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Comment by dfc | Hacker News Reader

What is the definition of an "instigative hobby"?

Something where you create tangible value. Video games, movies, collecting, etc are all consumer hobbies. Leather making, coding, music, knitting, etc, are instigative. The main difference is it's difficult to relate to other people about consumer hobbies unless you consume the same things. With instigative hobbies you can teach people and talk about them to others who know nothing about it. I'm not saying either is better than the other, it's just harder to relate to people when all you do is consume.

I take it that you coined this term all by yourself? This is the only use of "instigative hobby" that google knows about. I think you need a better adjective than instigative. Nothing about instigative makes me think the distinction is between the consumption/creation of goods. I don't agree with your conclusion but at the very least "creative hobby" seems like the obvious choice. I am not sure why I can more easily teach and talk about woodworking to someone than I could if the subject was video games or wine. This certainly does not match up with my experience with my hobby of book consumption or the experiences of my friend who is a wine sommelier. But most importantly I am not sure why I would prefer the creation of relationships where the dynamic is based on a knowledge asymmetry in my favor.

>This certainly does not match up with my experience with my hobby of book consumption or the experiences of my friend who is a wine sommelier

I could not think of someone I'd get along with less. You must be much older than me. This is exactly what I'm talking about. I'd never want to listen to someone tell me about the history of something, that's boring, that's regurgitation, I can google that. If you've made wine before though, that's definitely interesting.

I kind of agree about the wine sommelier, I don't want to go into that much detail about the history of wines. The movie "Somm" was enough for me. But I do like history, especially if it's directly related to the person I'm talking to, or the place I'm in.

This Reddit thread was one of the most interesting things I've read recently: https://www.reddit.com/r/history/comments/3zgffa/what_is_the...

And I'm in Phnom Penh now, having done the tour of the Killing Fields and S-21 prison. Learning about Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, and even refreshing my memory about communism, the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, etc. I'm finding it all very interesting now.

But also I agree with the commenter above you, "creative hobbies" would make more sense than "instigative".

Where do you see me talk about the "history of something"? Or do you think that "history of something" is the only genre of books?

The normally used term is "creative hobbies".

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