read by people who mostly didn't write novels. Maybe it's become easier to consume incredible amounts of content for free recently, but it's also never been easier to make things if you want, either in terms of access to cheap materials and tools or instructional content. Perhaps the one thing that has waned a little is closer-knit forums that have been replaced with endless Reddit.
  • parpfish 3y ago
    One of my theories is that the internet and socialmedia exposes everybody to examples of elite talents and raises the bar too much for performance based hobbies. Playing the piano poorly can be a fun and worthwhile hobby even if you’ll never be as good as the people you see online. And then there a collecting based hobbies* which have been ruined by being able buy rare things from anywhere in a click. Now getting a stamp collection isn’t a pursuit, it’s just an afternoon on eBay with your credit card. *one exception here is birdwatching, which I’ve anecdotally seen a huge increase in. Almost all my friends are aware of Merlin and many Hanna the habit to stop to ask “what’s that” if they see an unfamiliar bird
    • _yb2s 3y ago
      I found my enjoyment of a hobby goes way up if I just do it, and don't talk about it online, document/photograph it, or follow people online doing it better than me (unless I am learning a specific technique from them, e.g. watching a how-to video). Social media totally shifts and ruins our experience of things: it becomes a performance to impress others rather than actually fun itself. Once I realized that- I realized the people everyone envies online aren't even having fun, or actually enjoying the hobby. That person doing extreme camping on Instagram with the most glamorous photos: it's 100% fake. They're lugging camera equipment to remote places, and likely bringing a professional paid photographer. They probably tore it all down and slept in a hotel after setting up camp for the photo.
  • underlipton 3y ago
    Gaming is cheap, has low space and physical set-up requirements, and holds loads of potential for creativity, self-expression, and positive socializing. The FGC in particular embodies this.
  • ahartman00 3y ago
    I remember in math class in high school, we had a project where we analyzed hours of tv watching per day. Quite a few people watched like 6 hours of tv a day. I'd say its been heavily skewed towards consuming for a while. I would also say that gaming and watching streams can have a social aspect too, though that depends. If anything there is more of a social aspect? At least for me I talk to people on twitch regularly.
• colecut 3y ago
  If you inherited woodworking tools from your grandfather, I'm assuming that either your grandfather or father taught you some woodworking skills? I grew up on the computer since I was a preteen. My dad moved 2000 miles away when I was 11. Every job I've ever had since I was 14 was web/software related and I am nearly 39. I feel like I have no practical skills outside of computers and the idea of building things with my hands or using power tools just fills me with anxiety. I wish I knew how to break out of the mindset.
  • gravescale 3y ago
    Start small. Maybe just a little model kit. You can get incredibly cheap model kits these days. Get used to the idea that you can start with "bits" and end with "things", and you have agency over that process.
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  • parpfish 3y ago
    Start simple. Watch a YouTube video. Plan on failing a few times in ways you don’t expect. Remember that this is a hobby so the stake are low.
  • culopatin 3y ago
    Don’t let that be a brake on your enjoyment though. I always liked cars and I do have an affinity for tinkering. But I didn’t know anything about fabrication. I got me a welder and many YouTube videos and hours later I was making stainless exhausts. It was a very enjoyable experience. Just stumbling through is most of the fun.
    • _yb2s 3y ago
      Awesome. I usually have luck with things like this, but seem to have no gift for welding. I could never get a clean bead from my cheap welder, and ended up even taking a community college welding class... the instructor could lay a clean bead with my welder, but I couldn't and eventually decided to just pay professionals to weld for me when my hobbies require it. I still can't tell what I was doing wrong. I even made an exhaust system for my car, but the welds were so bad it leaked a lot. Nowadays, I'll set everything up, cut/buy the metal, etc. and usually for under $100 have someone come over and do the actual welding for me.
• toomuchtodo 3y ago
  What time is left after work, kids, sleep, and personal obligations for the median adult? Awesome hobbies are awesome! But they require time, and in some cases, financial resources.
  • vbezhenar 3y ago
    And many hobbies require space. I'd love to do some woodworking but I don't have any space for that. I live in small flat. Of course nothing money couldn't solve, but buying huge house with workshop is another level of expenses and requires lifestyle changes as well.
    • _yb2s 3y ago
      There are makerspaces and the like- I'm a member of a low cost DIY-centric yacht club where people maintain and build their own boats, and we have a full woodworking shop that is shared/free. We have programs to make membership free for young people and those that can't afford it. You can also make friends with people that have the equipment for just about any hobby, and do it with them for free. I used to buy/sell/repair cars as an undergrad in college both for fun and spare money, and did it on the side of public roads, and outside in a low budget apartment parking lot. For many equipment-intensive hobbies, you can also take classes, e.g. at a local community college or community center, which are taught in places with all of the equipment provided.
    • SaltPork 3y ago
      Think smaller, try whittling a spoon. All you need is a sharp knife, you could buy a kit that come with a knife and a spoon gouge(it makes life easier). Pick up a stick and carve something. Or buy blanks, the BORG(big orange retail giant) will have carving material. The obscene idea is that whatever hobby you pick up you must master, be great at it. Fail a lot at your hobby and learn from the mistakes. Perfection in your hobbies comes from the time you spent failing. This is the time you should long after a hectic day, week or month, a time to fail. Once in a while you will create something you love, it probably won't even be good. It doesn't matter. Your not making a dollar on your hobby(do not try to), your carving your mind and body into a better person. After work, after kids, after exercise, I've spent many nights just carving wood into what ever I feel like. Spoons, forks, etc. Many of them suck, many have been used to keep me warm on a cool night, none have expected anything from me, its always there when I have time and the will. I've also suggest some cut gloves as well, you need your digits for the next time you decide to pick up your hobby.
• underlipton 3y ago
  >I don't understand why more adults don't have awesome hobbies... If the prerequisites for having awesome hobbies are, "Having a garage," "Inheriting tools from one's grandparents," and "Having the time do something with both," there would be your answer.
  • _yb2s 3y ago
    There are tons of hacker labs, maker spaces, community colleges, etc. that have woodworking courses and materials in shared places available for cheap or free. The old tools I have are outdated and undesirable. They could be found for under $100 on Craigslist (or more likely free), and fit against the back wall of a 1 car garage- I can still park a car in there and use them in front of the car. My entire "shop" area is smaller than a regular dinner table or workdesk, and I have to shuffle things around and reconfigure the entire space each time I switch tools. For example, I have a table saw that is also the only workbench, and I have a drill press bolted on top of it, so it takes 10-15 minutes to actually clear the saw to make a single cut. I am also a single parent with a high stress/demanding job and my free time is limited- I've been building a very small 6' dinghy with my son for almost a year, and we're only 1/3rd of the way done but we're having fun. I actually felt a little stupid accepting these tools and setting up a space for them, when I later realized that I already had free access to several local community woodshops through a few different mechanisms... I am thinking about getting rid of some or all of the tools and using those instead. I think it's pretty easy to make excuses for why something is impossible, but if people really wanted to, almost anyone could do it. The average teenager in the USA buys themselves single outfits of clothing that cost more than the basics to get into woodworking. Most Americans have streaming and Amazon Prime subscriptions that cost a lot more than I spend on woodworking- and I don't have any subscriptions like that.
  • JR1427 3y ago
    In my opinion these are absolutely not prerequisites. I built many things at my desk or the kitchen table in our flat with very simple tools. Even a single Swiss Army knife can be used to achieve a lot. And you don't need a lot of time to make small things. It can be easy to be jealous of the DIY YouTubers with massive workshops (I'm jealous!), but I find it more satisfying to take inspiration from the kinds of simple things people make/made in simpler societies/civilisations.
• sevagh 3y ago
  > I don't understand why more adults don't have awesome hobbies... most of my childhood friends don't seem to do anything fun now as adults. I get more enjoyment whole-assing one thing than half-assing many, in my case. Not to say hobbies aren't cool - I know somebody that built an entire guitar starting from wood - but I'd rather spend that time going even further in my main thing. "Majoring in the minors" or whatever. I hope it doesn't come across as some sigma grindset stuff, it's not that I suppress my urge to have fun hobbies - I just feel happier and more secure incrementally building on my main career than creating a new persona for an activity I'm indifferent to.
• JR1427 3y ago
  I just can't help but pick up projects, and these really keep me going. I suppose I crave satisfaction much more than relaxation. I find it very hard to relax by just chilling on a beach, or reading a book in the afternoon. I just want to work on a project. What I find really fun is that often when I'm working on a project, my 5 year old daughter will get in to a project mindset herself, and will be working on her own thing (sticky tape, cardboard, etc), while I'm fixing a bicycle or building something. It's a really fun companionable time, where we're both working on our own thing, but in each other's company.
• fullshark 3y ago
  Exhaustion
• galdosdi 3y ago
  Because they are too busy watching TV or playing with their phones. Everyone used to have a lot more time, now "nobody has time" even tho life was much harder 100yrs ago yet those ppl found plenty of time for all kinds of social and volunteer events. It's the time sucking media leaving no time to be bored and thus motivated to seek out stimulation > don't understand why more adults don't have awesome hobbies...