what is the ultimate criterion of a hobby?

I had an argument with two individuals. One of them being a Twitch streamer and making money from this the other being an average joe with medium-low salary, who watch streamers when he comes home after work (including the one mentioned above). They both insisted strongly, that any entertaining activity can be considered a hobby, while my point was that hobby is some activity where 1. participating individual shouldn't be a mere passive consumer (watching videos/tv/streams is not a hobby) 2. the activity should require some skill (which will gradually improve over time) 3. the activity should produce some output or/and benefit in some form (i.e. some art piece other could enjoy, some skill which may be useful outside of the hobby activity etc, thus defining gaming as not a hobby) and the additional countering point from my side was "if hobby is just an entertaining activity, why society came up with a dedicated term for it?" what's your stance on a hobby, lainon?

I don't think 2 is strictly necessary (is stamp/coin collecting a hobby?) but is common and desirable. I completely believe 1 is a requirement. Watching vs. analyzing or categorizing can be the difference between being entertained and having a hobby. >why society came up with a dedicated term for it? what are synonyms?

what about bird watching

I have never felt it necessary to have a stance on what defines a hobby. It seems like pointless semantics. If you want to use that three point criterion I'll use it when talking to you, and if someone else calls gaming a hobby (which is a very common contention) I'll use that definition when I talk to them. The point of language is communication. If you want to talk about how worthwhile or productive certain hobbies, hobby-adjacent activities, or non-hobbies are, then that's fine. But that conversation is entirely orthogonal to the definition you choose for the word.

My hobby is lying perfectly motionless and devoid of all mental activity and pretending to to be dead for long periods of time. I like it a lot but I guess I'll have to find a new word for it now.

Hobbies are weird, certainly the way OP phrased it, it sounds more like what's classically regarded as a craft. I think hobbies are (supposed to be) purely for socializing. With globalisation and the loss of community, there needs to be some excuse for striking up with strangers. In that sense, a hobby that can't be shown or demonstrated is a poor one because it's barely a conversation topic, and doesn't provide avenue for a layman to continue conversanion. Watching streamers is only useable in this sense if the other person also watched the same streamer. Same with gaming. >>36736 stamp collectors don't just buy sheets of stamps, the challenge is in hunting down rares, or creating interesting collections e.g. "all stamps with frogs". >>36745 that sounds cool. Can you show me? What's your record? Do you have any dead people you look up to? Do you lie in a grave or just anywhere?

Your first two criteria are valid, but the third is complete bullshit. There are plenty of hobbies that involve more studying rather than creation (like birdwatching, for example). I really think you just put that in there for the sake of excluding gaming. Honestly, I think there's a sort of sliding scale. I'd say gaming is sort of a hobby, since it's a hobby for some people, but plenty of people play games without it being a hobby for them. Speedrunning games, on the other hand, is very solidly a hobby, since there's no one who just casually speedruns games without it being a hobby for them. It depends on the approach that the person doing takes to the activity. >>36748 >I think hobbies are (supposed to be) purely for socializing. I'd disagree with this. Hobbies are for personal benefit, not social benefit. It's good for your mental health to have something that you can improve on and feel proud of without the pressure of deadlines/grades/performance reviews/etc.

A hobby is any enjoyable passtime you do not do as a job excluding masturbation, sex, and eating (except if it's being a foodie).

>>36751 >excluding sex why?

>>36735 About your three requirements for a hobby: >3. the activity should produce some output or/and benefit in some form (i.e. some art piece other could enjoy, some skill which may be useful outside of the hobby activity etc, thus defining gaming as not a hobby) I partly agree with this, but I don't think that it's a strict requirement. I think that it is possible to have hobbies that don't really produce anything tangible, or maybe not even skills that are useful outside of that specific hobby. Like some other lainon said, it looks like you included that to exclude gaming. >1. participating individual shouldn't be a mere passive consumer (watching videos/tv/streams is not a hobby) I think that this isn't necessarily true. Is reading books a hobby? I would say that it is, but according to your definition it isn't. >2. the activity should require some skill (which will gradually improve over time) Now this I can mostly agree with, but it depends on what is considered to be a "skill" In the end this is just useless semantics. There is such a variety of different things that can be considered to be hobbies that it's hard to come up with any strict definition. Wikipedia puts it this way: >A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time, not professionally and not for pay. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area.

>>36745 To be fair, this is pretty difficult to do.

>>36754 Because it's a sin

>>36775 >sex is a sin i wish