Note: In Chinese, many people use 興趣 to describe hobby and interest at the same time, so it’s hard to translate. I’ll try to do my best to express my original intention in english.
The self-introduction section of dating or socializing apps usually includes a field for hobbies for participants to fill in.
There are countless hobbies, so it's understandable that people might fill in whatever they enjoy.
However, some of them make me roll my eyes, such as shopping, watching movies, and eating delicious food.
Come on, those are entertainments, not hobbies, right?
They satisfy our sensory pleasures and make us happy.
Who doesn't like them?
I searched the internet and found that there is no unified or clear definition of hobbies.
Broadly speaking, any activity that is not done for money or work, but allows us to enjoy or feel happy, can be considered a hobby. (Okay, so shopping and watching movies can also count.)
But I personally think that hobbies require considerable effort and focus.
It's not a completely easy thing, and sometimes it can even be a bit painful.
Yet, you still enjoy doing it.
That's what makes it a hobby.
For example, playing a musical instrument, or engaging in a sport.
On the other hand, if you don't put in any effort, then the hobby will not be established.
We usually develop an interest in something after putting in a certain amount of effort.
For example, learning a song or improving our skills to win a game.
Finally, I want to share an excellent article I read.
Although some of the information sources are not very certain, the concept analysis is very thorough.
It's worth reading.
https://mapleduh.pixnet.net/blog/post/46273942
Excerpt from the article:
“Interest (hobby) is an emotion that is highly related to uncertainty;
pleasure is an emotion that is highly related to certainty.
Interest and pleasure are two completely different, even opposite emotions -
when something is complex, novel, and uncertain, people feel interested;
when something is simple, stable, and certain, we feel pleasure."
"We often think that because we have eaten rice too much, we must make fermented bean curd our living.
I call this phenomenon the "hot pot effect" - if you ask someone who eats home-cooked meals every day what they want to eat, they will say hot pot! I love hot pot! But if you make them eat hot pot for a month, even if you change it up, they will probably cry and beg to go home.
The best life is to eat rice often and occasionally order hot pot."
"Hobbies are not things that you can easily and comfortably achieve results with; hobbies are things that make you suffer during the day, can't sleep at night, and wake up at five in the morning, cursing and laughing while doing them. That's what hobbies really are."
