# Where have all the hobbyists gone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2014, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048 "2014-04-26T10:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/101 "2014-04-30T22:20:13Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yes, and the process of using a hammer and chisel to carve a block of marble couldn’t be more different from the process of using a brush and palette to paint a canvas, but people don’t generally try to privilege one art above the other purely on those terms. > > Also, the process of creating art on a computer is, in fact, very similar to the process of creating art on a piece of paper. Digital art tools have been deliberately designed to mimic physical tools as much as possible, to a large (from my admittedly amateur POV) degree of success. The skills used to draw in real-life carry over almost completely intact to an art tablet, to the extent that trying to create a distinction between art created on a computer and art created on paper is very much like trying to create a distinction between books written in a word processor and books written on a typewriter. > > 3D art is admittedly pretty dissimilar to sculpting physical materials, although it’s still largely a matter of fine motor control and technique. 3D modellers aren’t writing code to create those images, they’re using a Wacom tablet and pen to do most of the manipulation. It is, absolutely, a physical skill, to the exact same degree as any process of creating art in a traditional medium is a physical skill. You make good points, and I didn’t mean to imply that using a computer to [sculpt/make music/write a novel] was less valid or less of a craft than using a [chisel/banjo/pen and paper]. Just very different in feel. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/102 "2014-04-30T22:24:04Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Maybe my family’s odd, but I don’t think it’s true at all that women don’t have hobbies. > > [ul] > [li]One grandmother did ceramics- pouring, painting, firing, etc…[/li][li]Other grandmother is a serious gardener and a painter.[/li][li]Aunt was a painter, did all sorts of crafts and interior decorating, and was a very good antique collector/picker.[/li][li]Mom is a gardener[/li][li]Mother-in-Law is a gardener and sews.[/li][li]My wife is a paper crafter (makes cards and things like that primarily), and is a fairly skilled metalsmith/jeweler.[/li][/ul] > > With the exception of my wife’s metalsmithing, their hobbies are traditionally female activities, but they put as much effort into them and derive as much relaxation and peace from them as any man does from model railroading or something like that. > [@Septima](#): > > I think it’s blindingly obvious that the “women have no hobbies” crowd are actually spending all their time at male-centric activities and know no women. I tend to agree. If anything, the women of my acquaintance are _more_ hobby-oriented than most of the men. My wife knits (compulsively) and cooks (for fun and experimentation, not just to feed us). Most of her friends are super crafty: knitters, quilters, seamstresses, photographers, etc. etc. Meanwhile, aside from the friends in my circle of musician acquaintances, most of my male friends read, play video games, and follow sports. MMV. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/103 "2014-05-01T10:12:13Z")
> [@Septima](#): > > I think it’s blindingly obvious that the “women have no hobbies” crowd are actually spending all their time at male-centric activities and know no women. And have never been anywhere near Pinterest. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/104 "2014-05-01T12:24:41Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And have never been anywhere near Pinterest. Or Etsy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/105 "2014-05-01T17:14:50Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Speaking for myself, I never said that one form was “better” than the other. Your original statement was that people who play train simulators were “ineffably sad.” You followed this up by referring to the practice as “pathetic” and “not a real hobby,” and then implied that digital artists lack craft. If you’ve changed your position on the subject, that’s great, but if you want to claim this has been your position all along… well, at the very least, you need to learn how to express yourself better. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/106 "2014-05-01T17:23:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Your original statement was that people who play train simulators were “ineffably sad.” You followed this up by referring to the practice as “pathetic” and “not a real hobby,” and then implied that digital artists lack craft. > > If you’ve changed your position on the subject, that’s great, but if you want to claim this has been your position all along… well, at the very least, you need to learn how to express yourself better. I never meant my original comment to be about the people who play with simulators - you are reading that into my statement. When asked why I wrote that, I explained: > [@](#): > > Because, replacing the hobby of actually building a physical model with a computer simulation just seems pathetic. Not that computer simulations can’t be fun and engaging, it’s just that I don’t see where any of the properties that make a hobby like model trains fun - the craftsmanship, modeling skill, creativity, attention to detail, and maybe most importantly, the maintenance required to keep a physical model running - exist in a computer simulation. And I still think so. I don’t think the people are _pathetic_ - I think the _process_ (obsoleting the physical hobby) is. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/107 "2014-05-01T17:41:05Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > spending all afternoon using a file, and bluing to make a flat surface. That sounds boring as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/108 "2014-05-01T18:18:59Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I never meant my original comment to be about the people who play with simulators - you are reading that into my statement. > > When asked why I wrote that, I explained: > > And I still think so. > I don’t think the people are _pathetic_ - I think the _process_ (obsoleting the physical hobby) is. Thus my secondary postulate. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048/109 "2014-05-01T18:56:42Z")
Didn’t read intervening posts: Coin collecting is alive and well. I was most active in nov-dec, and there were at least 2-3 dozen stores selling hundreds to thousands of coins each. The coin store in my neighborhood is about 25% stamps. Comic collecting is still going through the roof. For comics and coins, the grading system has been huge in keeping people interested. Sports cards are bigger than ever with limited edition cards. As far as collecting goes, I think a lot of things people collected as kids they are now collecting as adults. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-have-all-the-hobbyists-gone/687048.md?page=5)