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Almost everything you can do on your own is a "solved problem". Why go into woodworking if you can buy an Ikea stool? The point of hobbies isn't to solve proble

Almost everything you can do on your own is a "solved problem". Why go into woodworking if you can buy an Ikea stool? The point of hobbies isn't to solve problems - that's called a job - but to learn and have fun. Find a niche where you can resist the temptation to constantly compare yourself to eight billion other people on the internet. Something where success isn't measured in Github stars, Youtube likes, or Reddit upvotes. Once you get in that mindset, almost anything goes. I know people who collect RPN calculators and are having a blast. All kinds of hands-on crafts are great too. I like making electronic music and I'm pretty bad at it.

bananaflag 6mo ago
> Almost everything you can do on your own is a "solved problem". Not everything. Take cooking, one of the most basic hobbies. It's easy to come up with recipes that you enjoy that you cannot order anywhere. Or the comment here about designing your own clothes, same idea.
- rgoulter 6mo ago
  OP's post features he wants "that isn't absolutely crowded that I could meaningfully contribute to." I could read that as: wanting to do something interesting that others would benefit from. Though, I don't really think that's a good reason to filter out things to be enthusiastic about.
awkwardleon 6mo ago
I like Kurt Vonnegut's take on this: “When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.” And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.” And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”
- wazHFsRy 6mo ago
  Thank you for sharing that. I am going to save this one. Does that work for you? Could you shift from winning at things to just doing them?
  - kakacik 6mo ago
    I can attest to this, in my own way. I had a headstart since nobody ever pushed me, parents werent competitive fuckups and thus their child wasnt. I do climbing, hiking, skiing, skitouring, diving, weightlifting, used to do paragliding, now trying to pick up wind surfing. None of those sports on high level, just keeping it cca the same. Climbing is a good example since every climbing route is exactly graded for overall difficulty. Over years I even went down a bit from levels I used to do. I just go to the gym or rock, enjoy even the simplest routes that some consider for beginners, despite doing sport for 15 years. Many folks around keep pushing themselves hard to progress, I just dont have that bug. Exactly same could be said for weightlifting, found my set of free weights values and just keep doing them. If I feel extra strong I may do few extra reps but thats it. I was even mocked here for saying this but who cares, I do it for myself and not to impress or do stupid empty status games with others. Its very sustainable that way too.
    - wazHFsRy 6mo ago
      That sounds awesome! I basically do all the same sports, but I always need to win or to get better at them. I am trying to move in your direction though.
aksss 6mo ago
What defines hobbies is not what or why you do it, but when you do it. The phenomenon of hobbies has been mulled over quite a bit - activities that engage many disciplines of an actual job, activities that for other people actually are jobs. The key difference in the nature of a hobby is that we do the activities on our own schedule - we are in no way compelled to do them but have complete ownership over the execution.
hn_throwaway_99 6mo ago
I totally agree with what you've written - "comparison is the thief of joy" is one of my favorite mantras. That said, hobbies can be remarkably useful because they allow you to create or engage in something that is uniquely tailored to your own personal interests, and the modern economy often doesn't provide that level of personalization, or if it does it's extremely expensive. E.g. the other commenter that decided to design his own clothes because mass produced clothing is really just tailored to "average".
globular-toast 6mo ago
I agree with the point but it's worth noting there are plenty of things you can build from wood that you can't buy from IKEA.
justonceokay 6mo ago
That’s a dour outlook. I don’t cook to be the best at it, I cook to feed my friends. I don’t sing to be the best at it, I do it so I can have fun at karaoke. I don’t boulder to climb mountains, I do it because it makes me feel healthy. I don’t bike to win races, I bike because it’s the fastest way to get around my temperate city. I’m a worse cross-stitcher than my sister but I like that she teaches me. I go to music festivals because it’s the only place you can easily dance for 8 hours straight. I’ve never taken a dance lesson but regularly am asked to join in because I’m having fun! The comparison is the problem, not the skill.

bananaflag 6mo ago

> Almost everything you can do on your own is a "solved problem". Not everything. Take cooking, one of the most basic hobbies. It's easy to come up with recipes that you enjoy that you cannot order anywhere. Or the comment here about designing your own clothes, same idea.

rgoulter 6mo ago
OP's post features he wants "that isn't absolutely crowded that I could meaningfully contribute to." I could read that as: wanting to do something interesting that others would benefit from. Though, I don't really think that's a good reason to filter out things to be enthusiastic about.

awkwardleon 6mo ago

I like Kurt Vonnegut's take on this: “When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.” And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.” And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”

wazHFsRy 6mo ago
Thank you for sharing that. I am going to save this one. Does that work for you? Could you shift from winning at things to just doing them?
- kakacik 6mo ago
  I can attest to this, in my own way. I had a headstart since nobody ever pushed me, parents werent competitive fuckups and thus their child wasnt. I do climbing, hiking, skiing, skitouring, diving, weightlifting, used to do paragliding, now trying to pick up wind surfing. None of those sports on high level, just keeping it cca the same. Climbing is a good example since every climbing route is exactly graded for overall difficulty. Over years I even went down a bit from levels I used to do. I just go to the gym or rock, enjoy even the simplest routes that some consider for beginners, despite doing sport for 15 years. Many folks around keep pushing themselves hard to progress, I just dont have that bug. Exactly same could be said for weightlifting, found my set of free weights values and just keep doing them. If I feel extra strong I may do few extra reps but thats it. I was even mocked here for saying this but who cares, I do it for myself and not to impress or do stupid empty status games with others. Its very sustainable that way too.
  - wazHFsRy 6mo ago
    That sounds awesome! I basically do all the same sports, but I always need to win or to get better at them. I am trying to move in your direction though.

aksss 6mo ago

What defines hobbies is not what or why you do it, but when you do it. The phenomenon of hobbies has been mulled over quite a bit - activities that engage many disciplines of an actual job, activities that for other people actually are jobs. The key difference in the nature of a hobby is that we do the activities on our own schedule - we are in no way compelled to do them but have complete ownership over the execution.

hn_throwaway_99 6mo ago

I totally agree with what you've written - "comparison is the thief of joy" is one of my favorite mantras. That said, hobbies can be remarkably useful because they allow you to create or engage in something that is uniquely tailored to your own personal interests, and the modern economy often doesn't provide that level of personalization, or if it does it's extremely expensive. E.g. the other commenter that decided to design his own clothes because mass produced clothing is really just tailored to "average".

globular-toast 6mo ago

I agree with the point but it's worth noting there are plenty of things you can build from wood that you can't buy from IKEA.

justonceokay 6mo ago

That’s a dour outlook. I don’t cook to be the best at it, I cook to feed my friends. I don’t sing to be the best at it, I do it so I can have fun at karaoke. I don’t boulder to climb mountains, I do it because it makes me feel healthy. I don’t bike to win races, I bike because it’s the fastest way to get around my temperate city. I’m a worse cross-stitcher than my sister but I like that she teaches me. I go to music festivals because it’s the only place you can easily dance for 8 hours straight. I’ve never taken a dance lesson but regularly am asked to join in because I’m having fun! The comparison is the problem, not the skill.